灯光！摄像机！英语！

一沁供稿

灯光！摄像机！英语！

一沁供稿

We all hear about foreign actors making it big［成功］in Hollywood. But many acknowledge that they were shaking in their boots［胆战心惊］the first time they were waiting for the director to shout： “Action！”

Spanish actress Penelope Cruz， star of Zoolander-2 and Vanilla Sky， is a respected actress with a Hollywood career. But she hardly spoke any English when she was cast［选派出演］in her first role in an English language movie in 1998. In a candid［坦诚的，直言不讳的］interview with the US broadcaster CBS， Penelope admitted，“I would lock myself in the bathroom and cry because I didn’t understand what was going on on the set［拍片现场］， because I didn’t understand everything that the director was saying or what the other actors were saying.”

Closer to home， we have the example of Ziyi Zhang. She gained international acclaim［称赞］in Memoirs of a Geisha and Crouching Tiger， Hidden Dragon and received many nominations［提名］for awards. What’s helped her to learn English？ Well， she says she listened to Eminem songs. And as she learned the language， she realized “how rude” the lyrics were.

But when it comes to acting in English，nobody has a more colorful story than Austrian Arnold Schwarzenegger. He had to be dubbed［配音］at the beginning of his career because nobody could make out［理解，辨认出］what he was saying. In his next film， he played a deaf mute［聋哑人］.

The bodybuilder［健美运动者］turned actor claims his accent has softened， but he keeps it thick on purpose. “It’s become such a big part of me that people really enjoy it，” says Arnie. He’s aware of the irony［讽刺，冷嘲］when he tells us， “The very things that they said would make it impossible for me to be successful in acting were the things that became my assets［资产］.”

Yes—the complicated［复杂的］name， the thick accent， the big body—nothing stopped him from doing the things he liked. So don’t despair when you struggle with English. They’ve all been there and they’ve prevailed［被接受，取胜］. Are you ready for your closeup［特写］in life？

小练习

❶ 阅读课文并回答问题。

1） Describe in one word about how some non-native speakers of English felt when they were told to act in English.

2） What made Penelope Cruz lock herself in the bathroom？

3） What surprised Ziyi Zhang about Eminem’s music？

4） How did movie makers make sure that the young Arnold Schwarzenegger would be understood？

5） True or false？ Arnold Schwarzenegger is resentful［怨恨的］of the way he was treated in Hollywood.

❷ 选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。

1） If you get _ for an award， it’s a sign that you made it big in Hollywood！

acclaim a role a nomination an accent

2） My cousin can lift you from the ground very easily. That’s because he is

3） Johnny is trying to tell us something， but he is so far away and I can’t quite make _ what he’s saying.

a German a deaf mute candid a bodybuilder

up off out on

答案

❶ 阅读课文并回答问题。

1） Nervous/anxious/afraid.

2） She was upset and she didn’t want people to see her cry because she couldn’t understand what the director and other actors were saying.

3） When she started to understand English， she realized that his lyrics were very rude.

4） They got his voice dubbed by the voice of another actor who could speak English more clearly.

5） False. The Austrian actor seems to have a sense of accomplishment when he considers that he was successful.

❷ 选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。

1） a nomination 2） a bodybuilder 3） out

Lights！ Camera！ English！