新西兰英语 687 Cost of The Hobbit

 　　While yesterday was an exciting time in Wellington with the premiere of The Hobbit, there was a huge cost to the New Zealand taxpayer¹.

　　Listen to October 8th 2012 to hear more about this.

　　The total is about NZ$100m.

　　On the other hand, the Prime Minister reminded us that making the movie helped the NZ economy. He gave these figures yesterday:

　　?3,000 people worked on the movie in New Zealand

　　?6,700 domestic² air line flights were taken

　　?93,000 hotel beds were filled

　　?1,800 rental³ cars were used, and

　　?$383,000 was spent on coffee

　　Although the main roles in the movie were played by overseas actors, most of the other actors were New Zealanders. Weta Workshops in Wellington worked alongside⁴ Peter Jackson to make the masks and special effects. The movie brought a lot of other business too if actors dined⁵ at restaurants or went shopping.

　　The government hopes also that the movie will bring many overseas fans to New Zealand to visit the places where the movie was set. After the last Lord of the Rings movie, fans who came to New Zealand in 2004 spent about $33m according to Tourism New Zealand.

　　Vocabulary

　　?huge – very big

　　?role – a part played by an actor in a movie or play

　　?mask – made of rubber, they covered the face (except for eyes and mouth)

　　?set (verb and noun) – place where the movie was filmed, the background e.g. mountains

　　Listen to the numbers given by the Prime Minister, write them down then check the text to see if you were correct.

1 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

2 domestic   

adj.家里的，国内的，本国的；n.家仆，佣人

参考例句：

• This is domestic news.这是国内新闻。
• She does the domestic affairs every day.她每天都忙家务。

3 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

4 alongside   

adv.在旁边；prep.和...在一起，在...旁边

参考例句：

• There was a butcher's shop alongside the theatre.剧院旁边有一家肉店。
• Alongside of him stood his uncle.他的身旁站着他叔叔。

5 dined   

v.吃饭，进餐( dine的过去式和过去分词 )；设宴款待，请客

参考例句：

• We dined with my parents at a restaurant in town. 我们同我父母在城里一家餐馆吃饭。
• We dined in sumptuous surroundings. 我们在富丽堂皇的环境中用餐。