节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-05-08
难易度:High
关键字:celebrity, notion, resilience, seires, blockbuster, blacklist, sitcom
If you're just joining us, we are learning about Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
He is "Just a RegularJOE." We'll learn more about that title later in our
lesson.
But for now we have already talked about him being famous.
He's become famous worldwide for some blockbusters.
However, he doesn't regard celebrity as something very important.
So how is it that this rising star has gotten a start without breaking a sweat?
We're going to be looking at some possibilities in the next part of our lesson
today.
(Music).
Just a RegularJOE.
Maybe it's in the family.
Gordon-Levitt's late grandfather Michael Gordon was a director of plays and
films, a few of which won Academy Awards.
Gordon's career survived the blacklisting of the 1950s,
revealing a resilience that may have inspired Gordon-Levitt's survival of the
change from child to adult actor.
At six, he began his profession with commercials for peanut butter and, later,
cereals.
In 1992, he burst into the movies with Beethoven and A River Runs Through It
before landing the TV sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun in 1996.
His role as a series regular made him famous and won him several awards.
He does seem to be having a lot of success.
And in this section, we see "Maybe it's in the family." Maybe he's successful
because of his family.
We see Gordon-Levitt's late grandfather Michael Gordon was a director of plays
and films, a few of it... a few of which won Academy Awards.
Now it says "his late grandfather." What does that mean, Gabe?
Well, "late" is a polite way to say that someone has passed away.
So if you describe someone as late, his late grandfather, that means his
grandfather passed away.
It could be recently, or it could be a long time ago.
His grandfather passed away in 1993, almost 20 years ago.
So this is his late grandfather.
That's right.
And we saw that he was a director of plays and films, and some of them won
Academy Awards.
So his grandfather was also successful.
We also see that Gordon's career survived the blacklisting of the 1950s,
revealing a resilience that may have inspired Gordon-Levitt's survival of the
change from child to adult actor.
Because as we mentioned before, that's not an easy transition to do.
Now there's a word in here, Gabe.
What... what word are we going to talk about?
Well, we see an underlined word there "blacklisted." Now Gordon-Levitt's
grandfather, he survived the blacklisting of the 1950's.
So maybe some of his work was not accepted.
It was hard to do work back then and... and get it accepted.
But it reveals a resilience that may have inspired Joseph Gordon-Levitt's
survival. OK.
So let's take a look at this Word Bank word: resilience.
If you have resilience to something, that means maybe you fall down, maybe you
get hurt, you're in pain,
but you get back up and you do even better, and you make it seem easy.
That is resilience.
That's right.
And a lot of times when I think about this word, I think about someone having
resilience when they are ill.
So when you are sick, and you make a full recovery, you might say that that
person is resilient.
That is resilient.
Maybe someone can be resilient.
Or you might talk about some insects or pests that you don't like.
You spray them with poison, but they become resilient.
Sometimes that's how it is.
The cockroaches are resilient to this bug spray.
They will not die.
They have resilience.
That's right.
Well, continuing we see:
At six, so at age six, he began his profession with commercials for peanut
butter and, later, cereals.
So he started off very simply doing commercials for peanut butter and cereal.
That's right.
And in 1992, he burst into the movies with Beethoven and A River Runs Through It
before landing the TV sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun in 1996.
I get this idea of coming on really strong.
When you burst into something, that means it's kind of like a surprise.
You burst into it.
That's right.
So he burst into these movies.
And then later he landed a job, or he landed the TV sitcom.
And this is kind of an interesting way to use the word "land." Usually I think
of landing something,
you would maybe "land a plane" as you've been flying and then you land.
But that's not what it means here, Gabe.
No. This means he achieved something.
This means he... he got something.
So he landed in the... the TV sitcom.
Or you could also use it in another way.
He landed a job at the bank.
That means he achieved something, he got something.
That's right.
So "land" here is not quite the same as landing a plane.
Well, his role as a series regular made him famous and won him several awards.
So he was a regular person or a regular character on this series.
Now "series" is a word from our Word Bank.
So let's take a look at that.
What is a series, Gabe?
Well, a series is more than just one of something.
So of course, if you see a movie, that's usually not series.
But if you're watching a TV show, and... and you can see it many times, maybe
once a week or couple times a week, that might be a TV series.
So he was on this series.
Well, now we want to take a little time to watch a review skit.
And then we'll join Michelle in the Language Lab.
Oh... Oh! I know who you are.
You're a big celebrity, right?
Actually, I'm just a regular Joe.
A regular Joe? No. No.
You're a celebrity Joe, a special Joe, a Hollywood Joe, a VIP Joe.
I really don't like this notion that some people are more important than other
people.
What do you mean?
You're Joseph Gordon-Livett... Levitt.
Recent blockbusters have made you famous worldwide.
You've been acting for ages.
Yes. I have a quarter century experience in the entertainment industry.
The road of fame is rough on young stars like you, huh?
Actually, I've been traveling with ease.
With ease?
Yes.
A rising star like you?
I'm on the road to success without breaking a sweat.
No sweat, huh.
What's your secret?
It's in the family.
My grandfather was a director of films and plays.
He won some Academy Awards.
I was inspired by his resilience.
Tell me, how did it all begin?
Peanut butter commercials.
Then cereal, and then movies.
And then TV!
That TV series made you famous.
Yes, without breaking a sweat.
(Chinese).
And now it's time to go back to our teachers.
Today we've been learning a little bit about Joseph Gordon-Levitt and his
success as an actor.
And we were talking about his late grandfather Michael Gordon who was also
involved in the film industry,
and how maybe that helped to influence Gordon-Levitt in his own career.
Well, I wonder is there someone in your family that you are like the most.
Gabe, are you very similar to one of your family members?
Yeah. It's a good question.
I think we all kind of resemble some family members.
Um, I'd say I'm a lot like my mom, actually.
She's... she's pretty outgoing.
She loves talking to strangers and new people.
She's also very sweet and caring and humble.
So am I.
And um, lots of other things.
I think I'm pretty much like my mom.
Oh. Well, that's... it's very good.
Well, who are you like?
We have a lot more to learn about Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the next two days.
So I hope that you will join us again here on Studio Classroom.
See you then.