节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-06-03
难易度:High
关键字:anticipated, sequel, terrorist, prank, animated, franchise, minion
Today we're talking all about movies.
And there are many highly anticipated films rolling out this summer.
Which ones are you eagerly waiting for?
There are many sequels and series coming out.
One that we've already talked about today was Iron Man 3, where Tony Stark goes
to China to face a mastermind.
Well, we have many more movies to talk about today, so let's get started with
our next reading.
Let's Go to the Movies.
Science-fiction fans eagerly await Star Trek Into Darkness, the 12th film in the
Star Trek franchise.
In it, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise must hunt down
the villain responsible for Starfleet's destruction.
Sully and Mike of Monsters, Inc. fame return in Monster's University, which
tells of the pair's days at the University of Fear.
Their initial dislike of each other slowly becomes respect and, eventually,
friendship.
The 3-D format adds to the fun of the college pranks the pair plays on each
other.
Another animated offering, Despicable Me 2, finds Gru, his three adopted
daughters and his band of minions taking on a dangerous villain.
(Music).
Well, these do sound like some wonderful animated films.
Let's go back to the the beginning of this section:
Science-fiction fans eagerly await Star Trek Into Darkness, (we know Carolyn
does) the 12th film in the Star Trek franchise.
Again we see that word "franchise." It's more than just a sequel.
It's a film in a series of films.
That's right.
And to learn a little bit more about what will happen in this 12th film in the
franchise:
In it, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise must hunt down
the villain responsible for Starfleet's destruction.
So it sounds very, very exciting.
That's right.
And you see a phrase there: hunt down.
They're going to hunt down somebody.
When I think of hunting, I think of taking a gun or a bow and arrow, and maybe
trying to find some animals in the forest.
But of course, here when you hunt down somebody, that means you're looking for
them.
You are trying to find them very carefully.
And until you do, you will not give up; you're hunting them down.
That's right.
And they have to find whoever was responsible for destroying Starfleet.
That's right.
Well, it's time for us to look at another movie.
Sully and Mike of Monsters, Inc. fame return in Monsters University.
Carolyn, did you ever see Monsters, Inc.?
I did see Monsters, Inc.
And it was a very fun movie, very light-hearted and a nice animated film that I
really enjoyed, so.
This should be a very fun one as well.
They're going to be in Monsters University, which tells of the pair's days at...
at the University of Fear.
I don't know that I would want to go to a University of Fear, Gabe.
Well, yeah, I don't know if I would, either, Carolyn.
But I loved Monsters, Inc., the first movie.
And I think this is going to be a very fun movie to watch.
Now that phrase at the very beginning of this sentence is "Sully and Mike of
Monsters, Inc. fame..." You could also rephrase this to say:
"Sully and Mike famous for Monsters, Inc.," and then continue the sentence.
So they have this Monsters, Inc. fame.
Well, let's continue learning something with Steve and Ken in the Information
Cloud.
Most of the films in today's lesson are sequels.
That is they are movies that follow or continue the story of other movies that
have already been released.
The one exception is Monsters University.
It's not a sequel, it's a prequel, which is the opposite of a sequel.
Right.
Instead of going forward in time and telling audiences what happens next,
a prequel is a movie or book that goes back in time and tells audiences what
happened before the original story took place.
They're also sometimes called backstories.
So it seems like movie studios are giving us more and more prequels these days.
Why do you think that is?
Well, like sequels, prequels have a pre-existing fan base that is already
familiar with the characters.
This means sequels and prequels aren't as big a financial risk for studios to
produce.
But the one big challenge in creating a successful prequel is writers can't
include a surprise ending.
Right, because audiences already know from the original movie basically how
things will end.
That's why prequels generally focus on character interaction and character
development,
cluing in audiences with how and why events in the original movie took place.
(Chinese).
Well, talking about Monsters, Inc., I guess that this new movie would be
considered a prequel since it is going back in time.
Their initial dislike of each other - talking about Mike and Sully - slowly
becomes respect and, eventually, friendship.
So this is telling the story of how Mike and Sully became such good friends.
That's right.
I guess they didn't like each other at first - their initial dislike.
"Initial" means at first.
So at first, they didn't like each other like you see in that first Monsters,
Inc. movie.
Well, we continue.
The 3-D format adds to the fun of the college pranks the pair plays on each
other.
All right.
So just like a lot of college students and high school students or just good
friends, they play pranks on each other.
Let's take a look at that key word "prank." Carolyn, what is a prank?
Well, a prank is kind of like a practical joke that we talked about in April for
April Fools' Day.
But it's usually something a little bit mean that you are trying to do to
another person to make them feel embarrassed.
That's right.
I remember one prank.
I was in the dorms in my high school.
One prank that some people played was they stacked up many cans, empty can,
drink cans in front of a door.
And so when the person opened the door, all of the cans fell into the room.
That was a simple kind of prank.
It's a harmless prank.
There are some very mean pranks.
We don't encourage you to do those.
But sometimes playing simple pranks on other friends can be a little bit fun.
And we see that Mike and Sully, I guess they're going to do that in this
Monsters, Inc. movie.
Well, we do have another animated offering.
Despicable Me 2 finds Gru, his three adopted daughters and his band of minions
taking on a dangerous villain.
Well, hey, let's take a look at some of those words in that sentence.
The first is from our Word Bank.
It is "animated." And this is an important word to know if you're talking about
movies.
Many movies today are animated.
I don't want to say "cartoon." Some animated movies are cartoons.
But usually when we say "animated," we're talking about using better special
effects but they're not using real people or real backgrounds.
That's right.
So you might animate a movie on a computer and 3-D movies like Mike and Sully in
Monsters, Inc. University.
It sounds like they are going to be uh, an animated 3-D movie.
It sounds like a lot of fun.
But this one, we're talking about Despicable Me 2.
And he has three adopted daughters and a band of minions, Gabe.
That's right, minions, his band of minions.
They're his followers.
A minion is someone who maybe works for you, but they adore you, they love you,
they love working for you.
And you might see this word or maybe see this kind of person working for someone
like a villain or obviously like someone like Gru from Despicable Me.
If you ever saw the first one, it's a very cute movie.
And I'm sure this next one will be great as well.
Well, let's continue doing something special.
Let's enjoy a review skit.
And then join Michelle in the Language Lab.
Hooray! The summer movie season is finally here.
Yes. The studios are rolling out their biggest pictures.
I've been waiting.
I'm expecting a lot.
And summer 2013 will not disappoint.
I want to see Iron Man 3.
Tony Stark is traveling to China, where he faces the terrorist mastermind.
Ooh. And he must rely on his own ingenuity to survive, not his super suit.
Yeah. Let's go.
Wait. Wait. Wait. Star Trek Into Darkness is also playing.
Hmm, with Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise?
Yes. They're hunting down the villain responsible for Starfleet's destruction.
Wow! Maybe we should go see that one.
Wait. Wait. Wait. Now wait before.
Sully and Mike of Monsters, Inc. are back, too.
I love Monsters, Inc.
What about the new movie?
Well, it's Monsters University.
It tells about Sully and Mike's days at the University of Fear and all their
college pranks.
And it's in 3-D.
Wow! That sounds pretty good.
Also showing is Despicable Me 2.
That's another great movie.
Wow! I want to go see that one.
There are so many great titles.
Which one should we see?
Let's see them all.
OK.
(Chinese).
And let's get back to our teachers now.
Well, so far today we've talked about some sequels and movie franchises and, of
course, some animated movies.
Well, I do wonder about what sequels you thought were better than the original
movies.
There've been many movies that came out.
Sometimes the sequel is better.
Most of the time we think the original is the best.
But Carolyn, has there ever been any sequel or part of a series that you thought
was better than the first one?
Well, actually I thought Toy Story 3 was much better than that first or the
second one.
It was so moving and just a wonderful story.
You know, that's the one I was thinking about, too, Carolyn.
I loved Toy Story 3.
Well, it's time for us to say goodbye for today.
But do come back next time because we have more to talk about about the summer
movies.
See you next time on Studio Classroom.