学位英语

第三十六篇 Life as a Movie Extra

Ordinary people have always been attracted to the world of movies and movie stars. One way to get closer to this world is to become a movie extra. Although you have seen movie extras, you may not have paid attention to them. Extras are the people seated at tables in a restaurant while the two main actors are in conversation. They are the guests at the wedding of the main characters. They are the people crossing the street while “the bad guy" is being chased by the police. Extras don’t normally speak any lines, but they help make the scenes look real1.

Being a movie extra might seem like a lot of fun. You get to see what life is like behind the scenes. But don’t forget that being an extra is really a job, and it’s mostly about doing nothing. First-time extras are often shocked to learn how slow the process of movie making is. In a finished movie, the action may move quickly. But it can sometimes take a whole day to shoot a scene that appears for just a few minutes on the screen.

The main requirement for being an extra is the ability to wait. You may report to work at 5 or 6 a. m.，and then you wait until the director is ready for your scene. This could take several hours. Then there may be technical problems, and you have to wait some more. After the director says “action”and you do the first “take”，you may have to do it again if he or she is not satisfied with the scene. In fact, you may have to do the same scene over and over again. You could be on the set for hours, sometimes waiting outdoors in very hot or cold weather.2 You may not be finished until 11 p. m. or midnight. The pay isn’t good, either — often only a little bit above minimum wage. And you must pay the agent who gets you the job a commission of about 10 percent.

So who would want to be a movie extra? In spite of the long hours and low pay, many people still apply for the job. Some people truly enjoy the work. They like being on a movie set, and they enjoy the companionship of their fellow extras. Most of them have flexible schedules, which allow them to be available.3They may be students, waiters, homemakers, retired people, or unemployed actors. Some unemployed actors hope the work will help them get real acting jobs, but it doesn’t happen often. Most people in the movie industry make a sharp distinction between extras and actors, so extras are not usually considered for large parts.

The next time you see a movie，don’t just watch the stars. Take a closer look at the people in the background, and ask yourself : Who are they? Why are they there? What else do they do in life? Maybe there is someone in the crowd who is just like you.

词汇：

movie extra群众演员

chase / t?eis /v.追捕

shoot /?u:t/ vt.拍摄

action / ??k??n / n.(导演指令)开拍

commission / k??mi??n / n.佣金

注释：

1.Extras don’t normally speak any lines, but they help make the scenes look real.：虽然群众演员通常没有台词，但他们的存在使整个场景更加逼真。

2.You could be on the set for hours，sometimes waiting outdoors in very hot or cold weather.：在拍摄现场，你可能一演就是几个小时，有时还要一直待在很热或很冷的环境中。on the set：在拍摄现场。

3.Most of them have flexible schedules, which allow them to be available.：这些人中大部分都是时间比较灵活的人，这样他们就能腾出时间来演戏。

练习：

1.What is true about movie extras?

A)　Only agents get them jobs in movies.

B)　They often have to wait around on movie sets and do nothing.

C)　It’s a good way to get a real acting job.

D)　They can have drinks in a restaurant.

2.What might surprise movie extras the first time they do the job?

A)　It can take hours to do a scene that is only a few minutes long in the movie.

B)　They always do the same scene many times.

C)　The actors are interested in talking to them.

D)　The action moves very quickly.

3.Why do most people work as movie extras?

A)　They like meeting famous movie stars.

B)　They think they will become famous.

C)　They want to be on a movie set.

D)　They will get real acting jobs.

4.What are the job requirements for being a movie extra?

A)　You have to have a part-time job.

B)　You must be attractive.

C)　You must be willing to repeat a scene many times.

D)　You must start working very early.

5.It can be inferred from the passage that　.

A)　being a movie extra can be boring

B)　movie extras need acting experience

C)　movie extras can play larger parts

D)　movie actors are quite different from actors

答案与题解：

1.B　本文的第三段详细叙述了群众演员的主要工作要求是在拍摄现场等，不用做事，所以答案为B;第一段中描述了群众演员的工作;他们是演员的陪衬，不用讲话。虽然提到他们是在餐馆里，但并没有提是否可以喝饮料，所以D可以排除;A中的only —词太笼统，所以A不对;从第四段可以看出，从群众演员到演员的转型是相当困难的，所以C也不对。

2.A　第二段中说明了令初做群众演员感到吃惊的是：拍一个场景需要一整天，而播放时只有几分钟。虽然B、D都有所提及，但不是令他们吃惊的事情。

3.C　虽然做群众演员耗时长而薪酬低，但他们为什么还选择这一工作呢?答案在第四段：他们喜欢这份工作，愿意与别的群众演员交流，他们自己的工作时间有弹性。A没有提到，B、D不太可能。

4.C　做群众演员的条件是什么?在第三段和第四段，我们可知：要有耐心(长时间等待，一个场景有时要拍好多次)，要肯吃苦(在恶劣的户外环境中拍戏)，报酬低，工作时间有弹性。A、B没有提到;在第三段的第二句提到：You may report to work at 5 or 6 a. m.，表明只是有时会很早开始工作，不是每日必须的，所以D不对。

5.A　从本文对群众演员的工作描述我们可以看出，群众演员只是演员的道具，所以是乏味的。B没有提到;据第四段的最后一句，C不对;第四段的最后一句清楚表明，群众演员和真正的演员差别很大，所以不是得出的推论，推论是通过字里行间推出来的，不是给出的陈述。

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（责任编辑：vstara）

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