2014职称英语综合类阅读理解

Lifeas a Movie Extra

Ordinary people have always been attracted to theworld of movies and movie stars. One way to get closer to this world is tobecome a movie extra. Although you have seen movie extras, you may not havepaid attention to them. Extras are the people seated at tables in a restaurantwhile the two main actors are in conversation. They are the guests at thewedding of the main characters. They are the people crossing the street while“the bad guy" is being chased by the police. Extras don‟t normall y speakany 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 beingan extra is really a job, and it‟s mostly about doing nothing. First-timeextras are often shocked to learn how slow the process of movie making is. In afinished movie, the action may move quickly. But it can sometimes take a wholeday to shoot a scene that appears for just a few minutes on the screen.

The main requirement for being an extra is theability to wait. You may report to work at 5 or 6 a. m.，and then you wait until thedirector is ready for your scene. This could take several hours. Then there maybe 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 thescene. In fact, you may have to do the same scene over and over again. Youcould be on the set for hours, sometimes waiting outdoors in very hot or coldweather.2 You may not be finished until 11 p. m. or midnight. Thepay isn‟t good, either — often only a little bit above minimum wage. And youmust 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 ofthe long hours and low pay, many people still apply for the job. Some peopletruly enjoy the work. They like being on a movie set, and they enjoy the companionshipof their fellow extras. Most of them have flexible schedules, which allow themto be available.3They may be students, waiters, homemakers, retiredpeople, or unemployed actors. Some unemployed actors hope the work will helpthem get real acting jobs, but it doesn‟t happen often. Most people in themovie industry make a sharp distinction between extras and actors, so extrasare not usually considered for large parts.

The next time you see a movie，don’t just watch the stars. Take acloser 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 thecrowd who is just like you.

词汇：

movieextra群众演员

chase/ tʃeis /v．追捕

shoot/ʃu:t/ vt．拍摄

action/ ˈækʃən / n．(导演指令）开拍

commission/ kəˈmiʃən / n．佣金

注释：

1．Extras don’t normally speak anylines, 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 veryhot 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。