Question

    They say that picture is worth a thousand words, but the briefest look at books and the movies based on them would have anyone questioning this common saying. All too often, great words end up being turned into cinematic “turkeys”.

Good movies need good stories. If so, why has one of the earliest and greatest works in Western storytelling, Homer’s The Odyssey, never had an equally great movie based on it? Movies need strong characters. So why have the movies based on The Great Gatsby never been praised as “great”? Movies of course need impressive images, so why has Alice in Wonderland only resulted in movies best described as “interesting”?

One of the key reasons behind this is that while a book usually takes a few days to read, a movie typically lasts under two hours. 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 can^’t escape from, with fans of the books disappointed not to see some of their favorite characters in the movie versions.

Movies also disappoint us when things don’t look the way we imagined them in the books. Take, for example, the epic movie Troy, which is in part based on Homer’s 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 didn’t live up to Helen's title of “the most beautiful woman in the world”, influencing opinions of the movie to some extent.

There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people’s 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 Sherlock or Mad Men, which can have many characters and gradual plot development. Perhaps, one day, readers of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s most admired work will find themselves glued to their screens by episodes of The Great Gatsby.

1.Which of the following statements about the movie adaptation is true?

A.The characters in The Odyssey do not stand out.

B.The movie Troy doesn't look the way we visualized while reading the book.

C.The visual images are not as striking as the descriptions in the book The Great Gatsby.

D.Some parts of the story and characters are missing in the movie Alice in Wonderland.

2.One of the reasons why adaptations disappoint the audience is that ________.

A.they lack good storytelling

B.the images are not impressive enough

C.the characters in the movies are not strong and interesting

D.there is not enough time for movies to fully present the whole story

3.The underlined “ original source” in the last paragraph probably refers to _________.

A.audience B.book

C.characters. D.images

4.What does the text mainly talk about?

A.Good books may not be adapted for great movies.

B.Reading books is better than watching movies.

C.People are dissatisfied with the current movies.

D.People are expressing their preference to reading books.

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.B

4.A

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章主要讲述了好的书籍可能搬上荧屏时不会是一部好的电影，并分析了背后的一些原因。

1.

细节理解题。根据倒数第二段中Movies also disappoint us when things don’t look the way we imagined them in the books. Take, for example, the epic movie Troy, which is in part based on Homer’s The Iliad and was met with mixed reviews from the audience. 电影也会让我们失望，因为事情并不像我们在书中想象的那样。以史诗电影《特洛伊》为例，这部电影部分基于荷马的《伊利亚特》，观众对它的评价褒贬不一。可知电影《特洛伊》和我们读原著时想象的不一样。故选B项。

2.

细节理解题。根据第三段中One of the key reasons behind this is that while a book usually takes a few days to read, a movie typically lasts under two hours. 这背后的一个关键原因是，一本书通常需要几天时间才能读完，而一部电影通常持续不到两小时。可知改编电影让观众失望的一个原因是没有足够的时间让电影完整地呈现整个故事。故选D项。

3.

词义猜测题。根据最后一段中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. 此外，书籍和电影是两种不同的媒体形式，因此有不同的规则。考虑到这一点，也许我们应该根据一部电影本身来评判它，而不是根据它的__________。由根据一部电影本身来评判它，可知此处是说电影不同于书籍的评判标准，因此划线词original source意为“书籍，书本”。故选B项。

4.

主旨大意题。根据第一段中All too often, great words end up being turned into cinematic “turkeys”. 很多时候，伟大的词汇最终变成了电影里的“火鸡”。第二段中If so, why has one of the earliest and greatest works in Western storytelling, Homer’s The Odyssey, never had an equally great movie based on it? Movies need strong characters. So why have the movies based on The Great Gatsby never been praised as “great”? 如果是这样的话，为什么最早也是最伟大的西方叙事作品之一荷马的《奥德赛》却没有一部同样伟大的电影以它为基础呢?电影需要强有力的角色。那么，为什么以《了不起的盖茨比》为基础的电影从来没有被称赞为“了不起”呢?以及通过下文的描述，可知本文主要是讲述了好的书籍可能搬上荧屏时不会是一部好的电影，并分析了其背后的一些原因，因此本文的大意选项A“好书可能不会被改编成伟大的电影。”符合题意。故选A项。