(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Many of you might watch American movies to help you learn English. I'm Caty Weaver. My colleague Ashley Thompson is here in the studio with me.
Hey, Ashley!
Hey, Caty!
Today on Words to the Wise the two of us are going to talk about movies.
Well, not movies directly. We are actually going to talk about how Americans talk about movies.
We'll go over some common words and phrases that you might not have heard before -- or maybe some you have heard and wondered about.
So, Caty, do you go the movies?
I do! I especially like horror flicks.
Ooh, flicks -- that's a good word. Can you explain that?
Flick is another word for movie. It comes from the word flicker. Back in the early days of movies the equipment in theaters that they used to show the movies was not very advanced. So, the film would go from bright to dark very, very quickly. The light in the film would flicker. So, people called movies "flickers" and then, "flicks."
So, it evolved from flicker to flick.
Mm-hmm, 'cause we like to shorten words.
Yes, we do. Now, when you go to the movie theaters today, you don't see the flicker effect anymore because the machines are much improved, or more advanced. But the name flick for movie has stuck.
I think it might be losing favor, though. I don't hear young people use the term very much. Cinema is probably going the same way; probably losing favor among young people.
Right, so the first definition of cinema is movie theater. But it might also mean the art or industry of moviemaking. People might talk about 'American cinema' or '20th century cinema,' for example.
People also use the word "Hollywood" to refer to movies and movie making. Often when they say Hollywood, though, they are talking more about the industry, or the business of making movies. And when they talk about cinema, they are talking more about the art of movie making.
Another fun term for Hollywood that you might hear is tinseltown. Tinsel is long narrow strips of shiny metal that we use for decoration. People might put tinsel on Christmas trees. And, actually, it can also be used in clothing, as well.
So, does that mean Hollywood is a bright shiny place?
I guess, in a way. It is in full of bright and shiny stars -- movie stars. But the name also suggests a falseness. Tinsel is not really a high quality metal, of course. It shines like it's silver or gold but it's definitely not. It's seen kind of as false or fake, and some people might say that about Hollywood in general.
So, another term you might hear in movie talk is "blockbuster." It sounds a little dangerous but every filmmaker wants one, right?
Yes, definitely. So, if someone calls a movie a blockbuster hit that means it's made a lot of money and its very popular -- many people bought tickets to go see it theaters.
This year, in fact, "LaLa Land," that musical, was a huge hit. It was a blockbuster.
Definitely, the blockbuster of the year.
Right. Another term referring to how a movie does is "sleeper." When a movie is big hit but it wasn't expected to be; or if there wasn't a lot of buzz -- or talk -- about it before it came out but it does really well, it's called a sleeper.
Yeah. You might hear this about films that had a lower budget or were not directed by some of the most famous names in Hollywood. They might be independent movies; a lot of them become sleeper hits.
Right. Also called "indies."
So, sometimes a movie might get a lot of buzz but then it's a flop.
Which means it does poorly at the box office and also sometimes with critics, too. Yeah. A movie that's a big flop is kind of a disaster for its makers.
So to flop as a verb means to fall or hang, kind of in a heavy, loose way. So when a movie flops, it's a very hard fall -- really another way of saying failure.
So, we hope this Words to the Wise has not been a flop. We'd love to know what you thought of the show and, also we'd like suggestion for future shows -- what kind of words or phrases you'd like to hear about.
I'm Caty Weaver.
And I'm Ashley Thompson.
重点解析
1.go over 仔细检查;认真讨论;用心思考
I won't know how successful it is until an accountant has gone over the books.
要等到会计核查完账簿，我才会知道盈利状况如何。
2.evolve from 从…逐渐形[发展]成
It has taken us several million years to evolve from the apes.
我们人类从猿类开始进化用了几百万年的时间。
3.in a way 在某种程度上
He dresses in a way that lets everyone know he's got authority
他的穿着打扮让大家都知道他已经掌权了。
参考译文
你们许多人也许期冀看美国电影来提高英语。我是卡蒂·韦弗。今天的演播室里还有我的同事阿什丽·汤普森。
你好，阿什丽！
你好，卡蒂！
今天的《词汇掌故》节目，我们来聊一聊电影。
好吧，不是直接聊电影。实际上我们是要谈论美国人是怎样聊电影的。
我们会认真讨论一些你也许从未听过的单词和短语——或者也许有些你曾听过和好奇的。
那么，卡蒂，你看电影吗？
我看！我尤其爱看恐怖电影（horror flicks）。
哦，“flicks（电影）”——这个词很好。你能解释下它的意思吗？
“flicks”是电影的另一个词。它出自单词“flicker（闪烁）”。在电影早期，电影院放映电影的机器没有那么先进。所以，电影画面由明到暗转换得特别快。电影里的灯会一闪一闪的。所以，人们称呼电影为“flickers”，然后就诞生了“flicks”。
所以，“flick”是由“flicker”逐渐演变的。
嗯，“因为我们喜欢缩略单词”。
是的，我们确实这样。现在，当你去电影院（movie theaters），你再也看不见画面抖动的现象了，因为机器升级了很多，或者说更先进了。但“flick”表示电影的意思固定下来了。
不过我认为这个词也许要过时。我不经常听见年轻人用这个词。“Cinema”很大可能会步此后尘；很大可能会在年轻人间失宠。
对的，所以“cinema”的第一要义是电影院。但它也可以是电影制作艺术或者行业。例如，人们也许会谈论“美国电影业”或者“20世纪电影业”。
人们也用单词“Hollywood（好莱坞）”指代电影和电影制作。通常他们说好莱坞的时候，他们谈论更多的是电影行业，或者制作电影的业务。当他们谈论“cinema”的时候，他们谈论更多的是电影制作的艺术。
另一个表“好莱坞”意思的你也许听过的趣词是“tinseltown”。“金属箔”是用于装饰的长条性的闪光金属片。人们会在圣诞树上挂亮片。实际上，亮片也可以用在衣服上。
所以，那意味着好莱坞是一个熠熠生辉的地方吗？
我想在某种程度上是。好莱坞全是明亮而闪耀的星星——电影明星。但是这个名字也有点瑕疵。“金属箔”当然不是很高质的金属。它闪闪地像银子和金子，但实质不同。它看起来像假货，有些人可能会说那也是好莱坞的总体情况。
那么，另一词你也许听过的电影行话是“blockbuster（卖座）”。这个词听起来有点危险但每个制片人都想要大卖，对吗？
是的，当然。所以，如果某人说一部电影票房大卖意味着这部电影挣了很多钱而且很受欢迎——很多人买票去电影院观看。
今年，实际上，“LaLa Land（爱乐之城）”，那部歌舞剧，很成功。这是一部热卖大片。
绝对是年度大片。
没错。另一个关于电影的术语是“冷门电影（sleeper）”。当一部电影出乎意料地大获成功，或者上映前没有多少热度或是话题度，但其实票房很好，我们称这部电影为冷门电影。
是的。你也许听说过那些低预算或者不是好莱坞著名导演执导的电影。他们可能是独立电影；他们中的很多都是冷门电影。
对，也被称作“独立制作影片”。
所以，有时一部电影也许热度很高，但是之后票房惨淡（flop）。
意思是票房不卖座，并且有时还伴随着一片差评。一部票房惨淡的电影对于制片人来说无疑是一场灾难。
“flop”作为一个动词，意思是以一种笨重松散的方式倒下或者悬挂。所以，当一个电影遭遇滑铁卢了，那是重摔——真得是失败的另一种说法了。
所以，我们希望这期的《一点就通》不是一期失败的节目。我们很愿意了解你对于这个节目的看法，而且我们也喜欢对于以后节目的建议——你希望听到什么样的单词或者短语。
我是卡蒂·韦弗
我是阿什丽·汤普森。
