考研英語時文賞讀（81）： 香港電影的窮途末路

　　　　摘要：考研英語作為一門考研公共課，雖然大家都學了英語十幾年，卻仍經(jīng)常有總分過線掛在英語上的情況，因此英語復(fù)習不單單是單詞、做題。閱讀作為考研英語的大頭，僅僅做考研真題或許沒法滿足你的閱讀量，因此幫幫之后會不定時推出一篇英文美文，這些文章都與考研英語閱讀同源，多讀必有好處。

　　The rise and fall of Hong Kong showbiz ... and how fans still hold on to stars of yesteryear

　　香港娛樂圈的興衰…以及粉絲們對昔日明星的留戀

　　The meteoric rise of Hong Kong’s entertainment industry took place in the 1970s to ’80s, propelled by the city’s rapid economic growth.

　　得益于經(jīng)濟的騰飛，香港娛樂業(yè)在上個世紀70至80年代迅速崛起。

　　At its zenith, Hong Kong stars were household names among the Chinese community worldwide, a source of pride for the city. In the past decade, however, with fans’ attention turning to K-pop and local artistes taking their acts to the more lucrative mainland market, some of this lustre has been lost.

　　在鼎盛時期，香港明星在全球華人社區(qū)家喻戶曉，他們是這座城市的一大驕傲。然而，過去10年里，隨著粉絲將注意力轉(zhuǎn)向韓國流行音樂，以及香港藝人轉(zhuǎn)向更有利可圖的內(nèi)地市場發(fā)展，這種光環(huán)已經(jīng)褪去了一些。

　　In the 1980s and ’90s, Hong Kong’s film industry was the third-largest in the world after Bollywood and Hollywood. By then, names such as Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee and filmmaker Wong Kar-wai had gained international stardom.

　　在上個世紀80至90年代，香港電影業(yè)僅次于寶萊塢和好萊塢，排在全球第三。那時，成龍、李小龍和導(dǎo)演王家衛(wèi)等人已經(jīng)成為國際巨星。

　　But the blossoming of showbiz in Hong Kong came a decade before such heights. Canto-pop took rise in the mid-1970s when “God of Songs” Sam Hui Koon-kit began singing love songs in Cantonese. Marrying the tones of Western music with modern Chinese lyrics sung in Cantonese, the emerging style immediately captured the hearts of Hongkongers.

　　但香港娛樂圈的蓬勃發(fā)展比這一高峰早了10年?；浾Z流行音樂興起于20世紀70年代中葉，當時“歌神”許冠杰開始用粵語演唱情歌。這種將西方音樂的聲調(diào)與現(xiàn)代粵語歌詞結(jié)合起來的新興風格立即抓住了香港人的心。

　　The city’s entertainment industry came together, as television, film and music formed a collective empire.

　　這座城市的娛樂業(yè)集聚，電視、電影和音樂形成了一個集體帝國。

　　In the 1980s, all-rounded film, television, and music performers such as Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing, Maggie Cheung Man-yuk, and Anita Mui Yim-fong spread Hong Kong’s culture to the world. In an industry where stars can rise and fall with the sun, Hong Kong’s first superstars have remained well-loved and revered, some even in death.

　　20世紀80年代，香港電影、電視及音樂藝人張國榮、張曼玉、梅艷芳等將香港文化傳播到了世界各地。在一個明星可以隨太陽起落的行業(yè)，香港的第一批巨星仍然受到人們的喜愛和尊敬，盡管有些人已經(jīng)不在了。

　　Over the last two decades, however, annual music record sales have dropped from HK$1.6 billion to HK$200 million.

　　但在過去20年，音樂唱片的年銷售額從16億港元降至了2億港元。

　　Sadly, this is not an isolated trend. The film industry has also seen decline in the past decade. The city produced more than 400 films a year in the early ’90s, but this figure dropped to as low as 60 in 2017. In 1996, five of the top 10 grossing films in Hong Kong were local productions. Twenty years on, only one quasi-home-made flick made the top 10.

　　遺憾的是，這并非一種孤立的趨勢。過去的十年里，電影業(yè)也經(jīng)歷了衰退。上個世紀90年代初，香港每年制作400多部電影，但到2017年，已經(jīng)降至60部了。1996年，香港票房前十的電影中有五部是本地制作的。20年過去了，如今前十中僅有一部準香港電影了。

　　Some blamed the slump on a talent drain to mainland China, with its soaring new-found wealth. Canto-pop started to be overshadowed by Mando-pop as the mainland opened up and groomed its own stars.

　　一些人將這種衰落歸咎于人才外流至暴富的中國內(nèi)地。隨著中國內(nèi)地的開放以及本土明星的培養(yǎng)，粵語流行音樂開始被華語流行音樂所掩蓋。

　　With the dimming of Hong Kong’s showbiz star came more joint productions with mainland counterparts. More worryingly for the local sector though, the flavour for fans seems to have shifted to South Korea in recent years.

　　香港娛樂圈的沒落導(dǎo)致香港明星更多地選擇與內(nèi)地明星進行合作。然而，更令其擔憂的是，近年來，粉絲似乎更喜歡韓國明星了。

　　(全文共426個詞，南華早報)

　　?重難點詞匯：

　　showbiz  n. 娛樂界；娛樂性行業(yè)

　　meteoric adj. 大氣的；流星的；疾速的

　　zenith  n. 頂峰；頂點；最高點

　　lucrative  adj. 有利可圖的，賺錢的；合算的

　　lustre  n. 光澤，光彩 vi. 有光澤，發(fā)亮 vt. 使有光澤

　　revere  vt. 敬畏；尊敬；崇敬

　　isolate  v. 隔離，孤立；將……剔出；分離；區(qū)別看待 n. 被隔離的人 adj. 孤獨的，孤立的

　　slump  vi. 下降，衰落；倒下；大幅度下降，暴跌 vt. 使降低；使衰落；使倒下 n. 衰退；暴跌；消沉

　　overshadow  v. 使失色；使蒙上陰影；遮陰；比……更顯眼

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