Unit 9
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Scene 1: In a movie studio
Geller: Hello everybody, this is Rachel Geller reporting from Hollywood, California.
In today's program I will offer you an exclusive and comprehensive report on the long-awaited Hollywood blockbuster, My Robot Girl, featuring sensational movie trailers and mysterious clips, as well as a live interview with the all-star cast: Steve Goldberg, the director, John Cruz, the main actor and Monica Kidman, the dazzling actress.
(Rachel Geller is interviewing Steve Goldberg, the director of My Robot Girl.)
Geller: Welcome, Mr. Goldberg. Goldberg: Thank you.
Geller: How did you find the original story \"My Robot Girl\"?
Goldberg: Well, this movie is based on a short story written by Larry Williams. A friend
of mine recommended it to me last summer. It's actually a classic legend about a man who fell in love with his non-human housemaid, but was set in quite a different, post-modern world. It was so fascinating that I didn't stop reading until I finished it!
Geller: How did you feel about the story when you read it?
Goldberg: You know, at... at the first sight of the story, I was immediately touched by
the fatalistic love mood of the characters and the fierce conflict between a human and a machine that is so typical in the contemporary world. And I told myself: Man! This would make a good movie!
Geller: I've learned that you've invested a lot of money in this movie. Any special
features worth mentioning?
Goldberg: Well, I did invest quite a lot of money in it, especially in the 3D action
effects, uh... some other special effects. As you know, this is essentially a science-fiction movie, with love fantasies, human-machine interactions. We had to make great efforts to create a vivid, beautiful and affectionate robot image, while at the same time present a sharp conflict between a human and a machine.
Geller: A love story and a human-machine conflict, that sounds like a really big
challenge.
Goldberg: Yeah, well, thanks to the most updated information technology, we eventually
achieved a perfect balance of simulative precision and artistic beauty. Actually, I'm very satisfied with the final product and it is much better than most of my previous movies.
Geller: And thousands of people will be looking forward to the worldwide movie
premiere in the coming Christmas season. Thank you!
Goldberg: Thank you.
(Rachel Geller is interviewing John Cruz, the leading actor in My Robot Girl.)
Scene 2: In the movie studio
Geller: Hello, Mr. Cruz. Can you say a few words about your role in the movie My Robot Girl?
Cruz:
First of all, the role is very different from any of my previous roles. It's not a macho policeman, nor a runaway criminal, but a man with emotions, or more precisely, passions. What is more interesting is that all his passion is for his robot maid rather than a real human woman. The tragedy lies in the fact that the robot maid couldn't understand human love, and accordingly she couldn't provide, in return, any love to him.
Geller: It sounds like the character's personality is rather complicated. Is it
difficult to present such a complexity?
Cruz:
Yes, it is. It was really a challenge for me to present his desperate but passionate emotions and behaviors, and I enjoyed the acting very much.
Geller: A tricky question: Do you think the same thing could happen to you,
personally, in your own life?
Cruz:
Uh... I'm not quite sure about it. I mean love usually occurs between two human beings, but at the same time people may also fall in love with an object, such as a sculpture. As for me, I think I'm not yet ready for such a \"love\would rather stick to a more conventional human-human type. What's more, most of the modern robots are not very lovable, and I haven't got a robot maid yet!
Geller: (She laughs.) I see, I haven't got a robot bodyguard, either.
Scene 3: In the movie studio
(Rachel Geller is interviewing Monica Kidman, the leading actress in My Robot Girl.)
Geller: Hello, Miss Kidman. I learned that this is your first movie. Is that correct? Kidman: Yes.
Geller: How do you feel about this experience?
Kidman: Well, I really put a lot into the acting, and I learned a lot from the director,
Mr. Goldberg, and the other actors. They've been great friends and teachers to me.
Geller: The role of a robot maid must be a big challenge for a young actress like you.
Which part do you think is most challenging to your acting talent?
Kidman: Actually the biggest challenge was not to be a robot, but a robot with
feelings. In the beginning, the robot is just a hard-disc machine with a CPU. Honestly, it's not very difficult to play a robot like that. But as the story goes on, the robot begins to sense and understand human love, and gradually learns to act more like a real woman in love. In the end, the robot maid struggles unsuccessfully to understand and enjoy human love, and she realizes the unbridgeable gap between humans and robots, and her unavoidable tragedy. As I see it, the internal conflict between the robot and the real woman constituted the biggest challenge for me.
Geller: And how do you evaluate your acting performance in this movie?
Kidman: I'm satisfied with my acting performance. I really tried my best to play this
role. And, more importantly, I accumulated a lot of acting experience that will definitely help me to improve my acting career in the future.
Geller: And John Cruz?
Kidman: John! Oh, he's a brilliant actor! Had it not been for his excellent
performance, my acting would have been nothing but clumsy. He is also a generous and caring person, and he gave me a lot of helpful tips in the studio. So, all in all, I think I'm a lucky girl who was given a wonderful role in a fabulous movie, with so many outstanding colleagues.
Geller: Any plans in the near future?
Kidman: Well, this month I will travel for the movie premieres worldwide. And, I've
accepted two new movies, a love story and a sci-fi thriller. I hope that this experience can help me to perform well in them. Besides this, I also plan to attend some acting classes so as to enrich my knowledge and experience.
Geller: OK, thank you very much. I am really eager to see your movie soon. My Robot Girl, a passionate yet desperate love affair between a man and his robot maid,
will be shown on December 25, surely a wonderful Christmas present for your family. I am Rachel Geller reporting from Hollywood, California. Thanks for watching the program. See you next week!
Listen1-1
Claude Monet was born in France in 1840. He had a classical training in art in the style of the \"Old Masters\". While his art teachers developed a realistic, some would call it almost \"photographic\artists, retained the classical skills, but he developed his own characteristic style using the subtle effects of light, shadows, and reflections of objects in water.
This is especially noticeable in The Highway Bridge at Argenteuil (1874) which depicts the Seine River, its far shore, and the sky, all connected by a bridge. The entire picture is built up of patches of solid color and shows reflections of boats in the water.
Most of Monet's paintings were of outdoor scenes, countryside, rivers, and bridges. In all of them his use of colors departs from realism and is interpreted by his impressions. Edgar Degas, also a French impressionist artist, was born in 1834, lived to be 83 years old, but produced most of his well-known art in his late 20s and early 30s. His art training was classical, much like that of Monet. He rarely painted outdoor scenes, preferring instead to prepare portraits and sketches of people close to him and his family. Degas was a master of showing the character and personalities of his people he chose for sketches and portraits. His drawings are said to show a tension and controlled power, like that in his pencil drawing of Edouard Manet in which the style seems casual and relaxed, yet the composition and lines are so graceful that the effect is almost as precise as a photograph. Manet was another artist of the impressionist school.
Vincent van Gogh was born in Holland in 1853. His father was a preacher, and he planned to be one too. But at the age of 27, he decided to dedicate his life to painting and drawing. In the final 10 years of his life he created over 1,700 works of art and became one of the most important post-impressionist or expressionist painters.
Van Gogh was a genius with color. His fresh vision of color opened a world for later artists to explore. In his paintings he used color, textures and forms like a writer uses words. In his painting entitled The Starry Night the night sky seems to vibrate, swirl, and roll in the starry heaven like waves in a stormy sea.
Van Gogh spent the final three years of his life in France, and most of his best works were painted then. His life was short, for he died at the age of 37.
Listen1-2 Listen2-1
It's more than 2,000 years old, but the Great Wall of China remains one of the great wonders of the world. Stretching 4,500 miles, it was first built to protect an ancient Chinese empire from tribes from the north. But it evolved into something far greater—a boon to trade and prosperity and ultimately a symbol of Chinese ingenuity and will.
The truth is, though, that the Great Wall is actually a series of walls built and rebuilt by different dynasties over 1,000 years. And while they often served the same purpose, these walls reflected the worlds—both natural and cultural—in which they were erected. China's first emperor Qin Shi Huang was one of its first builders. He was also a relentless book-burner and a ruler who sent free thinkers to work—and often to die—on his wall.
After the collapse of the Qin Empire, Qin's Great Wall started to fall apart, suffering from years of neglect. Again, the northern frontiers were at the mercy of fierce Xiongnu.
In 206 B.C., a new dynasty, the Han, rose to power. The Han restored much of China's classic literature, especially the works of Confucius. It established a strong but more humane central government and, in a struggle that lasted nearly 70 years, crushed the Xiongnu menace once and for all.
With this victory by Han Wu Di, the greatest of the Han emperors, came a westward expansion into the wilderness of Central Asia. To protect that border Wu Di began China's second great campaign of wall building. His engineers restored the crumbling Qin Wall and extended it 300 more miles across the forbidding Gobi.
The Han also added beacon towers to the Wall, spaced 15 to 30 miles apart. Columns of smoke were used to warn defenders of an attack. One smoke column meant an outpost was being threatened by a force of fewer than 500 troops; two columns meant an attacking force of fewer than 3,000, and so on. The Han found the beacon system relayed messages faster than a rider on a horse.
The greatest of all wall builders were the Ming, whose astounding accomplishments dwarfed what had been done earlier by the Qin and the Han. The Ming not only built more wall than any other dynasty, but theirs was also bigger, longer, more ornate and more imposing. Theirs is the Wall with which we're familiar.
Statements:
1. The Great Wall is actually a series of walls built and rebuilt by different dynasties for similar purposes.
2. After the collapse of the Qin Empire, the Great Wall started to fall apart.
3. Immediately after it rose to power, the Han began China's second great campaign of wall building.
4. The Han used the beacon system to relay messages because it was difficult to find good horse riders.
5. The Wall we are familiar with was built by the Ming.
Listen2-2
Mlisten1-1
Houses made out of straw? In Canada? Believe it or not, this natural crop is much tougher than in the children's story about the Big Bad Wolf. Straw has been used for centuries to thatch roofs. Settlers on the American Prairies, for whom logs were a luxury, made straw into bales for constructing their homesteads.
According to Canadian writer Wayne Roberts, building the average house consumes over forty trees. Homes, especially in Canada, also have to be insulated against heat loss and provided with proper air circulation systems.
A number of do-it-yourselfers have rediscovered the simplicity and efficiency of straw bale construction. This low-tech approach is labor intensive and ideally suited to group efforts. And it brings environmental and other benefits.
First of all, despite the story of The Three Little Pigs, straw bale buildings are strong. Second, they are sustainable, as straw usually is burned off or wasted, and grows to maturity much more quickly than trees. Lumber takes 40 years to grow; straw only one. Pressure on timber resources in the future may move straw bales into the mainstream. Straw, moreover, is affordable. One American authority suggests, for contractor-built homes, a budget of $50—$80 per square foot.
Fourth, straw is extremely energy-efficient, with bale walls enjoying an insulation level three times that of the average wood frame wall. Both heating and cooling are more efficient. Better still, it is non-toxic, a major consideration for today's eco-home builders.
Architects and builders are taking notice. North America has roughly 1,000 straw structures. The largest is owned by a religious community in Quebec. Straw builders have been active in Nova Scotia, with a dozen buildings completed or under way. In addition, a group has met to discuss sustainable building practices.
Questions:
1. Why did settlers on the American Prairies use straw to build houses?
2. Who have rediscovered the simplicity and efficiency of straw bale construction?
3. What is said about straw bale construction in the passage?
4. What's the reaction of architects and builders to straw bale construction?
Mlisten1-2
Mlisten2-1
Once upon a time there was a very talented, but very poor French artist who decided that he did not deserve to be so poor, so he decided to steal some of the best art pieces in the world from the Louvre in Paris, France.
He bought an old van, painted it like a commercial cleaning vehicle, and parked the van in the parking lot near the employees' entrance to the Louvre. Dressed like a building cleaner and carrying a broom and a mop, he cautiously entered the back door of the museum and one by one carried out priceless paintings from the storage room in the basement and loaded them into his van.
He was almost out of the parking lot when the van ran out of gas, the guards from the Louvre walked out to see what the trouble was, and found his van with the stolen paintings.
When the poor artist was questioned by the Paris police officials, they asked him, \"How could an artist of your reputation and standing be so stupid as to have so little gas in your van that it ran out of gas before you left the parking lot of the Louvre?\"
The artist answered, \"Well, messieurs, I do not have de Monet to buy Degas to make de van Gogh.\"
(Note: Read the last sentence as if you were French. The sentence is supposed to mean: I don't have the money to buy the gas to make the van go. )
Questions:
1. Which of the following is true about the artist in the story? 2. What did he decide to do to get money? 3. What did he take out from the Louvre? 4. What happened to the artist finally? 5. How was he caught?
Mlisten2-2
Mlisten3-1
When we think of art, we perhaps think of the great works of painting and sculpture created by master artists. Painting and sculpture are known as the fine art or the major art. They are created primarily to be looked at. But these are only a small part of the art made around the world.
The term \"decorative art\" is used to mean a kind of art that is useful as well as beautiful. Decorative objects such as vases, cups, rugs, or furniture have a practical use aside from their beauty. Someone who makes decorative art objects is often called an artisan. Artisans use many different materials, such as straw, beads, feathers, glass, and paper. They also shape metals, precious stones, wood and ivory.
In Western society there was originally little difference between \"fine\" and \"decorative\" art. In Europe until about the 15th century, sculpture was always a part of architecture, and paintings were used to decorate church altars. Gradually a gap developed between decorative and fine art. In Asia there was no distinction between the two kinds of art. For example, in China some of the finest bronzes ever made, decorated with carvings based on dragons, snakes and birds, were vessels for wine and food. In Japan, lacquer (highly polished varnish) objects and figures were highly valued.
The term \"folk art\" is used to describe art produced by people using traditional techniques passed down to them through the generations. It especially applies to art produced by people living in rural areas. Some folk art is simply craftwork created for everyday use. More elaborate works are usually made for an important purpose such as a religious ceremony. Throughout history each culture has produced its own characteristic folk art.
Mlisten3-2 Mlisten4-1
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Anthony Mason of CBS news. I'm now reporting from New York.
As the world's most expensive painting was carefully uncrated in New York, the new owner waited to see the work that literally cost him a fortune.
Gustav Klimt's masterpiece, the Portrait of Adele cost Ronald Lauder a record-breaking 135 million dollars.
Mason: Mr. Lauder, did you hold your breath for a moment, saying, you know, I don't
know if I can do this?
Lauder: Sometimes now I look back and wonder why I did it. But when there were
those questions on buying it, it took me about two seconds to say yes.
In his first television interview since buying the work, Lauder said today it would become the star of his museum, the Neue Galerie. A lifelong collector, he is heir to the Estée Lauder cosmetics fortune and worth an estimated 2.7 billion dollars.
Mason: But I have to imagine that even for you, Mr. Lauder, this is a lot of money. Lauder: This is not a question of money; this is the question of something so special.
This piece is priceless.
Klimt painted Adele Bloch-Bauer in 1907, the daughter of a Jewish sugar magnate. She was reported to be the artist's lover. But in 1938, when the Nazis invaded Austria, the painting was looted. After a legal battle, Adele's portrait was finally returned to her heirs in Los Angeles earlier this year. They then decided to sell it.
On the final leg of its incredible journey, the gold portrait was brought from Los Angeles in an unmarked armored truck. They traveled nonstop for three days and nights across the country to bring the world's most expensive painting here to New York. Maria Altmann, Adele's 90-year-old niece, came to see her aunt's portrait today and said she was very happy for her aunt and the painting. Stored behind bullet-proof glass, the shimmery Adele will soon be on public display. The painting's price tag now is as rich as its history.
Mlisten4-2 Quiz1-1
John Travolta may make it look cool, Sharon Stone can give it a sexy image and Leonardo DiCaprio just seems to have to light up to make it look appealing.
Whatever the image, actors and the characters they portray influence teenage smoking by providing role models for young people and making it look desirable, American researchers said Tuesday.
\"If teenagers like a star who smokes they are more likely to have positive attitudes toward smoking and more likely to be smokers,\" Jennifer Tickle, a psychologist at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, told Reuters.
Travolta, Stone and DiCaprio are popular stars who have played smokers in several films in the mid 1990s. The number of smoking roles also has an impact on fans because it reinforces the image that smoking, a leading cause of preventable premature death, is acceptable.
\"There is definitely an association between favoring a star who smokes and your likelihood of taking up smoking,\" Tickle added in a telephone interview.
The researchers questioned more than 6,000 students in rural secondary schools in New England about their smoking habits and opinions and their favorite film stars. They found that teenagers whose top actors used tobacco on screen were more likely to smoke than students whose idols selected non-smoking roles.
\"The current findings highlight the potentially enormous impact of media portrayals of smoking on adolescent attitudes toward tobacco use,\" Tickle said in a study published in the journal Tobacco Control.
According to the researchers, most American teenagers see an average of two movies a week. 57 percent of characters in films made between 1990-1996 used tobacco. Smoking is also common in films deemed suitable for young audiences.
The students named 43 stars, ranging from Tom Cruise and Meg Ryan to Sean Connery and Whoopi Goldberg, as their favorite stars. 42 percent of the stars portrayed smoking as a character trait in one or more films. Travolta, Stone and DiCaprio portrayed smokers most often.
\"It is very likely that watching these stars portray behaviors like smoking in films is influencing teenagers to smoke. The media should be aware that smoking is having this effect,\" Tickle added.
Quiz2-1
Josh:
(Mrs. Johnson is going to take her two children, Lisa and Josh, to an art museum and they are discussing what they will see.)
Mom, why haven't you taken us to the museum before?
appreciate it. Second, because now there's a special exhibition of great American artists that will be here only a short while. I'd like to see it and I want you two to see it also.
Mrs. Johnson: Two reasons. First, because I didn't think you were old enough to really
Lisa: At school we've talked mainly about French, Italian, and Dutch artists. I know about Leonardo da Vinci, Monet, van Gogh, etc., but we haven't studied American artists yet. Does American art have a long history?
Mrs. Johnson: That's a good question, Lisa. The earliest artists in America were native
people who had lived here for thousands of years before European settlement. They made beautiful pottery, jewelry, and carvings.
Josh:
Will we see any of that today? native Americans.
Josh: Lisa:
Great!
Tell us more, Mom.
painting was influenced by European, and especially English art. There were many excellent portrait painters. I'm sure we will see quite a few of the early portraits today.
Lisa:
Then what?
scenery all around them. James Whistler was a famous American painter from that period. He painted many beautiful landscapes, some of which we will see today.
Josh:
What about modern art? I don't know if I'll like it, but I'd like to see some.
Mrs. Johnson: You will. I can't say I always like it either, but it's interesting. There will
be some paintings by Mark Rothko. He painted rectangular masses of color with fuzzy edges that seemed to float across one another. There will be two of his paintings, and I'm interested in seeing them.
Lisa:
I've heard about Andy Warhol, the pop artist. I saw a picture of his tomato soup can painting. Do you really call that art, Mom?
Mrs. Johnson: Well, it's not my favorite kind, but we'll see some works by Warhol
today. After we've seen it we'll talk about it, OK?
Lisa:
Mrs. Johnson: Yes, there's supposed to be a display of pottery and jewelry made by
Mrs. Johnson: After the European settlers arrived in the 1600s, early American
Mrs. Johnson: During the 1800s landscape painters started painting the beautiful
Sure. When do we go?
Mrs. Johnson: Now. Get your jackets and I'll get my car keys. Lisa & Josh: OK.
Questions:
1. Why didn't Mrs. Johnson take Josh and Lisa to the art museum before? 2. Which of the following haven't the kids studied at school? 3. Who were the earliest artists in America? 4. What does Mrs. Johnson think of modern art?
5. Who is the painter of the tomato soup can painting that Lisa mentions?
Quiz3-1
The history of film music as an accompaniment to visual entertainment is surely a long one. It can adopt a range of roles, from being background atmosphere enhancing the emotional reaction to being an intrinsic part of the entertainment. When it comes to film as a projection through celluloid (赛璐珞,明胶), the earliest examples consisted of moving pictures only and no sound. But a silent movie without a musical accompaniment seems totally empty. So music was typically provided in the theatre by a musician (or a group of musicians) on piano or organ to give emphasis to the story. At first it was up to these theatre musicians to choose or improvise the music, but there were music publishers who specialized in producing music suitable for film which these musicians could refer to. It wasn't long before filmmakers exerted greater control over the musical accompaniment, by specifying the music to be played, and even in some cases having it specially written for the occasion. It is interesting to note at this point that one of the great entertainers of the silent era, Charlie Chaplin, also composed the music for some of his own films such as
City Lights.
The first \"talkie\" movie was the original Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson, which created a stir on its release in 1927 with its soundtrack consisting of songs and some fragments of speech. This announced a change in the position of musical accompaniment for film and by the early 1930s, as the talkie industry matured, the role of film composer started to emerge properly. A pattern quickly emerged for the \"opening titles\" making the equivalent of a musical introduction to the film and its main themes, and the \"closing titles\" which would reinforce the mood of the film's conclusion and remind us of the main themes. Within the film, there would be opportunities to provide appropriate music between the periods of dialog. The importance of the music to the finished product was also quickly recognized, and awards were given for this contribution including the Academy Award for Original Music Score.
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