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Bobby Moresco grew up in New York's Hell's Kitchen, a tough working-class neighborhood on
Manhattan's West Side. But Hell's Kitchen lies right next door to Broadway, and the bright lights
attracted Bobby from the time he was a teen. Being stage-struck was hardly what a street kid could
admit to his partners. Fearing their ridicule, he told no one, not even his girlfriend, when he started taking
acting lessons at age 17. If you were a kid from the neighborhood, you became a cop, construction
worker, longshoreman or criminal. Not an actor.
Moresco struggled to make that long walk a few blocks east. He studied acting, turned out for all the
cattle calls-and during the decade of the 1970s made a total of $2,000. "I wasn't a good actor, but I had
a driving need to do something different with my life," he says.
He moved to Hollywood, where he drove a cab and worked as a bartender(酒吧服务员). "My father
said, 'Stop this craziness and get a job; you have a wife and daughter.' "But Moresco kept working at his
chosen craft.
Then in 1983 his younger brother Thomas was murdered in a mob-linked killing. Moresco moved
back to his old neighborhood and started writing as a way to explore the pain and the patrimony of
Hell's Kitchen. Half-Deserted Streets, based on his brother's killing, opened at a small Off-Broadway
theater in 1988. A Hollywood producer saw it and asked him to work on a screenplay.
His reputation grew, and he got enough assignments to move back to Hollywood. By 2003, he was
again out of work and out of cash when he got a call from Paul Haggis, a director who had befriended him. Haggis wanted help writing a film about the country after September 11. The two worked on the writing, but every studio in town turned it down. They kept pitching it. Studio executives, however, thought no one wanted to see a severe, honest vision of race and fear and lives in collision in modern America.
Moresco believed so strongly in the script that he borrowed money, sold his house. He and Haggis
kept pushing. At last the writers found an independent film producer who would take a chance, but the
upfront money was too little, Moresco delayed his salary.
Crash slipped into the theaters in May 2005, and quietly became both a hit and a critical success. It
was nominated for six Academy Awards and won three-Best Picture, Best Film Editing and Best Writing (Original Screenplay) by Paul Haggis and the kid from Hell's Kitchen.
At age 54, Bobby Moresco became an overnight success. "If you have something you want to do in
life, don't think about the problems," he says, "think about other ways to get it done."
1. Rearrange the following statements in terms of time order:
a. His work Half-Deserted Streets drew attention as it opened at a small Off-Broadway theater
b. Unexpectedly Crash became both a hit and a huge success.
c. He moved to Hollywood to be a taxi driver and a waiter.
d. He started learn acting in spite of hardness with the belief of doing something different.
e. His younger brother Thomas was killed in conflict among bullies.
A. d; c; e; a; b
B. d; e; c; b; a
C. c; d; e; a; b
D. c; e; d; b; a
2. Why Bobby Moresco did not tell anyone that he started taking lessons at age 17?
A. He wanted to give his girlfriend a surprise.
B. His girlfriend did not allow him to do this.
C. He was afraid of being laughed at.
D. He had no talent for acting.
3. Which of the following sentences is NOT true?
A. His father did not support his work as a bartender.
B. Before he became an overnight success, his life experienced ups and downs.
C. His brother's death inspired his writing Half-Deserted Streets.
D. Moresco grew up in New York's Hell's Kitchen which is a few blocks east of Broadway.
4. The Studio executives turned the script Crash down because ______________.
A. they thought the script would not be popular.
B. the script was not well written.
C. they had no money to make the film based on the script.
D. they thought Moresco was not famous.
5. What's the best title of the article?
A. The Road to Success
B. Try It a Different Way
C. A Talented man-Moresco
D. Moresco's Perseverance
6. Which of the following can best describe Bobby Moresco?
A. initiative (主动) and persistent
B. shy but hardworking
C. caring and brave
D. aggressive and modest
