常春藤解析英語 52 Hollywood: Home of Movie History　電影之都好萊塢

Hollywood: Home of Movie History　電影之都好萊塢

by Jerri Graham

In the hills above Los Angeles, you can see an image that is familiar to millions: tall, white letters spelling "HOLLYWOOD." It is a famous symbol of the world's movie capital. However, Hollywood wasn't always so well known. In 1853, only a single mud hut stood there. Two decades later, the area just west of Los Angeles was a farming community. It wasn't until the early 1900s that the film industry arrived and changed Hollywood forever.

In film's early days, most movies were made in New Jersey on the US east coast. However, bad weather and limited sunlight made making movies there difficult. Added to this was the fact that Thomas Edison had patents in the east on most filmmaking technology, and getting permission to use it was expensive. In the west, however, these patents were rarely obeyed. In 1910, director D.W. Griffith arrived in Los Angeles to film the short movie In Old California. He loved filming there and quickly spread the word of this great location. Cecil B. DeMille, one of the all-time greatest directors, filmed The Squaw Man in Hollywood in 1914. It was the west coast's first full-length movie, a huge success, and the reason why the film industry never left California again.

Hollywood has since grown a lot, adding famous movie studios and becoming the center of the motion picture world. Less well known is a film editing company called Hollywood Digital Laboratory. When it first opened its doors in 1911, it was called Hollywood Film Laboratory. As Hollywood's oldest operating film company, the small building is a different kind of Hollywood landmark showing how the town began years ago and how far it has come since then.

1. Prior to becoming a place to make films, Hollywood was _____.

(A) agricultural land

(B) known as Los Angeles

(C) strictly governed

(D) located on the east coast

2. Which of the following is FALSE about early filmmaking?

(A) The industry became successful on the west coast.

(B) The light on the east coast was inferior to that of the west.

(C) Filmmakers moved production to Hollywood for many reasons.

(D) All films were made on the American east coast.

3. Why does the article mention Hollywood Digital Laboratory?

(A) It shows how famous Hollywood is now.

(B) It is still Hollywood's only film laboratory.

(C) It is notable in the history of Hollywood.

(D) It is more important than the big movie studios.

精解字詞詞組

1. be familiar to sb　　對某人來說很熟悉

be familiar with sb/sth　　熟悉某人∕某物

例: That singer is familiar to almost everybody across the island.

(島上的人幾乎無人不識那位歌手。)

例: Are you familiar with this system?

(你熟悉這個系統(tǒng)嗎?)

2. It isn't/wasn't until...that...　　直到……才……

例: It wasn't until I arrived at the office that I realized I'd left the project at home.

(我到了辦公室才知道我把那份項目留在家里了。)

3. be added to...　　增添到……之上

例: Sliced carrots were added to the soup.

(這碗湯里頭加了紅蘿卜切片。)

4. permission n. 許可

permit vt. 允許

permit sb to V　　允許某人做……

例: The teacher permitted Sean to hand in his report two days late.

(老師允許史恩可以晚兩天交報告。)

5. spread the word of...　　散布……的消息

例: Lily couldn't wait to spread the word of her wedding.

(莉莉等不及要宣布自己結(jié)婚的消息。)

6. prior to + N/V-ing　　(時間)在……之前

例: Prior to the war, John was a teacher.

(在戰(zhàn)爭之前，約翰是一名老師。)

7. govern vt. 管理，統(tǒng)治

government n. 政府

例: The small country is governed by a set of strict laws.

(那個小國以一套嚴刑厲法治理。)

8. be located on + 地方上/in + 區(qū)域內(nèi)或大地方/at + 小地方

= be situated on/in/at...

位于∕座落在……

例: Our company is located in downtown Taipei.

(我們公司位于臺北市中心。)

9. be inferior to...　　比……差

be superior to...　　比……好∕優(yōu)良

例: This camera is superior to the one I bought a few years ago.

(這臺相機比我?guī)啄昵百I的那臺來得好。)

文法一點靈

Hollywood has since grown a lot...

...and how far it has come since then.

注意:

a. 上述第一句中的 since 作副詞用，表『從那時起、自此以后』，修飾完成(進行)式的主要子句，since 可置于句尾或句中完成式助動詞 have、has、had 之后。

例: Lisa had an operation last month. She has since made a full recovery.

(莉莎上個月開刀。從那時起她已經(jīng)完全康復(fù)了。)

b. 上述第二句中的 since 作介詞用，表『自從……』、『自……之后』，之后接明確的時間、名詞、動名詞或時間副詞 then，形成副詞詞組，修飾完成(進行)式的主要子句。

例: Since moving to Japan, Al has written many interesting stories about his life there.

(自從搬到日本后，艾爾寫了很多有趣的生活故事。)

難句分析

* Less well known is a film editing company called Hollywood Digital Laboratory.

= A film editing company called Hollywood Digital Laboratory is less well known.

(有個較不為人知的電影剪接公司叫做『好萊塢數(shù)字實驗室』。)

單字小鋪

1. capital n. 首都

2. mud n. 泥巴

3. hut n. 小屋

4. patent n. 專利

5. filmmaking n. 電影制片

6. all-time a. 空前的

7. squaw n. 北美原住民女子(貶意)

8. full-length a. 長篇的;未刪節(jié)的

9. motion picture　　電影

10. editing n. 剪接

11. digital a. 數(shù)位的

12. laboratory n. 實驗室

13. landmark n. 地標

14. agricultural a. 農(nóng)業(yè)的

15. strictly adv. 嚴格地

16. production n. 制作

17. notable a. 值得注意的;顯著的

中文翻譯&標準答案

在洛杉磯的山丘上，你可以看到數(shù)百萬人熟悉的景象：高聳的白色字母寫著 HOLLYWOOD。這是世界電影之都著名的象征。然而，好萊塢不是一直都這么有名。1853 年時，這里只有一間小泥屋。二十年后，這洛杉磯的西區(qū)也不過是個農(nóng)村。直到 20 世紀初電影工業(yè)進駐后一切才改觀，并永遠改變了好萊塢。

在電影發(fā)展初期，大多數(shù)電影都是在美國東岸的紐澤西拍攝。然而，天候不佳和日照不足使電影拍攝工作困難。另一個原因是愛迪生在東岸擁有大多數(shù)電影科技的專利，而取得專利使用許可非常昂貴。然而在西岸，沒什么人遵守專利權(quán)。1910 年，導(dǎo)演葛里菲斯到洛杉磯拍攝短片 In Old California。他喜歡在此拍片，不久就到處宣揚這個絕佳的地點。史上最偉大的導(dǎo)演之一賽西爾?迪米爾于 1914 年在好萊塢拍攝了西岸的第一部電影長片 The Squaw Man，結(jié)果大獲成功，而這也是電影工業(yè)從此在加州扎根的原因。

好萊塢從此蓬勃發(fā)展，著名的電影片廠也進駐了，變成電影世界的中心。有個較不為人知的電影剪接公司叫做『好萊塢數(shù)字實驗室』，它在 1911 年時以『好萊塢電影實驗室』的名稱開幕。身為好萊塢最古老且仍在營運的電影公司，這間小房子是好萊塢另一種地標，顯示著這個城鎮(zhèn)多年前如何發(fā)跡，以及它后來長足的發(fā)展。

1. 成為拍片地點之前，好萊塢 _____。

(A) 是塊農(nóng)地

(B) 以洛杉磯之名著稱

(C) 受到嚴格管理

(D) 位在東岸

題解: 根據(jù)第一段，1853 年時，好萊塢只有一間小泥屋，即使是二十年后，這里也只不過是個農(nóng)村，故應(yīng)選 (A)。

2. 關(guān)于早期的電影制作，下列何者為非?

(A) 電影工業(yè)在西岸很成功。

(B) 東岸的光線不如西岸充足。

(C) 制片家因為眾多理由而將制作移至好萊塢。

(D) 所有電影都是在美國東岸拍攝。

題解: 根據(jù)第二段，在電影發(fā)展初期，大多數(shù)電影都是在美國東岸拍攝，并非所有電影;此外，導(dǎo)演葛里菲斯和賽西爾?迪米爾都曾在西岸的好萊塢拍過片，因此 (D) 為錯誤敘述，故選之。

3. 為何文章中提到『好萊塢數(shù)字實驗室』?

(A) 它顯示好萊塢現(xiàn)在多有名。

(B) 它依舊是好萊塢唯一的電影實驗室。

(C) 它在好萊塢的歷史上占有重要地位。

(D) 它比電影大片廠還重要。

題解: 根據(jù)第三段，『好萊塢數(shù)字實驗室』的前身是『好萊塢電影實驗室』。身為好萊塢最古老的電影剪接公司，這間小房子是好萊塢另一種地標，顯示這個城鎮(zhèn)多年前如何發(fā)跡，以及它后來長足的發(fā)展，意思與 (C) 相近，故選之。

標準答案: 1. (A)　2. (D)　3. (C)