Where in the world can you take an hour’s train ride, and pass a forest, a London street, a scene from the Wild West, and a burning building that never burns down? There’s only one place, and that’s Hollywood, in California. The scenes you see from the tourist train are film sets（布景） in the Universal Studios, one of the oldest and largest movie companies(公司) in the USA.
A visit to Universal Studios brings back memories of great days of Hollywood, the films and the stars. But they are only memories. Hollywood isn’t quite the same as it used to be. Costs have gone up and confidence has gone down. Movie-makers are afraid to spend their money on expensive new ideas. Instead, they repeat old ones.
The film industry is changing fast. Teenagers still go out to the movies. The theatre is a good place to meet friends away from home. But older people mostly stay home to watch series, like Dynasty have become as important to Hollywood as expensive movies. These “soap opera”, as they are called, show rich, powerful families living in beautiful homes and wearing beautiful clothes. But the actors and actresses are nearly all middle-aged, like many of the people who watch them.
Though it is soap operas that are keeping the film-makers of Hollywood in Business, big films are still being made in America. But more and more of them are made outside Hollywood. New York is the most important new center, but there are many others as well. Movie-makers have realized that they don’t need Hollywood any more. Modern cameras and real houses instead of expensively made copies in a studio. Other states, especially Florida and Texas, are working hard to take the film business away from California. They are offering better working conditions and lower cost.
But Hollywood is fighting back. The state of California is trying hard to keep its best-known industry.
【小题1】From the passage, we know Universal Studios is ______.

A．a very large park	B．a busy London street
C．a famous movie company	D．an old Hollywood movie

【小题2】The movie industry in California isn’t as successful as before because ______.

A．young people don’t go to movie theatres any more

B．there is strong competition from other states

C．its movie companies are in neeed of young stars

D．the state hasn’t put a development plan into action

【小题3】Which of the following seems to be a threat（威胁）to Hollywood？

A．The use of modern cameras and other equipment

B．The interest of middle-aged film stars

C．The making of TV series like Dynasty

D．The expensively made copies of scenes

选词填空（每小题1分，共10分）

excite   tell   think   surprise    not   mad    anymore   will   however   call

It was an 【小题1】____ week for the people in the soap opera “Young Lives”. First of all, Marcia told Ben she was having a 【小题2】____ party for Lana, and that Lana 【小题3】____she was going to her house to study. Then Lana 【小题4】____Ben she was 【小题5】____at Marcia, and that she 【小题6】___ going to her house on Friday. So Ben told Lana that Marcia was going to have a party for her. Lana told Ben that she wasn’t mad at Marcia 【小题7】____, and that she 【小题8】____go to Marcia’s house on Friday night. 【小题9】______, Marcia 【小题10】_____ everyone and told them that she wasn’t going to have the part.

句型转换

1. What do you think of the soap opera?（同义句）

_________ do you _________ the soap opera?

2. Tom had to stay at home yesterday.（一般疑问句）

_______Tom _______  to stay at home yesterday?

3. Wear sports shoes for gym class. （否定句）

________   ________  sports shoes for gym class.

4 . It is an interesting book.  (改为感叹句)

________ _________ interesting book!

5.They are going to have a picnic this Sunday.  (改为一般疑问句)

_________ they going to _________ a picnic this Sunday?