Will和Jane在約會時聊天,談到了"sitcom", 也就是situation comedy - 情景喜劇。
Professor: Hey Winnie, have you ever watched any American sitcoms?
我以前看過Friends--“六人行”,這算是個sitcom吧?
Professor: That's right! Now let's see what sitcoms Will and Jane like to watch.
Will: So Jane, I know that you like watching reality TV. But what about sitcoms?
Jane: I used to watch Friends religiously! I cried when it went off the air in 2004.
Will: Oh yeah, Friends was a really popular sitcom. But wasn't it pretty unrealistic? None of the characters worked very often, but they had a huge apartment in New York city.
Jane: Who cares? Sitcoms are supposed to be funny. They're not supposed to be like real life.
原來,Jane也是“六人行”的粉絲! 她說得對,sitcom追求的是搞笑、好玩兒,誰會在乎情節(jié)的真實性??! 對了,professor, Jane說她以前watch Friends “religiously”,這是什么意思呢?
Professor: It means she was very serious about watching the show.
哦,我明白了,如果做什么事情是本著"religiously"的態(tài)度,就表明你是雷打不動,一直在很認(rèn)真地做。Jane看“六人行”一定是集集不落! 她還說,2004年這個節(jié)目went off the air -“停播”的時候,她都哭了!
Professor: Exactly! Winnie, the opposite of "off the air" is "on the air". You could say that Friends was so popular that it was able to stay on the air for 10 seasons.
哦,off the air的反義詞是on the air, 也就是“播出”的意思。
Will: Why did you like Friends so much? Did you think it was really funny?
Jane: Yeah, it was really funny, but it also had a great storyline. All the different episodes were part of the same plot.
Will: That's true. I also thought that the dialogue was really good too.
Jane: Oh yeah, the dialogue was great. I thought everything the characters said to one another was really funny.
Professor: So Winnie, what did Jane like so much about Friends?
她說,“六人行”的storyline -“故事情節(jié)”特別好。每集的內(nèi)容相互聯(lián)系,使整個節(jié)目有one plot - 一個完整的故事埂概。
Professor: That's right! But Will has a different reason for liking the show, right?
對,Will喜歡里面的dialogue - 對話,覺得這些對話特別好玩兒!
Will: The other thing that made Friends so good was the cast. All the actors were perfect for their characters.
Jane: Oh yeah, the casting was really great. The actor who played Ross did a great job. He was hilarious!
Will: Really? I didn't think he was the funniest. My favorite character was Joey.
Jane: Joey was pretty good, but not as funny as Ross. And the relationship between Ross and Rachel was really romantic too.
Will: It was kind of romantic, but it got old.
Will 和Jane都覺得“六人行”的cast - 演員陣容選得好。
Professor: That's right. But what does Will say about the relationship between Ross and Rachel on the show?
Will說,Ross和Rachel的戀愛的確挺浪漫的,可后來就got old了。Professor, 這是不是說這些情節(jié)老演老演,就變得沒勁了?
Professor: Right. It means the plot lost its original appeal because it is too long or gets repeated too many times. For example, "When I first heard Craig's joke, I thought it was funny. But after he told it 10 times, it got old."
Jane: What about you, Will? Do you like sitcoms?
Will: Not anymore. Ever since the series finale of Friends, I haven't found any other sitcoms that I really like.
Jane: Really? So what kinds of programs do you watch on TV now?
Will: Lately, I've gotten really into more serious shows, like crime dramas.
???自從“六人行”的series finale - “大結(jié)局”播完后,Will就再也沒找到好看的sitcom?!
Professor: That's right. Winnie, you can use the word "finale" in other contexts. For example, at the end of the Olympics there is always a big finale with lots of fireworks.
奧運(yùn)會閉幕式也可以叫"finale." Will 說,他現(xiàn)在喜歡看crime dramas, 這又是什么節(jié)目呢?
Professor: Listen next time to find out!
這次的美語三級跳就播送到這里。