Life as a Movie Extra

    Ordinary people have always been attracted to the world of movies and movie stars. One way to get closer to this world is to become a movie extra. Although you have seen movie extras, you may not have paid attention to them. Extras are the people seated at tables in a restaurant while the two main actors are in conversation. They are the guests at the wedding of the main characters. They are the people crossing the street while "the bad guy" is being chased by the police. Extras don"t normally speak any lines, but they help make the scenes look real. ¹

    Being a movie extra might seem like a lot of fun. You get to see what life is like behind the scenes. But don"t forget that being an extra is really a job, and it"s mostly about doing nothing. First-time extras are often shocked to learn how slow the process of movie making is. In a finished movie, the action may move quickly. But it can sometimes take a whole day to shoot a scene that appears for just a few minutes on the screen.

    The main requirement for being an extra is the ability to wait. You may report to work at 5 or 6 a. m. , and then you wait until the director is ready for your scene. This could take several hours. Then there may be technical problems, and you have to wait some more. After the director says "action" and you do the first "take", you may have to do it again if he or she is not satisfied with the scene. In fact, you may have to do the same scene over and over again. You could be on the set for hours, sometimes waiting outdoors in very hot or cold weather. ²You may not be finished until 11 p. m. or midnight. The pay isn"t good, either often only a little bit above minimum wage. And you must pay the agent who gets you the job a commission of about 10 percent.

    So who would want to be a movie extra? In spite of the long hours and low pay, many people still apply for the job. Some people truly enjoy the work. They like being on a movie set, and they enjoy the companionship of their fellow extras. Most of them have flexible schedules, which allow them to be available, ³ They may be students, waiters, homemakers, retired people, or unemployed actors. Some unemployed actors hope the work will help them get real acting jobs, but it doesn"t happen often. Most people in the movie industry make a sharp distinction between extras and actors, so extras are not usually considered for large parts.

    The next time you see a movie, don"t just watch the stars. Take a closer look at the people in the background, and ask yourself: Who are they? Why are they there? What else do they do in life?Maybe there is someone in the crowd who is just like you.

 

词汇：

movie extra   群众演员            

chase [tʃeɪs]   vt．追捕            

shoot [ʃu:t]  vt． 拍摄

action ["ækʃn]  n． （导演指令）开拍     

commission [kə"mɪʃn]  n． 佣金

　　

注释：

1.Extras don’t normally speak any lines，but tlley help make me seenes look real．：虽然群众演员通常没有台词，但他们的存在使整个场景更加逼真。

2.You could be on me set for hours，sometimes waiting outdoors in very hot or cold weatller．：在拍摄现场，你可能一演就是几个小时，有时还要一直待在很热或很冷的环境中。on the set：在拍摄现场。

3.Most of them have flexible schedules，which allow them to be available．：这些人中大部分都是时间比较灵活的人，这样他们就能腾出时间来演戏。

What are the job requirements for being a movie extra?

A:You have to have a part-time job B:You must be attractive C:You must be willing to repeat a scene many times D:You must start working very early

If you’re finding it tough to land a job, try expanding your job-hunting plan to include the following strategies: Set your target. While you should always keep your options open to com promise, you should also be sure to target exactly what you want in a job. A specific job hunt will be more efficient than a random one. Schedule abundant interviews. Use every possible method to get interviews answering ads, using search firms, contacting companies directly, surfing the Web, and networking. Even if a job is not perfect for you, every interview can make you learn from it. Follow up! Even if someone does not hire you, write them a thank-you note for the interview. Then, some weeks later, send another brief letter to explain that you still have not found the perfect position and that you will be available to interview again if the original position you applied for-or any other position, for that matter-is open. Do this with every position you interview for, and you may just catch a break] Make it your full-time job. You can’t find a job by looking infrequently. You have to make time for it. If you’re unemployed and looking for a job, devote as much time as you would to a full-time job. If you have a job while you’re looking, figure out an organized schedule to maximize your searching time. Network vertically (纵向地). In the research phase of your job hunt, talk to people who are on a level above you in your desired industry. They’ll have some insights that people at your own level won’t have, and will be in a good position to hire you or recommend you to be hired. Keep your spirits up. Looking for a job is one of the toughest things you will ever have to do. Maintain your confidence, stay persistent, and think positively, and eventually you will get a job that suits you.

What's the best title for this passage（）

A:Job-hunting. B:It's hard to land a job. C:Job-hunting plan. D:Strategies for hunting an ideal jo

You could scarcely have found a better person for the job ______ Mr. Lee.

A:when B:and C:as D:than

After Susan Joyce was laid off from Digital Equipment Corp. , she was horrified to hear of two suicides in her layoff group. Then she learned about a colleague who stabbed his wife to death and hung himself. "I worked with him for 10 years, maybe more," says Joyce. "He seemed like a nice guy.
These cases may sound extreme, but being fired or laid off is undeniably one of life’ s biggest blows and can lead to clinical depression, violence and alcohol abuse, as well as strokes and heart attacks. Even the fear of losing a job produces more doctor visits and health worries. In short, the recent news about rising unemployment and job insecurity may be bad news for our health.
Layoffs create a sense of hopelessness. Stress - related complaints such as insomnia and headaches tend to follow, lingering even after victims find new jobs, says University of Michigan psychologist Richard Price, who tracked more than 700 layoff victims for two years. Research based on 17 years of Pennsylvania unemployment records concluded that employees affected by a mass layoff at a plant were 15 percent more likely to die of any cause over the next two decades. Experts blame the cascade (大量倾泻) of misfortune that often follows after a layoff, including the loss of health insurance.
Your health can suffer simply from fear of losing your job, says Sarah Burgard, a sociologist at the University of Michigan. After crunching data from two large national surveys, she concluded that chronic job insecurity over a two - year period rivals the anxiety of a job loss or a major illness. Burgard adjusted her data for what psychologists call "neuroticism" and found that even people who aren’ t typically worriers report worse health when they believe their jobs are in danger. Fears of poor job prospects may have similar consequences. When Swedish researchers asked 21 - year - olds about their health during a recession, they reported more problems than a comparison group during a boom.
Economic stress may even show up in national public -health measures, although experts disagree about how to calculate those effects. Harvey Brenner, professor emeritus ([大学教师]退休后仍保留头衔的，荣誉退休的) at Johns Hopkins’s Bloomberg School of Public Health and a professor of public health at the University of North Texas, argues that the 1 percentage point increase in unemployment since a year ago could have serious health repercussions (持续影响，反响) for the next two years. According to Brenner’ s projections, there could be as many as 47,000 more deaths than would have otherwise occurred, including 1,200 more suicides, as well as nearly 26,000 more heart attacks. Should unemployment continue to rise, these numbers are likely to increase too, he says.
Which of the following statements about layoffs is true according to the passage

A:Being laid off is the biggest blow in one’ s life. B:Layoffs create many health problems such as strokes and heart attacks. C:Layoffs will stop affect once new jobs are found. D:Being laid off is often the result of job insecurity.

Your health can suffer simply from fear of losing your job, says Sarah Burgard, a sociologist at the University of Michigan. After crunching data from two large national surveys, she concluded that chronic job insecurity over a two--year period rivals the anxiety of a job loss or a major illness. Burgard adjusted her data for what psychologists call "neuroticism" and found that even people who aren’t typically worriers report worse health when they believe their jobs are in danger. Fears of poor job prospects may have similar consequences. When Swedish researchers asked 21 - year - olds about their health during a recession, they reported more problems than a comparison group during a boom.
According to Sarah Burgard, people’s health tend to get worse when

A:they develop chronic diseases. B:they experience job insecurity. C:they see good job prospects. D:they have psychological problems.

某单道批处理系统中有四个作业JOB1、JOB2、JOB3和JOB4，它们到达“输入井”的时刻和需要的运行时间如下表所示（） 假设9：30开始进行作业调度，按照最高响应比作业优先算法，首先被调度的作业是（）

A:JOB1 B:JOB2 C:JOB3 D:JOB4