中英双语新闻——183 Homage or plagiarism?

 　　A group of attractive young people live in adjacent apartments and spend a lot of time hanging out in coffee shops and talking about their lives.

 

　　一群魅力四射的年轻人住在相邻的公寓中，常常聚在咖啡馆中畅谈人生。

 

　　The Chinese TV sitcom¹ Ipartment, which ended its third season recently, may have made the audience laugh. But it’s also the target of criticism.

 

　　刚刚播完的国产情景喜剧《爱情公寓III》或许为许多观众都带来了欢笑，但同时也成为了众矢之的。

 

　　Viewers are complaining that dialogue and scenes have been copied from the US hit sitcom Friends and other TV shows.

 

　　观众纷纷抱怨，剧中的许多对话和场景都明显在抄袭热门美剧《老友记》和其他电视节目。

 

　　Zhang Yan, 22, a fan of Western soap operas from Zhengzhou, Henan, established cpartment.com, where he and other viewers post screen shots after each new episode, comparing it to US sitcoms² to demonstrate possible plagiarism³.

 

　　22岁的张彦（音译）来自河南郑州，身为西方肥皂剧迷的他建起了一个名为“抄袭公寓”的网站。每次《爱情公寓》新一集播出后，他和其他观众就会上传一些视频截图，并与美剧相对照，指出涉嫌抄袭的桥段。

 

　　According to Zhang, at least 16 of the sitcom’s 24 episodes have more than 70 percent of their plot directly copied from seven Western serials⁴ including How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory and IT Crowd.

 

　　张彦表示，在《爱情公寓III》的24集剧情中至少有16集，70%以上的情节照搬《老爸老妈浪漫史》，《生活大爆炸》以及《IT狂人》等7部西方剧集。

 

　　With an average of 3,000 to 4,000 clicks every day, the website has caused many Internet users to denounce and boycott⁵ the show.

 

　　该网站的平均日点击量达到3000—4000，受其影响，许多网友公开谴责并抵制该剧集。

 

　　“I don’t mean to ruin Ipartment. I just want to put pressure on some Chinese directors and scriptwriters. I hope they stop copying,” he told China Daily.

 

　　他在接受《中国日报》记者采访时表示：“我不是存心想要诋毁《爱情公寓》。我只是想给国内的一些导演和编剧施点压。希望他们能停止抄袭行为。”

 

　　Wang Yuan, Ipartment’s scriptwriter, admitted on Sina Weibo that he’s a die-hard fan of American sitcoms and that he tries to progress and innovate⁶ through imitation.

 

　　《爱情公寓》的编剧汪远在新浪微博上承认自己是美国情景喜剧的铁杆粉丝，表示自己试图在学习中进步，在模仿中创新。

 

　　He would be glad, he wrote, if he could emulate⁷ one-tenth of what they are doing right. Later, in an interview with Sina.com, Wang said he has used American sitcoms’ narrative⁸ rhythms, classic story arcs and jokes as a reference.

 

　　他写道，如果能学到他们的十分之一，他就已经很欣慰了。在新浪网后来的一次采访中，汪远表示自己只是把美国情景喜剧中的叙事节奏、经典的故事脉络和笑料当做参考。

 

　　However, a spokesperson of the show surnamed Cao denied plagiarism in an interview with Southern Metropolis⁹ Daily.

 

　　但该剧发言人曹某却在《南方都市报》的一次采访中否认了抄袭之说。

 

　　“Comedies have stereotypes¹⁰, like the handsome man, the gorgeous woman, the cheap man and so on. They have that in many comedies,” Cao said. “Our creation is not plagiarism, but more a homage¹¹ to the American sitcom.”

 

　　他说：“喜剧都很老套，帅男，美女，还有屌丝等等，很多喜剧都会有。我们的创作不是剽窃，而是对美国情景喜剧的一种致敬。”

 

　　The show, which is “just entertainment” according to Wang, has won many fans (presumably teenagers who aren’t old enough to have watched series such as Friends).

 

　　这部汪远口中“仅供娱乐”的剧集赢得了众多粉丝的追捧（大概是那些年龄太小还没看过《老友记》之类剧集的青少年人群）。

 

　　But a copycat case like this leaves fewer chances for hardworking writers who spend years creating high-quality work, because producers tend to choose quick writers who can finish a script in a couple of months.

 

　　但像此类的抄袭事件，却使得那些呕心沥血、苦干多年只求创作精品的剧作家们前途更加渺茫，因为制片人倾向于选择那些几个月就能写一个剧本的快餐式作家。

 

　　“The reason that plagiarism hasn’t stopped is because it hasn’t been punished so far,” veteran scriptwriter Liu Hua told China Daily.

 

　　资深编剧刘华（音译）在接受《中国日报》记者采访时表示：“剽窃仍大行其道，原因就在于到目前为止还未得到严惩。”

 

　　“But the power of the Internet may improve the situation. People have a broad view, and you can’t possibly cheat about anything.”

 

　　“但是网络的力量已使得状况有所改观。人们的视野开阔了，任何事情都瞒不过大众的眼睛。”

1 sitcom   

n.情景喜剧，（广播、电视的）系列幽默剧

参考例句：

• This sitcom is produced in cooperation with Hong Kong TV.这部连续剧是同香港电视台联合制作的。
• I heard that a new sitcom is coming out next season.我听说下一季会推出一个新的情境喜剧。

2 sitcoms   

n.情景喜剧( sitcom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This is the stuff most stadard TV sitcoms are made of. 这是大多数标注的电视幽默剧所采用的题材。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In most countries, prime-time Monday night television is dominated by sitcoms. 在大多数国家，周一晚上的电视黄金时段都由连续剧所占据。 来自互联网

3 plagiarism   

n.剽窃，抄袭

参考例句：

• Teachers in America fight to control cheating and plagiarism.美国老师们努力对付欺骗和剽窃的问题。
• Now he's in real trouble.He's accused of plagiarism.现在他是真遇到麻烦了。他被指控剽窃。

4 serials   

n.连载小说，电视连续剧( serial的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The computer can alter the serials librarian and produce a bindery notice. 计算机可提醒管理连续出版物的馆员，并制作装订通知。 来自辞典例句
• I realized I have started to like a few of their serials. 我意识到我已开始喜欢上了不少他们的连续剧。 来自互联网

5 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

6 innovate   

v.革新，变革，创始

参考例句：

• We must innovate in order to make progress.我们必须改革以便取得进步。
• It is necessary to innovate and develop military theories.创新和发展军事理论是必要的。

7 emulate   

v.努力赶上或超越，与…竞争；效仿

参考例句：

• You must work hard to emulate your sister.你必须努力工作，赶上你姐姐。
• You must look at the film and try to emulate his behavior.你们必须观看这部电影，并尽力模仿他的动作。

8 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

9 metropolis   

n.首府；大城市

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a metropolis in China.上海是中国的大都市。
• He was dazzled by the gaiety and splendour of the metropolis.大都市的花花世界使他感到眼花缭乱。

10 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 homage   

n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬

参考例句：

• We pay homage to the genius of Shakespeare.我们对莎士比亚的天才表示敬仰。
• The soldiers swore to pay their homage to the Queen.士兵们宣誓效忠于女王陛下。