节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-11-28
难易度:Low
关键字:defender, entertain, surf, college, cattle station, soap opera
Welcome back, everybody.
It seems, to me, anyway, in the last 15 years or so, there's been a flood of
Hollywood heartthrobs that hail from Australia.
You might remember that we profiled the Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman, and
then Sam Worthington of Avatar fame.
Well, now it's Chris Hemsworth's turn.
Let's get back to the reading and learn about this Aussie actor's journey from
cattle ranch to the big screen on line 14.
Chris Hemsworth - Hollywood's Latest Superhero.
Since they had no TV, Hemsworth and his brothers learned to entertain
themselves.
They played outside, building weapons and forts.
Later the family settled on Philip's Island south of Melbourne where Hemsworth
enjoyed surfing.
After Hemsworth graduated from Heathmost College, he decided to try acting.
His older brother Luke had already become a successful actor.
Hemsworth began with small roles on Australian TV.
Then he landed a role on a popular Australian soap opera Home and away.
Today we're looking at the rising star and superhero Chris Hemsworth.
We more commonly know him as Thor, but that's not all his career has to offer.
Right now we're looking at where he got his start, where he grew up in
Australia.
We learned he lived on a cattle station for a lot of years.
And Ryan, right before the break, you said there wasn't much entertainment
there.
So what did they do?
Yeah. Well, there's not much to do on a farm.
So, well, Chris and his brothers had to find out how to entertain themselves
because they had no TV.
That's right.
Now to "entertain" yourself - to "entertain" means to keep a group of people
interested or enjoying themselves.
So if you are entertained, sometimes we are entertained by television, you sit
interested in what's going on.
But they didn't have one, so they needed to find activities, games, outside...
things, running around.
But they're boys, and there's lots of space, I'm sure they found lots to do.
Oh, absolutely.
They're on a farm, Kaylah, so you'd think they'd be outside; and that's exactly
what they did.
They played outdoors, building weapons and forts.
Now I might... I'm not a boy, but I did grow up in a very countryside area, and
I built a lot of forts.
Now forts are a protected area.
But when you're talking about children building a fort, usually that means it's
made out of things they can find laying around.
Maybe tree branches and rocks.
And you put it together and create yourself a little... a little room protection
as you play.
It's fun.
Yeah. You build a small little building that protects you as you're pretending
to fight your friends.
And so boys often do this, and they feel like they're men, like they're warriors
that can stay in their forts.
And it's a lot of fun.
Well, later the family settled on Phillip's Island south of Melbourne where
Hemsworth enjoyed surfing.
So he got quite a bit of different experiences living in the city, living out in
the middle of nowhere on the ranch-styled... living style,
and then moved to the... an island where he could surf.
And that's fun.
Yeah. Now friends, "surfing" is a sport where you ride on waves in the ocean and
you're standing on a certain kind of board called a surfboard.
And that is actually very popular at many beaches around the world.
That's right.
Now I have tried surfing and I'm terrible.
So I respect everyone who can do it well.
Yes. It's not very easy.
And so here he's actually, I guess, he's able to do it.
That's right.
Now he enjoyed it.
He got out, seems like a really adventurous kind of man.
Yeah, he does, which fits him very well, especially for his character Thor.
And I mean, just look at him!
With his long hair and uh, he looks very handsome the way he stands and
everything, he looks like a surfer, someone who surfs.
That's right.
He is very masculine, he does man activities.
Now after Hemsworth graduated from Heathmost College, he decided to try acting.
So he's very versatile.
OK. So finally he's starting to act, not just spending time outdoors playing.
He's actually starting to act.
And did he act in plays, do you know that around?
I'm not exactly sure.
But first, let's take a look at where he graduated from.
It said he graduated from Heathmost College.
Now you might recognize university and college.
They seem interchangeable.
Now if you're in America using American English, they are.
College and university refer to the same high level of education you go to after
high school.
But in other places, "college" refers to this specific school you're studying
in.
So a university could have a lot of colleges focusing on different areas.
His, though, is maybe a little bit smaller.
But it also means that when he attends college, it means he's paying for his
education.
Exactly.
He's paying to learn how, in this case, to act.
And so at this time, his older brother Luke, he had already become a successful
actor.
I guess playing together out in the forts making believe they were different
people paid off for them.
It was something good because his older brother was already successful.
That means he was making money.
That means he was getting work and enjoying his job.
And Chris must have looked him and said: Well, I can do that too. I should give
that a try.
OK. That's a good point, Kaylah.
They spent a lot of time playing when they were younger, and so that time was
not wasted time.
They weren't just, you know, having fun building those forts.
They were actually learning how to become successful actors.
That's right.
Now Chris Hemsworth is who we're still talking about, so Hemsworth...
You know, Ryan, we did just say that his brother did this too.
So "Hemsworth" could be confusing in the sentence because it could mean both
people.
But today we're specifically talking about Chris, not his brother Luke.
That's right.
And Chris he began with small roles in Australian TV, so.
He studied acting; and of course, his brother was already successful, so Chris
decided to try his hand at it.
That means he decided to see what it was like and try it himself.
Now it's important to remember.
We say you... you... had a small role - as a role being the part that you play -
on TV.
Now remember, friends, they're not in the TV because I've heard friends say this
before that it's... it's strange.
You're not in the actual TV.
We are on TV.
You see the person acting on, not inside the box.
Exactly, yes. They are on TV.
And so finally now it looks like Chris, he finally was an actor on Australian TV
with a few small roles.
Then he landed a role on a popular Australian soap opera Home and Away.
OK, so here he's on a soap opera.
Now a "soap opera" is usually a daytime show that has many different characters,
and it's involving their relationships with each other.
That's right.
It's usually a long series too.
It's not just one or two episodes.
There's a lot of them.
Some soap operas go for just 15 or 20 episodes, but a lot go for years.
They can go on for years on daily shows.
So he landed a role, he got a part.
And this starts his acting career on a popular Australian TV show.
That's not where it stops.
That's right.
We'll see more about his successful journey after we visit the Chat Room.
And then join us again tomorrow.
Hey, Ken.
What are you up to?
Oh, I'm just filling out a survey for a friend.
Hey, Bryan, it says here: year graduated college.
Shouldn't that be year graduated from college?
Let's see.
Hmm, you're right, Ken.
It should be year graduated from college.
Although nowadays you'll hear some people say they graduated college or
graduated high school.
So it's wrong to say I graduated college next year?
Yes. I'm afraid so.
"Graduate" is an intransitive verb, so it doesn't take an object.
What do you mean?
Well, let me ask you this.
Do you say "go college" or "arrive college"?
No. You go to college and you arrive at college.
Right.
Go and arrive are intransitive verbs, so they can't take "college" as an object.
If you say I graduated college, it's like saying I slept my bed.
If you want to clarify where you slept, you need a prepositional phrase.
I slept in my bed.
Oh, I get it.
So I have to say I graduated from college to indicate where I graduated from.
You've got it.
What about the noun "graduate"?
Oh, you mean graduate.
A graduate is a person.
Oh, graduate.
Right.
So should I say a person is a graduate of a college or graduate from a college?
In that case, Ken, you should say so-and-so is a graduate of a school since
you're using "graduate" as a noun.
The preposition "from" is used mostly with verbs.
I see.
Well, here's your survey.
Thanks.
(Chinese).
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
And that's it for today.
Keep up the good work.
And I'll see you tomorrow.
You know, there are a lot of Australian actors like Chris Hemsworth who go to
school to learn how to speak English like an American.
Apparently, when it comes to overseas movie productions, standard American
English is what directors and producers look for the most.
Fair or not, foreign actors and actresses who can speak English with an American
accent have an edge over those who can't.
Friends, you can continue perfecting your English with us tomorrow when we talk
more about Hollywood's latest superhero, Chris Hemsworth.
Until then, take care.