Question

    With production overrunning (泛滥) on Martin Scorsese’s new film, the famous Hollywood director admitted this month he was worried about the “youthi-fication” technology he was employing to smooth out his actors. The leading actor Robert De Niro and Al Pacino played young versions of their characters in the first half of the film, with their wrinkles and jowls (下巴) removed by the technology.

Speaking to the British director Joanna Hogg, the film-maker Martin Scorsese said that good actors should meet some necessary requirements: excellent acting skills, rich imagination, good understanding and so on. However, there was something important that was missing while the technique was used. He added, “I don’t know how to instruct my actors to make their performance more impressive, especially rich eye expressions. Apparently, the technique makes their eyes dull, which disappoints me the most.”

In this case, he isn’t alone. While the technology is doubtless impressive, there have been complaints about the “unnatural valley” effect of digitally de-ageing actors. Film critics (评论家), such as Manohla Dargis of the New York Times, and The Ringer’s Andrew Gruttadaro, observed that “as an audience member watching these films, you get the horrible feeling that you’re not watching a person, but an entity (实体) imitating a person”. Similar reservations have been heard about Anthony Hopkins being de-aged in TV’s Westworld. Later this year, Ang Lee’s Gemini Man will appear, starring Will Smith as a killer who meets his younger self, which is also played by Smith. The problem is that everybody who grew up with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air knows what Will Smith looked like as a younger man, and it wasn’t this one.

To quote Dr Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park, “Scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, and they didn’t stop to think if they should.” De-ageing technology gives us the dazzling impression rather than the effect of youth, as a younger actor would. More goes into the ageing process than mere looks; it betrays a thin understanding of psychology to expect otherwise.

1.What was Martin Scorsese’s concern about his new film?

A.The high cost of the film.

B.The age of his leading actors.

C.The effect of the new technology.

D.The plot in the first part of the film.

2.What quality of an actor did Martin Scorsese probably pay more attention to?

A.Expressive performance. B.Vivid imagination.

C.Deep understanding of acting. D.Good language ability.

3.What can we infer from the examples about the new technology in Paragraph 3?

A.It is popular among directors.

B.It is unacceptable to the audience.

C.It is welcomed by some film critics.

D.It benefits actors like Will Smith.

4.What could be the best title for the text?

A.The improvement of Hollywood movies

B.“De-ageing” technology benefits old actors

C.The breakthrough of Martin Scorsese’s new film

D.Hollywood’s “de-ageing” technology has gone too far

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.B

4.D

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，介绍了好莱坞著名导演马丁·斯科塞斯在其新作《爱尔兰人》中运用的使演员年轻的特效技术并不成功。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段中的“he was worried about the “youthi-fication” technology he was employing to smooth out his actors”可知，他担心他用“年轻化”的技术来让演员们顺利出演，由此可知，他对自己采用特效技术使演员年轻的效果感到担忧，故C项正确。

2.推理判断题。根据第二段中的He added, “I don’t know how to instruct my actors to make their performance more impressive, especially rich eye expressions. Apparently, the technique makes their eyes dull, which disappoints me the most.”可知，他还说，“我不知道如何指导我的演员让他们的表演更令人印象深刻，尤其是丰富的眼神。显然，这项技术让他们的眼睛变得迟钝，这让我最失望”，由此可知，马丁·斯科塞斯更注重演员丰富的表现力，尤其是眼神的表现力，故A项正确。

3.推理判断题。根据第三段中的as an audience member watching these films, you get the horrible feeling that you’re not watching a person, but an entity (实体) imitating a person”.可知，作为观看这些电影的观众，你会有一种可怕的感觉：你看到的不是一个人，而是一个模仿人的实体，由此可知，观众并不能接受这项技术的效果，故B项正确。

4.主旨大意题。通读全文，特别是根据第一段中的“he was worried about the “youthi-fication” technology he was employing to smooth out his actors.”可知，本文主要介绍了好莱坞著名导演马丁·斯科塞斯在其新作《爱尔兰人》中运用的使演员年轻的特效技术并不成功，故D项正确。