He 20th Century technology time line

Entertainment
THE MAIN MOVIE GENRES
I. PRE-READING
A.
Background information
A genre is a category, usually of literature, ilm, or television. The following 
descriptions come from a list of genre descriptions on the website www 
.ilmsite.org. The website contains a huge amount of information about 
movies of all kinds.
B.
Words to know before you read
Match the words to their definitions.
____ 1. stunt 
a. causing emotional release
____ 2. two-dimensional 
b. bad guy
____ 3. escapism 
c. focusing on the story
____ 4. plot-driven 
d. part of a larger group
____ 5. subsets 
e. not complex or deep
____ 6. cathartic 
f. a skillful action (especially in a movie)
____ 7. quest 
g. distraction from reality
____ 8. villain 
h. search
C.
Reading strategy
Quickly read the first line of each paragraph. Then answer the question.
What four genres are described here?

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86 | Better Reading English
II. READ
Read the text. Mark the words you don’t know, but don’t stop reading to look 
them up.
Main Film Genres
Action ilms usually include high energy, big-budget physical stunts and chases, 
possibly with rescues, battles, ights, escapes, destructive crises (loods, 
explosions, natural disasters, ires, etc.), non-stop motion, spectacular rhythm 
and pacing, and adventurous, often two-dimensional “good-guy” heroes (or 
recently, heroines) battling “bad guys”—all designed for pure audience 
escapism.
Dramas are serious, plot-driven presentations, portraying realistic 
characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character 
development and interaction. Usually, they are not focused on special-effects, 
comedy, or action. Dramatic ilms are probably the largest ilm genre, with 
many subsets.
Horror ilms are designed to frighten and to invoke our hidden worst fears, 
often in a terrifying, shocking inale, while captivating and entertaining us at the 
same time in a cathartic experience. Horror ilms feature a wide range of styles, 
from the earliest silent Nosferatu classic, to today’s CGI monsters and deranged 
humans.
Sci-i ilms are often quasi-scientiic, visionary and imaginative—complete 
with heroes, aliens, distant planets, impossible quests, improbable settings, 
fantastic places, great dark and shadowy villains, futuristic technology, unknown 
and unknowable forces, and extraordinary monsters (“things or creatures from 
space”), either created by mad scientists or by nuclear havoc. Science iction 
often expresses the potential of technology to destroy humankind and easily 
overlaps with horror ilms.
Source: http://www.ilmsite.org/genres.html
written by Tim Dirks
III. COMPREHENSION CHECK
Mark the sentences T (True) or F (False).
_____ 1. Action ilms usually have some expensive scenes.
_____ 2. Action ilms move quickly.
_____ 3. Action ilms have complex characters.
_____ 4. Action ilms usually make the audience think.

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Entertainment | 87
_____ 5. Dramas often have two-dimensional characters.
_____ 6. Dramas focus mainly on the story.
_____ 7. Special effects are usually important in dramas.
_____ 8. There are probably more dramas than other kinds of ilms.
_____ 9. Horror ilms can provide emotional release.
_____ 10. There are only a few styles of horror movies.
_____ 11. Science iction ilms often deal with monsters, space travel, or 
technology.
_____ 12. Some science iction ilms are also horror ilms.
IV. VOCABULARY BUILDING
A.
Classify words
Find these words in the text, and decide if they are nouns, verbs, or adjectives. 
Write them in the correct places in the following chart.
crises
range
captivate
deranged
improbable
rhythm
havoc
overlap