Unit 3

Task 1

【答案】

A. 1) F   2) T    3) T    4) F   5) T    6) T

B.

1) She takes care of the Jotmsons' children when their mother is sick.

2) When they got to the theater, they found that the G movie wasn’t there any more. The theater was showing an X-rated movie called GIRLS.

3) Since she didn’t know what X meant, she thought a movie about "girls" would be fine for little girls.

【原文】

Jack: Did you hear what happened to Helga? She almost lost her job.   

Mary: I didn't know she had one.

Jack: Well, it's just a part-time job. Helga takes care of the Jotmsons' children when their mother is sick. Mrs. Johnson hasn't been well lately.

Mary: What happened? Why did Helga almost lose her job?

Jack: Well, there was a children's movie advertised at the neighborhood theater last Saturday. It was one of those G movies, for general audiences.

Mary: I suppose Helga took the Johnson children to the movie. Wasn't that all right?

Jack: Yes, but here is what happened. When they got to the theater, they found that the G movie wasn't there any more. The theater was showing an X-rated movie called GIRLS.

Mary: X-rated movies are really bad, aren't they?

Jack: They're even worse than R-rated ones which teenagers aren't supposed to see. But Helga didn't know what X meant, and she thought a movie about "girls" would be fine for little girls.

Mary: Did the theater let her in?

Jack: No, but Helga tried to make them let her in. The manager had to call Mrs. Johnson. That's how she almost lost her job.

 

Task 2

【答案】

A. 1) F   2) T   3) T  4) F    5) F    6) F

B.

    Judy watched a bit of TV last night. Before the football came on, she switched over just to protest, for she couldn’t bear football, and thus she saw the end of the film The Graduate. When the football came on, she turned over to a programme on foxes. After the foxes, she turned over back to see who won the football, but only saw the beginning of the News. Then she packed up and went to bed.

【原文】

Stuart: What did you do last night then? Did you work all night?
Judy: Yes, I did some work, but I watched a bit of TV ... Got to relax, you know.

Stuart: Did you watch the football?
Judy: No, no I didn't. I can't bear football.

Stuart: Really?
Judy: Yes. I really hate it. Well, actually, just before the football came on, I switched over just to ... just to protest.

Stuart: What did you see then?
Judy: Well, I saw the programme before ... just the end of a film that was on before the football. It looked quite       

good actually. It's a shame I didn't switch on earlier. It was some kind of love story ... with Dustin Hoffman, you know, The erm ...

Stuart: The Graduate?
Judy: That's it. The Graduate.

Stuart: Yes. I know. I've seen that. Yes, good film.
Judy: Yes, and nice music. And then, when the football came on I turned over.

Stuart: Terrible, terrible!
Judy: I hate it! I really can't stand it.

Stuart: It was a great game!
Judy: Yes? Who was playing?

Stuart: England, of course. What did you see then, that was more important than football?
Judy: Foxes. Yes, a good programme on foxes. Yes, they spent ages watching these foxes in a house. They were      

watching them all night and these little baby foxes. It was tremendous.

Stuart: Yes, sounds all right.
Judy: Yes, it was good—better than football ... and then, then I turned over, back to the other channel to see who     

won the football, but I missed it and I just saw the beginning of the news and packed up and went to bed.

Stuart: Well, I'm sorry you missed it. It was a good game.
Judy: Who did win?

Stuart: England, of course. Who do you think? Six nil. Yes.
Judy: Must have been quite good then!

Stuart: Yes, it was good, actually. It was very good.

 

Task  3

【答案】

A. 1) b)   2) c)

B. 1) F    2) F   3) F

C.

Topic: How the movies are produced

Thesis: There are six basic steps that are normally followed in the production of a full-length film.

Steps: First step—finding a property; two types of properties

1) An original story

   e.g. Star Wars, Back to the Future, Rocky

2) A property from a novel, play, or musical

e.g. The Sound of Music, Tess, The Godfather

Second step—writing the script; two options

1) The original writer takes part in the production of the script

2) Directors write the scripts themselves

【原文】

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! Let's start this introduction to filmmaking with a simple question: How many of you have seen a movie this week? It doesn't matter if it was at the theater or just on your own TV... Uhhuh, just as I thought, almost all of you have.

    Of course, most of us love the movies—the magic, the escape that they provide, but most of us rarely stop to think about the process of making a movie. Just what does it take to get that movie from the idea stage to the final product? What are the decisions that must be made? What problems are encountered? Exactly how does a movie studio go about making a movie? These are precisely the topics that we will be exploring today.

    There are six basic steps that are normally followed in the production of a full-length film. I'll outline them for you.

    The first step is rather obvious--to make a film you must have an idea.., a story...some topic for the project. The studio must find a property. That's a key word, folks—property, p-r-o-p-e-r-t-y. You all know the common meaning of this word, of course, but in filmmaking the word "property" has a very specific meaning. A property is the story on which the movie will be based. Okay, it's the story on which the movie is based. You are probably wondering why we call it a property. Well, it belongs to someone; it is that person's "property" and must be acquired by the studio, sometimes for quite a large sum of money.

     There are basically two kinds of properties. The first is an original story that has never appeared anywhere before—never been in a book, or magazine, or another film. In other words, the story is intended from the very beginning to be made into a movie.

     Star Wars is one good example of this type of property—you do remember that famous science fiction film, don't you? Another example is Back to the Future—oh, and also Rocky. All of these were based on a story written only for the purpose of making a movie.

     Actually though, the majority of properties, for famous films at least, come from novels, plays, or musicals that are already published. Examples of this type of property include The Sound of Music, which was originally a play, Tess, a famous novel, and The Godfather, which was also first a novel.

    Okay, that's step number one—finding a property.

    Well, now we have the property. The next step is to prepare a script from that property. This part of the process can take several months or sometimes even a year or more. It's quite a lengthy and time-consuming process. During this time, the scriptwriter, producer, and director usually work very closely with each other.

     Recently, there has been a trend to also have the original writer—the original property owner— take part in the production of the script. This means that if the property is taken from a book or play, the original author of the book or play is involved in writing the script. This is a good trend, I think. Who could possibly know the story better or understand it more clearly than its original creator?

     Another option, however, is for directors to write scripts themselves. This often occurs because scriptwriters are not only responsible for the dialog, but they also must specify what kind of camera shots they want used. For instance, in all scenes, and especially long scenes that don't have any dialog, the scriptwriter must describe what the camera should focus on, what should be in the center of the shot, what mood the image should present. Directors have much more experience with camera work and often prefer to write the script themselves for this reason.

     So that's step number two—writing the script.

 

Task 4

【答案】

A. 1) a)   2) a)

B. 1) F    2) F   3) T

C.

Topic: How movies are produced

Thesis: There are six basic steps that are normally followed in the production of a full-length film.

Steps: Third step—casting the film; two types of casting

1) Building the movie around a famous star

Advantages: A famous star is a great asset to the film. It attracts fans automatically. Financial success of the movie depends on how many people come to see it.

Disadvantages: Famous star are very expensive. They take attention away from the story itself. They distract the audience.

2) Casting movies with unknown actors and actresses

Advantages: Movie centers around the story itself. Make the movie more believable.

Fourth step—filming the movie; done in two types of places

1) Soundstages—both pictures and dialogs are recorded.

2) Partially filmed on location—in a real setting.

Note: all the scenes with a big star can done first, or all the scenes shot at the same location can be filmed at the same time.

【原文】

Okay, now the script is finished and approved, and we are ready for the next step—a very critical step indeed—the casting of the film.

The success or failure of a movie can depend on the ability of the actors and actresses to convince us that they really are the characters that they are portraying. The producer and the director must choose the cast very, very carefully. This step of choosing the actors and actresses is called casting. Got it? Casting is choosing the actors and actresses, the cast of the movie.

    There are, in general, two types of casting. The first and the most common approach is to build the movie around a famous star. It is obvious that having a well-recognized name in the cast is a great asset to the film. Having someone, like Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, or Harrison Ford will automatically attract large numbers of their fans to the movie. And of course, the financial success of the movie depends on how many people come to see it.

    Now, there is also a second type of casting, and it has worked very well at times. Although it is true that top stars can attract audiences, they are also very, very expensive. With this in mind, some producers and directors cast their movies with unknown actors and actresses, concentrating on who fits the part the best, not who has the biggest name.

    Actually, this approach, as I said, can work quite well because sometimes a big star can actually take attention away from the story itself. In other words, the stars distract the audience! The audience focuses on the star, not on the story. One example of this second type of casting is the movie E. T., which is, in fact, one of the most popular movies of all time.

    Unknown child actors and actresses were hired and the movie centered around the story itself. The producer and director probably thought that unknown actors would make the movie more believable. A big star might actually hurt that movie.

    Well, on to the next step.

    After the casting has been completed, the fourth step, filming the movie, can begin. Filming any kind of major motion picture usually takes about six to eight months. Now, you might not know this, but filming rarely takes place in the same order as the story. The reason for shooting in a different time order is that all the scenes with a big star can be done first, or all the scenes shot at the same location can be filmed at the same time. So what happens is this: The order scenes are filmed in and the order they appear in the movie are almost always completely different. It would be inconvenient and costs would increase dramatically if scenes were filmed in the order that we see them in the finished movie.

    The filming itself is done in two types of places. The first is studio buildings called soundstages. They were given this name because both pictures and dialogs are recorded there. These soundstages can be made to appear like almost anything—from a fourteenth-century town to a small hotel room.

    In addition to soundstages, most movies are partially filmed on location—in a real setting. On location means that the actors, actresses, film crew, and other necessary personnel must travel to a place like, maybe, a South American jungle or downtown Paris, or wherever, for filming certain scenes.

    This makes the movie more interesting and realistic. Indoor scenes can easily be filmed on a soundstage, but scenes that require extensive use of outdoor scenery or use famous places as backgrounds must be done on location to be realistic.

As you can imagine, the costs of filming on location are enormous. People and equipment must be flown to the place, living accommodations must be found, and food has to be provided for a large number of people. There are lots of practical problems like these. The added realism of filming on location adds a lot of expense to a film.

 

Task 5

【答案】

2) we never fond it difficult to occupy our spare time

3) We used to enjoy civilized pleasures

4) All our free time is regulated by TV

5) It demands and obtains absolute silence and attention

6) Whole generations are growing up addicted to it

7) It is a universal pacifier

8) rubbishy commercials or spectacles of sadism and violence

9) vast quantities of creative work

10) they can’t keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well

11) becomes a village, is reduced to preliterate communities, utterly dependent on pictures and the spoken word

12) It encourages passive enjoyment

13) It cuts us off from the real world

14) from communicating with each other

15) how totally irrelevant television is to real living

【原文】

“Yes, but what did we use to do before there was television?” How often we hear statements like this! Television hasn’t been with us all that long, but we are already beginning to forget what the world was like without it. Before we admitted the one-eyed monster into our homes, we never fond it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used to enjoy civilized pleasures. For instance, we used to have hobbies; we used to entertain our friends and be entertained by them; we used to go outside for our amusements to theatres, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events. We even used to read books and listen to music and broadcast talks occasionally. All that belongs to the past. Now all our free time is regulated by the “goggle box”. We rush home or gulp down our meals to be in time for this or that programme. We have even given up sitting at table and having a leisurely evening meal, exchanging the news of the day. A sandwich and a glass of beer will do anything, providing it doesn’t interfere with the programme. The monster demands and obtains absolute silence and attention. If any member of the family dares to open his mouth during a programme, he is quickly silenced.

 Whole generations are growing up addicted to the telly. Food is left uneaten, homework undone and sleep is lost. The telly is a universal pacifier. It is now standard practice for mother to keep the children quiet by putting them in the living-room and turning on the set. It doesn’t matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials or spectacles of sadism and violence – so long as they are quiet. There is a limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world. Every day, television consumes vast quantities of creative work. That is why most of the programmes are so bad: it is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well. When millions watch the same programmes, the whole world becomes a village, and society is reduced to the conditions which obtain in preliterate communities. We become utterly dependent on the two most primitive media of communication: pictures and the spoken word.

     Television encourages passive enjoyment. We become content with second-hand experiences. It is so easy to sit in our armchairs watching others working. Little by little, television cuts us off from the real world. We get so lazy – we choose to spend a fine day in semi-darkness, glued to our sets, rather than go out into the world itself. Television may be s splendid medium of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with each other. We only become aware how totally irrelevant television is to real living when we spend a holiday by the sea or in the mountains, far away from civilization. In quiet, natural surroundings, we quickly discover how little we miss the hypnotic tyranny of King Telly.

 

Task 6

【答案】

A.

1) It came from Alan’s eldest son.

2) Because there were lots of children in a film about gangsters in New York.

3) They visited ordinary schools and stage schools and Christmas shows all over America, and looked for

American children in Britain, too. Alan saw about 100 videos of Christmas shows and auditioned over 10,000

children.

4) All the clothes had to be in the right style but in small sizes, even the gangster hats.

B. 1) c  2) e  3) a   4) b  5) f   6) d

【原文】

Mike: Welcome to Radio Time, and this month's edition of Film World. I'm very pleased to have Alan Parker with me for today's program. Alan, you made one of the most famous and popular children's films of all time—Bugsy Malone. Tell me, when did you first think of the idea for Bugsy Malone?

Alan: Well, I have to say that I didn't think of the idea myself. It came from my eldest son.

Mike: Ah, so you knew it was a good idea for a children's film.

Alan: Yes. I took the idea and wrote the full story. That was in 1973.

Mike: Was it difficult to write?

Alan: No, it was more difficult to get the money to make the film. A lot of people thought it was a strange idea—lots of children in a film about gangsters in New York.

Mike: Is it a true story?

Alan: Not quite. But there were two gangs in New York in 1929, the year of my story.

Mike: How did you choose the actors?

Alan: That was a lot of work. We visited ordinary schools and stage schools and Christmas shows all over America. And we looked for American children in Britain, too. I saw about 100 videos of Christmas shows, and we auditioned over 10,000 children for the cast.

Mike: So there was a lot of competition to get a part?

Alan: Oh yes, but there always is.

Mike: How long did it take to film Bugsy Malone?

Alan: Eleven weeks. The filming was quite quick in fact. But we had to do a lot of work first. We needed 300 costumes, I remember. And all the clothes had to be in the right style but in small sizes, even the gangster hats.

 

Task  7

【答案】

A.1)T    2)F     3)T    4)T    5)F    6)F    7)F    8)F

B.1) a)   2) b)    3) a)   4) c)   5) b)    6) b)  7) b)   8) c)

【原文】

Matthew: Television is undoubtedly a great invention, but one of the main criticisms of it is that people just aren't selective enough. Lesley, you’ve got a television; how do you pick out the sorts of programmes you want to watch?

Lesley:  I try and look at the prograxnmes that are on to decide which  particular ones interest me, rather than you turning it on a seven o'clock and you leaving it on until half-past eleven when the programmes finish.

Matthew: Do you think of television though as a great time-waster?

Lesley:  Un ...I think it can be a time waster and it depends on how particular  people are about…what you know, what they want to see. Um, it can just be a sort of total amusement for someone and totally consuming without really considering what it is they're watching.

Matthew: Aha, but how do you prevent it coming into your life and taking over your evenings and at the same time perhaps get…get out of the television some of the sort of best things—best programmes that... that undoubtedly are on television?

Lesley:  Well, I suppose one of the problems is...will depend on what a person's life style is, and that if he has other outside interests which are equally important to him as television, he will then, you know, be more careful about which programmes he wants to watch because he has time which he uses…wants to use for other things.

Matthew: Do you think though that... that in…in a sense television has killed people's own er...sort of , creativity or their ability to entertain themselves because…well, if they're bored all they do is just turn on the television?

Lesley:  Yes, I think that is a danger, and I think that’s…in fact…is what is happening to a lot of people who use it as their...their main field of amusement and... because they don't have other outside interests and even when people come round, they'll leave the television on and not be, you know, particularly interested in talking to them. You know the television will be the main thing in the room.

Matthew: Henrietta, would you let your children spend many afternoons and evenings watching television or would you encourage them to go out and play?

Henrietta: Well, it’s interesting. This... in fact, we really have had a policy of um... almost total restriction of viewing. I mean, my children are very small, they're four-and-a-half and two-and-a-half, and it's only very recently that we have even got into the habit of watching Playschool. I do tend to... um... I do try to... in fact I succeed in restricting their viewing solely to that and a couple ofprogrammes that follow it, but I don't like to see a child sit with an open mouth in front of a television set hour after hour, but I'm not anti-television at all. I myself watch quite a lot; I watch some comedy, I watch um... serials.., um the recent serialization of Jane Eyre was beautifully done and very interesting. I watch the news avidly.

Matthew: Peter, have you got a television?

Peter:   I have, in fact I've got two televisions.

Matthew: Do you watch them a lot?

Peter:   Er...no I...I watch very seldom. In fact, I find that I watch television most when I'm most when I'm working hardest and I need some sort of passive way of relaxing, something which requires nothing of me, then I watch television a lot. When I've got more energy left...um ...in my own private time, in my free time, then I find I do more different things. I do things like um reading, or going out, or working on anything…my hobbies.

 Matthew: Do you think though that people can live a perfectly happy life if they haven't got a television?

Peter:   Oh, yes, I think people who don't have a television or people who don’t watch television can be expected to be happier. You can…if they never watch television, you can assume, I think, or you can guess that they are happier people than the people who watch a lot of television, because I think that television goes with the kind of life which leaves you with nothing to spare, nothing left. You have to be given potted, passive entertainment.

Matthew: But in that case you ...you seem as though you're completely against television. Is that true?

Peter:   No, it's not. I...I have a television, in fact I have two as I said, but I...I ...I think there's a dilemma, a difficult situation. Television in itself is very good; a lot of the information and a lot of the programmes are very instructive; they introduce you to things you may never have thought of before or never have heard about before. But in watching, it makes you very passive; you sit for hour after hour and you get very receptive and very unquestioning and it seems to me the important thing in life is to be active, to do things, to think things and to be as creative as possible, and television prevents this.

 

Task 8

【答案】 1) d)   2) d)   3) c)    4) b)   5) a)

【原文】

Michael: I want to do something tonight for a change, let's go out.
Brian:  All right, let's go to the movies.
Jane:   In this heat? Are you joking?
Brian:  We can go to an outdoor movie. Do you think I'd suggest an indoor one in the middle of the summer in       

San Diego?
Michael: I'd rather go out for a meal.
Jane:   Yes, that sounds a better idea. The outdoor movies are so uncomfortable.
Brian:  Why don't we do both at the same time? We could pick up some take-away food and eat it in the movie.
Michael: That sounds like fun. What a good idea.
Jane:   But they never show any good films in the summer. At least not any of the new ones. All you get is the old   

classics.
Brian:  And what's wrong with them?
Jane:   Oh nothing, it's just that we've seen them all half a dozen times.
Brian:  But that's why they're classics. They're worth seeing again and again.
Michael: You've got a point there, Brian. My main objection to outdoor movies is that you can never hear properly.

You hear all the traffic from outside.
Brian:  Well, we can find a foreign film with subtitles; then you don't need to hear the sound.
Jane:   Supposing it's a musical.
Brian:  Oh, trust you to say that! I think it would be fun to sit watching an old film and eating a meal at the same       

time.
Jane:   Last time I went to an outdoor movie, I bought a bar of chocolate to eat as I went in. It was a horror film

and I was so shocked I just sat there holding my bar of chocolate until the interval when I found it had

melted in my hand and run all down my dress. That was an expensive evening out.
Michael: Well, we won't go and see a horror film, darling, and take-away meals don't melt.

 

Task  9

【答案】

1) It is taken from a Greek word and a Latin word.

2) TV provides jobs for hundreds of thousands who make TV sets and broadcasting equipment. It also provides work for actors, technicians, and others who put on programs.

3) Some hospitals use TV to allow medical students to get close-up view of operations.

4) By the mid-1960s, 90 percent of the households in the United States had at least one TV set

5) Communications satellites televise programs “live” from all over the world.

6) By the middle 1960s, the national networks were broadcasting most of their programs in color.

【原文】

Television, or TV, the modern wonder of electronics, brings the world into your own home in sight and sound. The name television comes from the Greek word tele, meaning “far”, and the Latin word videre, meaning “to see”. Thus, television means “seeing far”. In Great Britain, the popular word for television is “telly”.
　　　As an industry, TV provides jobs for hundreds of thousands who make TV sets and broadcasting equipment. It also provides work for actors, technicians, and others who put on programs. As an art, television brings the theater and other cultural events into the homes. Its influence on the life of average Americans is calculable: It can influence their thoughts, their likes and dislikes, their speech, and even their dress. It can also add to their store of knowledge. Through advertising television helps businesses and manufacturers sell their products to millions of persons. Television has brought political campaigns closer to the voters than in former days. Educational TV stations offer teaching in various subjects ranging from home nursing to art appreciation. Many large schools and universities have “closed—circuit” television equipment that will telecast lectures and demonstrations to hundreds of students in different classrooms; and the lecture can be put on video tape to be kept for later use. Some hospitals use TV to allow medical students to get close-up view of operations.
　　  In 1946, after World War II, TV began to burst upon the American scene with a speed unforeseen even by the most optimistic leaders of the industry. The novelty of seeing TV pictures in the home caught the public’s fancy and began a revolution in the world of entertainment. By 1950, television had grown into a major part of show business. Many film and stage stars began to perform on TV as television audiences increased. Stations that once telecast for only a few hours a day sometimes telecast around the clock in the 1960s.

With the development of programming also came the introduction of television in full color. By the middle 1960s, the national networks were broadcasting most of their programs in color. The obvious appeal of television, whether in color or black-and-white, can be documented by the increasing number of TV sets in homes around the country. By the mid-1960s, 90 percent of the households in the United States had at least one TV set, and 12 percent had two or more sets. TV had become a part of the daily life of the adults and children of America.

       The programs that people watch are not only local and national ones. Since the launching of the first communications satellite, more and more programs are televised “live” from all over the world. Television viewers in San Francisco were able to watch the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo by means of a communication satellite named Syncom. The Olympic Games in Mexico City and in Munich, Germany, were also telecast live as were parts of the historic visit of President Nixon to the People’s Republic of China.

It looks as if the uses of television—in education, entertainment, and communication—appear to be endless. Certainly it is one of the major modern wonders of electronics in our changing world.

 

Task  10

【原文】

Watching television is the most popular leisure-time activity in Britain. Peak viewing time is between 7:30 and 10 o’clock in the evenings.
    The two age groups which watch television most are children between 5 and 14 and people over 50. Children aged 5 to 14 watch television on average for 23 hours a week. The over-fifties watch on average for 17 hours a week.
    Television is divided between BBC1, BBC2 and the commercial station, ITV. There is no great difference between BBC1 and BBC2 and ITV, but programmes on BBC2 tend to be of a more intellectual or cultural nature.
    Programmes before 9 pm are also suitable for children, so programmes with scenes of violence or sex are usually shown after this time. Most viewers in Britain switch off the television after about 10:30 and go to bed. Those who want to stay up can often watch a film or a "chat show", an interview with a famous personality, until 1 am.
   However , the most popular programmes of all are the news bulletins.