1、Unit 4 Stage and screen Developing ideas Good Book, Bad Movie? Activity 1 1.Have you ever read any of these books? What are they about? 2.Have you ever seen the movies or TV plays based on these books? What do you think of them? 红楼梦 了不起的盖茨比 夏洛克福尔摩斯 骆驼祥子 京华烟云 伊里亚特 Activity 2 Scan the passage. Find ou
2、t which of the books in Activity 1 are mentioned. The Great Gatsby and The Iliad Activity 3 Match the authors opinions about the movie adaptations to the examples from the passage. 1 Some parts of the story and some characters are missing in the movie. 2 The visual images are not as striking as the
3、descriptions in the book. 3 The movie is not as great as the book. 4 The movie doesnt look the way we visualised while reading the book. 5 The characters do not stand out. a a d d c c e e b b Think behind this is that while a book usually takes a few days to read, a movie typically lasts under two h
4、ours. This means that great books can lose plot details and characters when they move to the big screen. This is something that even the highly successful Harry Potter movies cant escape from, with fans of the books disappointed not to see some of their favourite characters in the movie versions. 这背
5、后的一个重要原因就是，-本书通常需要花几天的时间来阅读，而一 部电影一般不会超过两小时。这就意味着好书被搬.上大银幕之后，会删 减一些情节和人物。这是连大获成功的哈利.波特”系列电影也无法避免 的事情,有的书迷因为在电影中看不到自己最喜欢的一些角色而大失所望。 这背后的一个重要原因就是，-本书通常需要花几天的时间来阅读，而一 部电影一般不会超过两小时。这就意味着好书被搬上大银幕之后，会删 减一些情节和人物。这是连大获成功的“哈利.波特”系列电影也无法避 免的事情,有的书迷因为在电影中看不到自己最喜欢的一些角色而大失所 望。 4 Movies also disappoint us when th
6、ings dont look the way we imagined them in the books. Take, for example, the epic movie Troy, which is in part based on Homers The Iliad and was met with mixed reviews from the audience. The most questionable issue was the actress chosen to play the part of Helen. Many people thought she didnt live
7、up to Helens title of“the most beautiful woman in the world， influencing opinions of the movie to some extent. 电影呈现出的事物与我们读书时的想象有落差时，我们也会备感失 望。以史诗电影特洛伊为例，它部分改编自荷马的伊利亚 特，观众对它的评论毁誉参半。其中最受争议的问题在于扮演海 伦的女演员。许多人认为她配不上海伦“世上最美的女人”这一- 称号，这一-定程度上影响到了人们对这部电影的评价。 5 There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand peo
8、ples eyes. Furthermore, books and movies are two different forms of media and therefore have different rules. With this in mind, perhaps we should judge a movie in its own right, and not against its original source. Interestingly, audiences have in recent years turned to television series such as Sb
9、erlock or Mad Men, which an have many characters and gradual plot development. Perhaps, one day, readers of E. Scott Fitzgeralds most admired work will find themselves glued to their screens by episodes of The Great Gatsby. 一千个读者就有-千个哈姆雷特。而且书籍和电影是两种不同的媒体形式，因此 也遵循不同的原则。知道了这一点，也许我们应该从电影本身来评价它，而不是 将其与原
10、始版本进行对比。值得注意的是,观众已经逐渐将兴趣转向了神探夏 洛克或广告狂人这样的电视连续剧，因为电视剧能展现更多人物，情节也 得以逐步展开。也许有一天，F .斯科特.菲茨杰拉德最杰出作品的读者们，会发 现自己已被了不起的盖茨比的剧集深深吸引。 Homework Dream of the Red Chamber Dream of the Red Chamber, also called The Story of the Stone, witen by Cao Xueqin,is one of Chinas Four Great Classical Novels. It was written
11、during the Qing Dynasty. The novel is generally considered to be the greatest of all Chinese novels and among the greatest in world literature. The air is full of singing and drinking in 1920s America.By chance, Nick, a poor clerk, broke into the secret world of the moneyspendthrift millionaire Gats
12、by. To his surprise, he found that the only connection in his heart was the small green light on the riverbank - in the shadow of the light dancing, there lived his beloved Daisy.However, the cold reality could not tolerate the illusory dream. In the end, the goddess in Gatsbys heart was just a worl
13、dly material girl.When all the truth comes out, Gatsbys tragic life is just like fireworks. The bright is only a moment, but the disillusionment is eternal. Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes is a fictional consulting detective in London created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
14、Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation,forensic science, and logical reasoning. Together with his assistant, Dr John H. Watson, he pursues criminals throughout London, the south of England, and continental Europe. Rickshaw Boy Written by Lao She, Rickshaw Boy is considered by many to b
15、e one of the masterpieces of modern Chinese literature. It describes the difficult life of a rickshaw puller during the years of warlord turmoil. This book is famous for its vivid descriptions of life in the city of Beijing in the beginning of the 20th century. Moment in Peking Moment in Peking is a
16、 novel oiginally written in English by Chinese author Lin Yutang. The novel covers the turbulent events in China from 1900 to 1938, and it focuses ont the lives of several dfet ailies and people, along with their iteractions during that time. Homers Epic is the earliest Greek epic poem, including Iliad and Odyssey. It is said that it was written by the blind poet Homer, but in fact it originated from folk oral literature.Iliad is the ancient Greek blind poet Homer (800BC-600BC) epic narrative poem.It is an important works of ancient Greek literature and one of the classics of the whole West.
