An American made the first movie
Everybody loves movies. We see them at theatres, and we watch them on TV. They are popular with children
and adults, too. We can learn from them or we can have a good time watching them. We also call movies
‘motion pictures. ‘Motion’ is a noun for ‘moving’. People tried to show motion in pictures for centuries.
Even prehistoric artists showed animals running in their cave pictures.
Near the end of the 19th century, several Europeans and Americans tried to make movies. No one knows
who made the first one. New York City had the first movie theatre in 1894. People put money in a small
machine and looked into it at the movie. By 1900, movies were popular all over Europe and the United
States. They were not very good, but people liked them because they were new and different.
Every year people invented ways to make movies better. They invented machines to show the pictures on a
screen. Then everyone could see the motion pictures on the front wall of a theatre instead of inside a small
machine. In 1927, inventors add sound to movies. Then they added color. Today it costs several million
dollars to make a movie. However, movie makers collect million dollars from people at movie theatres
because everyone loves movies.
1. An American made the first movie. ____________
2. Movies in 1920 were different from those today. ____________
3. It is expensive to make movies. ____________
4. Most adults do not like movies, but kids like films. ____________
5. Inventors added colors and sounds to movies simultaneously. ____________
6. We have nothing to learn from motion pictures. ____________
7. Movies were well-known in Europe at the end of the 19th century. ____________
8. Prehistoric artists showed motion in the cave paintings.