节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-01-17
难易度:High
关键字:household name, extensive, cast, intellect, BAFTA [British Academy of Film
and Television Arts], car
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And I'm Carolyn.
And you are joining us for the second day, or the second part of our lesson
about an incredibly inspirational actor Benedict Cumberbatch.
And this actor has played a variety of roles and played them really well.
And especially with his role as Sherlock Holmes, he's developed quite a large
fan base.
But of course, we also learned that success is very possible without fame as he
was quite successful before becoming really famous.
Well, what choice will we read about today?
Diligence!
Open your magazine and let's get reading.
Then we'll join Michelle in the Language Lab.
Benedict Cumberbatch.
Choosing diligence.
Even before Cumberbatch became a rather long and silly-sounding household name,
the parts he played showed that he was a quality actor.
In fact his first leading character on screen, after a couple years of TV work,
came with Hawking, about the world-famous physicist in his younger years.
He undertook extensive preparation for the role, including meeting Stephen
Hawking and others with his disease,
which probably contributed to his BAFTA nomination for the part.
Hard work may be the primary reason that Cumberbatch is constantly cast as
highly intelligent men,
including TV roles Sherlock Holmes and Vincent Van Gogh.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
Thank you, Michelle.
So, diligence.
If you are diligent, you are hard working and you make the most of the time that
you have.
You can be diligent, have diligence or do something diligently.
Remember, work diligently whether you're a student or if you have a job.
Yes. Well, we see here that Cumberbatch has chosen diligence in his life.
Our first sentence reads:
Even before Cumberbatch became a rather long and silly-sounding household name,
the parts he played showed that he was a quality actor.
But before we continue with this thought, let's see what Steve and Ken have to
share with us in the Information Cloud about this actor's name.
Singers, musicians, writers, athletes, even politicians will sometimes change
their names as a way to help further their careers.
Right. If you want to be a public figure and your name is dull, unattractive,
difficult to pronounce or difficult to spell, who's going to remember you?
For actors, these new names are called stage names.
Stage names might be given by an agent, a manager or a film studio executive.
Hey, it's good for business.
It is.
Have you ever heard of a guy named Thomas Mapother IV?
It sounds a bit nerdy, and I'm not even sure I said it correctly, but that's Tom
Cruise.
Or how about Norma Jean Baker?
Not as glamorous-sounding as the stage name Marilyn Monroe, is it?
No, it's not.
This month's PROFILE personality actor Benedict Cumberbatch didn't adopt a stage
name but many think he should have.
Cumberbatch is a name that's hard to pronounce and yes, a little silly sounding.
But maybe Cumberbatch's unique name is now working in his favor because it's so
amusing people might be more apt to remember it.
Perhaps.
Incidentally, friends, Cumberbatch's father, also a successful professional
actor, did adopt a stage name.
He's known as Timothy Carlton.
(Chinese).
Thanks, you guys.
Well, you may or may not know it, but many people have talked to Cumberbatch
about his rather silly-sounding name.
People have suggested that he take a stage name.
He was even considering taking his father's last name Carlton for a bit before
someone convinced him that Benedict Cumberbatch would stand out more.
You know what I heard?
Even his mother advised him to get a stage name.
But it's a good thing he decided to stick with Benedict Cumberbatch.
I really think it's... it's in his favor to have that name.
Well, it certainly is a household name now.
That is a name almost anyone knows.
What are other household names?
Brad Pitt, Justin Bieber, Michael Jackson.
Katy Perry, Barack Obama, Mother Teresa.
Many famous people's names have become household names.
Well, before Cumberbatch was a household name, he was a quality actor.
Let's talk about that word for a minute.
"Quality" here is used to describe what kind of actor he is.
So his acting is quality acting or it has great qualities to it.
How else can you use this word?
Hmm... Adele, a singer with a household name, has a quality voice.
Oh, she certainly does.
And she has quality songs, too.
Maybe there's someone you really admire in your life.
You could say that person is a quality guy or a quality girl.
Speaking of, I think this is a real quality lesson.
Nathanael Dunn, the author, is a quality guy.
OK, now back to Benedict.
We read that his first leading character on screen came with the movie Hawking,
about the world-famous physicist in his younger years.
He was a leading character in that movie.
That means he was one of the main characters.
And in that movie, he was the main character.
But what's another kind of role?
Well, sometimes we talk about supporting roles.
Supporting roles or supporting actors are those who are also very important in a
play or movie, but they're not the main ones.
Every year at the Academy Awards, an award is given to Best Actors and also to
Best Supporting Actors.
That's right, among many others.
Well, Cumberbatch played the role of Stephen Hawking.
And he did an incredible amount of research for this role.
Our lesson says he undertook extensive preparation for the role.
If you undertake something, that means you take it upon yourself to do
something.
So he undertook extensive preparation for this role.
What does extensive mean?
That means it's not a little amount of something.
He spent lots of time preparing for this role.
I would say he did extensive research for this role.
What other things require extensive research?
Well, sometimes just doing a project in school or at work requires extensive
research.
Doctors and scientists do extensive research to figure out the cures, so many
diseases in the world can be cured.
That's right.
Or my sister has to do extensive research as a lawyer to find out the truth
about certain criminals.
Have you ever done extensive research on something.
What was it?
Talk about that in English.
Well, part of Cumberbatch's extensive research or preparation included actually
meeting Stephen Hawking and others with his disease.
His doing so probably contributed to his BAFTA nomination for the part.
And what is BAFTA?
Well, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, BAFTA.
He was nominated for this award.
That means several others chose him as a possibility to receive the award.
But let's take a look at the word "contribute." This means to be the cause of
something or to give to something.
Right. I often think of people contributing money or other valuable things to
those in need.
You can contribute your time, energy, money and other things to help those who
need it.
But you can use this word in other ways, too.
For example, you can contribute your ideas in class.
That's a great way to actively participate.
Don't just sit there. Contribute to the class.
Or you could say: My newborn baby contributes to my sleepiness.
I didn't sleep last night because the baby kept crying.
There are many ways to use this word.
What sentence can you contribute using this word?
Well, I didn't know you had a baby, Gabe, and...
I don't!
Back to Cumberbatch, we read that hard work may be the primary reason that
Cumberbatch is constantly cast as highly intelligent men,
including Sherlock Holmes and Vincent Van Gogh.
So the lesson is if you want to be cast as a highly intelligent person in a
movie, be diligent.
Work hard.
Uh, well, and also get some training as an actor.
That's right.
Well, we have more of this, an actor's wise choices to look at today.
And we'll do this right after a short break.