A:Look at this, A Brief Introduction of Hollywood.
看这条消息,好莱坞简介。
B:Hackneyed theme!
都老掉牙了!
A:What? How much do you know Hollywood?
什么?关于好莱坞你知道多少?
B:Nearly eveythyng.
了如指掌。
A:You are full of boasts. I can examine you by question and answer. What is Hollywood? Where is it? What is the function of it?
别吹了。让我用问答的方式考考你。好莱坞指什么?在哪儿?它是干啥的?
B:Too easy queations. Listen carefully. Hollywood is the movie capital of the world.It is located in southern Califomia. Many films have been made there, and the kinds have changed often.
这也叫问题。仔细听着。好莱坞是世界电影之都,坐落在加利福尼亚南部,很多影片都是在这儿拍的,影片的风格也在不停地变化。
A:Not bad. What kind of film did it produce from the eady to mid 1930's
还行。那么从20世纪30年代初期到中期它生产什么样的片子?
B:Gangster movies. Movie-goers at that time could get a look at the people involved in crime and their violent activities by watching it.
警匪片。那时的影迷们通过看这种片子可以看到犯罪的人和他们的暴力行为。
A:Mm. What came after that?
嗯,后来呢?
B:After all that violence, people needed to laugh, so from the mid-to-late l940's, many detective movies about policemen who solved crimes were made. Then came musicals.
看够了暴力片过后,人们需要一些笑料。这样30年代中后期,喜剧开始得到观众的青睐。
A:Pretty good. Please continue.
不错,接着说。
B:Right. By the mid-50's, this light-hearted genre was competing with films about more serious aubjects. There was one kind that could be found throughout all of these years, and that was the ,mm,the. . .
很好。到了50年代中期,这种轻喜剧形式受到严肃题材影片的冲击。还有一类片子是贯穿整个时期的,是……,嗯,是……。
A:The western films about America's cowbays,Indians and early settlers.
西部片。是关于美洲牛仔印第安人和早期移民的。
B:Come on.
请继续。
A:Since the early 1960's, there are horror movies about people who encounter frightening, unnatural situations, and serious films such as documentaris about events that actually happened, and science fiction movies about possible frrture and future worlds. Some people have also enjoyed watching psycho-dramas about the everyday problems that people have.
从60年代起,关于人们经历恐惧、神秘事件的恐怖片开始兴趣。也有严肃题材的关于真实事件的纪录片,以及关于有可能发生的未来事件和未来世界的科幻片。还有些观众喜欢看的关于日常问题的心理剧。
B:Any more?
还有吗?
A:Of course, no list of film would be complete without animated movies. These are especially popular among children.
当然,如果没有动画片,那电影世界就不算完整。这也是小观众喜欢看的影片。