Section II Store Your Bricks With the rapid development of the world economy, movies are playing an increasingly important role in the cultural evolutions. Since China entered the WTO, a multitude of overseas movies have been brought into Chinese market and Chinese movies have also been introduced to other countries. However, every society creates its own heroes. The characteristics in one culture can’t be duplicated in another. Such a divergence comes from the different definitions of HERO in different cultures.

Section II Store Your Bricks Heroes in American movies are not totally perfect, and are not identical with each other. They have their own personality. In Pirates of the Caribbean, Captain Jack Sparrow can defeat the cunning merchant and the savage killers, and use his wisdom to protect his lover. However, he cannot resist the temptation from either money or beauty. Contrarily, heroes in Chinese movies seem to be perfect in their personalities. For example, in Chinese Kungfu movies, heroes always have unbelievable Kungfu, and also have an extraordinary, peaceful and powerful heart.

Section II Store Your Bricks The famous American movies like Avatar and Iron Man tell us the stories about the powerful supermen saving the whole country or world by themselves. This sort of movie emphasizes individual heroism. On the contrary, Chinese movies tell different stories. In Chinese movies, we frequently see a group of people fighting together to achieve great success. They always have greater responsibility of the whole nation. Whenever there is a contradiction between the interest of nation and their own, they always choose to sacrifice themselves. In the movie Hero directed by Zhang Yimou, Wu Ming sacrificed his friends and also himself in order to get revenge for his nation.

Section II Store Your Bricks Obviously, heroes in Chinese movies are always tragic figures—they sacrifice themselves in order to pursue their goals. Thus the ending for them is usually dying for the glory. In contrast, in American movies heroes can always return to their home and get back to their normal life after accomplishing their tasks.

Section II Store Your Bricks While the hero images of China and the U.S. have great differences, they also have some similarities. It is obvious that heroes from both countries have characteristics superior to ordinary people, both physically and psychologically. They always have strong bodies with perfect skills and great wisdom that can help them escape from dangers. We can see these characteristics clearly in countless movies like 007, Spider Man, Hero, etc.

Section II Store Your Bricks What’s more, heroes from both countries have noble qualities. The person portrayed as a hero in movies both in China and in the U.S. always has incredible courage and unswerving pursuance, and is highly compassionate. For example, in The Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufreneused his wisdom and deep faith to defeat the evil people and eventually escape from the prison. In Chinese movie Hero, the character Wu Ming got a chance to approach and murder the King by his uncommon Kungfu and remarkable Chinese philosophy.

Section II Store Your Bricks With the comparison of heroes in Chinese and American movies, a general idea may be formed. Heroes all over the world share the same morals that are braveness, pursuance and love. However, the social and cultural background results in the differences in the movies in different societies. And only those who are familiar with their own culture can explain and analyse some.

Section II Store Your Bricks 随着世界经济的快速发展，电影在文化发展中的作用日益重要。自中国加入世界贸易组织以来，大量的海外电影涌入中国市场，同时中国电影也被引进到其他国家。然而，每一个国家都创造了自己的英雄。一个国家的文化特征无法被复制到另一个文化中。这种差异源自于不同文化对于“英雄”的不同定义。

Section II Store Your Bricks 美国电影中的英雄形象不都是十全十美的，并且各有特点，互不相同。在电影《加勒比海盗》中，杰克•斯帕罗船长可以打败狡诈的商人、凶残的杀手，机智地保护自己的恋人。然而，他却无法抵御金钱和美色的诱惑。相反地，中国电影中的英雄们似乎都拥有完美的人格。比如，在中国武侠片中，大侠的武功总是出神入化，而且见识不凡、热爱和平、意志坚定。

Section II Store Your Bricks 《阿凡达》《钢铁侠》等美国大片讲述了超级英雄们孤身拯救国家或世界的故事。这类电影强调的是个人英雄主义。与之相反，中国电影讲述的故事大不相同。在中国电影中，我们经常看到一群人共同奋战，取得成功，他们对于整个国家和民族有着更大的责任。凡是当个人利益和国家利益发生冲突时，他们总是选择牺牲自己。在张艺谋导演的电影《英雄》中，为了报国仇，无名牺牲了自己和朋友。

Section II Store Your Bricks 中国电影中英雄人物显然都是一些悲情人物。他们牺牲自己以追求理想。因此，结局往往是光荣牺牲。美国电影则大不相同，英雄人物在完成任务后，都能回家过上正常的生活。

Section II Store Your Bricks 虽然中美两国的英雄人物形象差别很大，但他们也有共同点。显然，两国的英雄都在身体上和心理上优于常人。他们都有强壮的身体、完美的功夫和超人的智慧，这些能力让他们躲过各种危险。从《００７》《蜘蛛侠》《英雄》等无数电影中，我们可以很清楚地看到这些特点。

Section II Store Your Bricks 此外，两国的英雄都有一些高尚的品质。中美两国电影中刻画的英雄形象都拥有不可思议的勇气、坚定的追求和悲天悯人的同情心。例如，在电影《肖申克的救赎》中，安迪•杜弗兰依靠智慧和信念打败恶人，并最终逃出监狱。在中国电影《英雄》中，无名依靠不凡的武功和超人的中国式智慧，得到机会接近和刺杀秦王。

Section II Store Your Bricks 通过对比中美两国电影的英雄形象，我们可以得出一个普遍的观点：世界上的英雄拥有相同的信条，就是勇敢、追求和爱。不过，社会和文化背景不同会产生（拍摄出） 不同的电影结果。只有熟悉自己文化的人才能解释和分析一些不同的地方。

Practice What You Learnt Section II Store Your Bricks Practice What You Learnt Task 1 Comprehension Check Choose the best answer according to the text.

Section II Store Your Bricks 1. Why do heroes in Chinese movies differ from those in American movies? Because China has joined the WTO. Because the economy has developed rapidly. Because every culture has its own definition of HERO. Because Chinese movies are more popular than American movies. Answer C

Section II Store Your Bricks 2. According to the text, which of the following statements about the heroes in American movies is NOT TRUE? They are different from each other. They are always the same in their personality. They always show a kind of individual heroism. They also have weakness. Answer B

Section II Store Your Bricks 3. What are the characteristics of heroes in Chinese movies? They tend to save the whole country or world by themselves. They always fight together to achieve success. They always choose to get away when there is a contradiction between the interest of their nation and their own. They always appear to be very lucky. Answer B

Section II Store Your Bricks 4 We can conclude from the text that ______. heroes in Chinese movies always have happy endings heroes in American movies cannot go back to their normal life after finishing their tasks heroes in Chinese and American movies don’t have similarities at all heroes in Chinese movies are likely to be dying for honor Answer D

Section II Store Your Bricks 5 The underlined word “unswerving” in Paragraph 5 means _______. firm brave fair temporary Answer A

Section II Store Your Bricks Task 2 Vocabulary and Sentences （1）Match the words on the left with their meanings on the right.

Section II Store Your Bricks A. to come near or nearer ① noble B. to win against somebody; overcome; beat ② duplicate C. having fine personal qualities that people admire, such as courage, honesty and care for others ③ temptation D. to stop yourself from having something you like or doing something you want to do very much ④ defeat ⑤contradiction E. to copy exactly ⑥ incredible F. direct opposition between things compared; disagreement ⑦tragic G. the desire to do or have something that you know is bad or wrong ⑧evolution H. a process of gradually developing; evolving ⑨approach I. making you feel very sad, usually because somebody has died or suffered a lot ⑩resist J. impossible or very difficult to believe

Section II Store Your Bricks （2）Complete the sentences with the words from above . Change the form if necessary. 1. It is the fresh fruit that ________ me at this time of year. 2. Darwin is famous for the theory of _________. 3. The report highlights the ___________ between the two groups. 4. We battled with our enemies and ________ them. 5. At first they ________ the call for reform. click tempts click evolution click contradiction defeated click click resisted

Section II Store Your Bricks 6. In order to understand this ________, our teacher asked us to do the role-play. 7. His task will be to _________ his success overseas here at home. 8. When I ___________, they grew silent. 9. __________, when the movie first came out, some people don’t like the name. 10. He was an upright and ______ man who was always willing to help in any way he could. click tragedy duplicate click approached click Incredibly click noble click

Section II Store Your Bricks （3）Complete the following sentences by translating Chinese into English, using the word in bold. Change the form if necessary. 1. save e.g. The famous American movies like Avatar and Iron Man tell us a story about a powerful superman saving the whole country or world by themselves. save v. help someone to avoid harm or to escape from a dangerous or unpleasant situation 救助；拯救 He risked his life in __________________________.（试图营救那个快要淹死的男孩） trying to save the drowning boy click

Section II Store Your Bricks e.g. The majority of people intend to save, but find that by the end of the month there is nothing left. save v. gradually collect money by spending less than earned储蓄 I was ________________________________.（努力攒上大学的钱）. trying to save the money for the college click

Section II Store Your Bricks 2. direct e.g. In the movie Hero directed by Yimou Zhang, in order to get revenge for his nation, Wu Ming sacrificed his friends and also himself. direct v. to give the actors and assistants a film, play, or television programme instructions about what they should do 导演 He ______________________（导演过各种电视节目）. directed various TV shows click

Section II Store Your Bricks e.g. Christopher will direct day-to-day operations. direct v. organize the people and activities in a project or a group of people 指挥 A policewoman ________________________________________.（站在路中央指挥交通）. stood in the middle of the road ,directing the traffic click

Section II Store Your Bricks 3. form e.g. With the comparison of heroes in Chinese and American movies, a general idea can be formed. form v. begin a relationship, a habit, or an idea 形成（某关系、习惯、想法） She ___________________________________（已经养成了抽烟的习惯）after dinner. has formed the habit of having a cigarette click

Section II Store Your Bricks e.g. They tried to form a study group on human rights. form v. start an organization, group, or company 组建 The leader of the winning party _____________________.（已组建政府）. has formed a government click

Section II Store Your Bricks Task 3 Translation (1)Translate the following English into Chinese. In the era of silent films, cameras and projectors（投影仪） used electric motors（电动机）to achieve constant（固定的）film speed. 在无声电影时代，相机和投影仪使用电动机来实现固定的影片播放速度。 _________________________________________________________

Section II Store Your Bricks One of the most striking changes in movie-making in the past decade or two has come with using computer-generated（计算机生成的） imagery（图像）. 最近一二十年，电影制作最引人注目的变化之一就是使用计算机生成的图像。 ____________________________________________________________________

Section II Store Your Bricks Several major film festivals in Europe, which Chinese movie producers have frequently attended, cannot boost（增加）the confidence of the Chinese movie industry. 中国电影制作人经常出席的欧洲几大电影节，还不能增强中国电影产业的信心。 ____________________________________________________________________

Section II Store Your Bricks In recent years, although foreigners could watch Chinese movies through channels as the Internet, foreign audiences are still unfamiliar with Chinese movies due to（由于） their weak publication and issuance（发行）. 近年来，尽管外国人可以通过互联网等渠道观看中国电影，但是由于中国电影薄弱的出版和发行手段，外国观众对中国电影仍不熟悉。 ____________________________________________________________________

Section II Store Your Bricks For China, a country in which many regions do not use a movie rating system（电影分级制度）, the risks are high for parents who wish to take their children to the cinema due to the growing amount of violence and depictions（描写）of sexuality. 在中国，很多地区不使用电影分级制度，这对想带孩子去电影院看电影的父母来说风险很高，因为电影中有越来越多的暴力和性描写。 _________________________________________________________________

Section II Store Your Bricks (2)Translate the following Chinese into English. 这家贸易公司自20世纪90年代以来引进了许多海外人才和技术。（ a multitude of, overseas talent) This trading company has introduced a multitude of overseas talents and technologies since 1990s. Click ____________________________________________________________________ 什么可以帮助人们抵制香烟的诱惑呢？（resist, temptation） What can help people resist the temptation to cigarettes? Click ____________________________________________________________________

Section II Store Your Bricks 仅仅强调一个人的外表是不正确的。（emphasize, appearance） It is wrong to emphasize only the appearance of a person. Click ________________________________________________________________ 两位美国人将共同获得今年的诺贝尔医学奖。（share, Nobel Prize） Two Americans will share this year’s Nobel Prize for Medicine. Click ________________________________________________________________ 他总是把自己的孩子描述得比任何人都强。（portray, superior to） He tends to portray his kid superior to others. Click ______________________________________________________________

Section II Store Your Bricks Task 4 Reading Aloud Read Paragraph 2 to 4 aloud until you have learned them by heart. Then try to complete the passage from memory. Every society _______ its own heroes. Heroes have different _____________ because of the different definitions of HERO in different cultures. Firstly, heroes in American movies are not totally perfect and are not ________ with each other. They have their own personality. _________, heroes in Chinese movies seem to be perfect in their personalities. click creates characteristics click click identical Contrarily click

Section II Store Your Bricks Secondly, American movies _________ individual heroism, while in Chinese movies we frequently see a group of people ________ together to make great success. They always have greater responsibility of the whole nation. Thirdly, in American movies heroes can always return to their home and back to _______ life after _____________ their tasks. In contrast, heroes in Chinese movies are always _____ and unlucky figures. The ending for them is usually dying for the _____. emphasize click click fighting click normal accomplishing click click tragic click glory