Since the beginning of winter break, I have been committed to doing lots of the things I could not do
while school was in session.
One of the Oscar-nominated (提名的) movies I’ve seen this winter break is Slum-dog Millionaire.
Hopefully readers will also have an opportunity to enjoy the movie the way I have halfway around the
globe!
Slum-dog Millionaire is about a poor boy from the slums (贫民窟), Jamal, who ends up winning the
grand prize in an Indian show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire". The night before he answers the
prize-winning question, Jamal is captured by the police and tortured (拷打). They don’t believe a
slumdog like Jamal could answer seven questions correctly and possibly win 20 million rupees (卢比)!
But, as the movie unfolds, Jamal reveals (透露) how he found the answers to each of the questions.
Viewers also learn about Jamal's childhood, his selfish older brother Salim, and his childhood lover,
Latika.
The movie’s point, however, is not just to tell a typical story of the underdog (弱者) who becomes a
hero. The director also uses Slum-Dog Millionaire to give viewers a taste of India. The movie begins in
Jamal’s childhood home in the slums of India. The place where he and his family lived reminds one of the
hutongs that used to make up a large part of Old Beijing. Jamal and his brother grow and travel across
India, meanwhile surviving as slum-dogs and cheaters, and India ages with them. By the time Jamal is 17
or 18, his old home has been replaced by a giant skyscraper (摩天大楼) financial center. Jamal and
Salim take a moment to reminisce (回忆) about their old lives, as they stand high up in a skyscraper that
is still under construction. The view from above reminded me of a similar view I had just two years ago in China: I was standing there in the living room of a family friend’s modern apartment, looking out through
a window down to the shacks (简陋的房屋) below just next to the building complex. It was amazing
how affluence and poverty could live so close together.
So, what was most appealing about the movie to me and my Indian friends was how we could relate
to the scenarios (情节) presented in the movie. More important than the plot was the window onto the
social and economic situations in Asia that it provided.
By Jennifer, 16, New Jersey, US
1. Which of the following is TRUE about the movie?
A. Jamal finally won a big prize after struggling hard to earn an honest living.
B. Suspected of cheating, Jamal was arrested by the police before winning the prize.
C. Jamal and his brother recalled their past standing where it used to be their home.
D. Jamal remained in his childhood home in the slums before he was 17 or 18.
2. Viewers can learn from the movie EXCEPT__________.
A. Jamal's childhood and his bitter experience of wandering across the country.
B. The rapid social changes and economic development in India.
C. The poor life of people in the slums against the prosperity of cities in Asia.
D. The secret of becoming a millionaire through personal struggle.
3. Why does the movie appeal to the writer?
A. It's a typical story of the underdog who becomes a hero, which the writer admires most.
B. It's an Oscar-nominated movie that helps the writer understand the nature of human.
C. It has an exciting and complicated plot that attracts the writer very much.
D. It reminds the writer of her experience in China and helps her know about Asian countries.
4. What can we infer from the reading passage?
A. The writer is now studying in a school in China.
B. The movie will win the Oscar because of the social problems presented in it.
C. The writer is surprised at the gap between the rich and poor in developing countries.
D. The movie is only welcomed by Americans who have Indian friends.
5. What is the main purpose of writing the passage?
A. To introduce a movie to readers and share her views about it.
B. To persuade more viewers to go to the cinema to see the movie.
C. To express the writer’s enthusiasm towards Asia and its culture.
D. To reveal the true social reality in the developing countries.
