What's Wrong with Cecilia Cheung and Nicholas Tse?

     BEIJING, June 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Rumors¹ have been running rampant² that Cecilia Cheung and Nicholas Tse, one of the hottest Chinese celebrity³ couples, are nearing a divorce. Local newspapers and Websites have been carrying such headlines as "Nicholas Tse asks Cecilia to move out;" "Tse-Cheung fairytale is over;" or even more explicitly⁴, "Cecilia Cheung and Nicholas Tse divorced."Neither Cheung nor Tse have said whether they have broken up, but Tse did issue a statement on May 30, via his agent, saying he never asked for a separation, and accusing a Hong Kong newspaper of libel.

    The words Tse used in his statement are ambiguous. They seem to emphasize that it was not him to be blamed for Cheung's moving out, as Hong Kong media pointed⁵ out that Cheung did leave Tse's property to live in a rented house.

    What's really going on between the couple? What has led to the divorce rumors? Let's take a look at two of the most likely guesses.

    Guess One: PropertyHong Kong radio show host Cha Siu-yan, who claims to be a close friend of the Tse family, is the most cited source for the couple's problem.

    Cha has said that the seemingly-happy couple had long been involved in a dispute over property. She dismissed rumors that the couple had divorced, but continued about the property dispute, saying that Cheung had asked Tse to transfer ownership of all his properties, including a villa⁶ Tse bought for his father, under her name.

    "It seems as though Cecilia wants to drain Nicholas of all his assets and property - when I heard this news about Cecilia, I actually didn't really believe it myself," Cha said at her radio show.

    Guess Two: Edison ChenThe man who challenged Cecilia Cheung and Nicholas Tse's marriage years ago is involved again.

    In early 2008, a sex photo scandal that involved singer-actor Edison Chen and several female stars, Cecilia Cheung being one, shocked the Chinese entertainment circle. It turned out that Edison Chen, who had had intimate relationships with the stars, saved the photos in his computer, and the photos were retrieved⁷ and leaked online when Chen took in the computer for maintenance.

    By the time of the scandal, Cecilia Cheung had been married to Tse for two years. Their first son, Lucas, was already born.

    The media showed great sympathy for Tse as they imagined what he had to go through. An emotional Cecilia Cheung also appeared at a televised interview, calling Edison Chen's apology a fake gesture.

    As Edison Chen faded from the spotlight⁸, Cheung and Tse seemed to get over the scandal. In May 2010, their second son, Quintus, was born.

    After giving birth to Quintus, Cheung launched a high-profile comeback to her acting⁹ career, signing on to star in several films. The contracts reportedly made her the top-earning actress in Hong Kong.

    Earlier this month, on May 8, Cecilia Cheung ran into Edison Chen on a plane from Taipei to Hong Kong. Reports say Cheung voluntarily asked to switch her seat to the one next to Chen's. The two enjoyed the reunion by chitchatting and posing for photos.

    However, Cheung strongly denied the reunion, saying the media was making up stories, but Edison Chen's agent confirmed that the encounter and the chatting were all true.

    This airborne episode seemed to have an impact on Nicholas Tse, who was apart from Cecilia Cheung on her 31st birthday on May 24, while Cheung spent the day with her son and friends in Taipei.

    What is the couple doing amidst the rumors?

    Cecilia Cheung is working on a romantic film, "Repeat, I Love You", in Shenzhen in southern China. In the film, she acts alongside South Korean heartthrob Kwon Sang-woo.

    However, Cheung was absent from the movie's press conference on May 27, causing wide speculations¹⁰ that her absence was due to her marriage crisis.

    Nicholas Tse, on the other hand, is filming the action film "Against War" in Malaysia.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

3 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

4 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 villa   

n.别墅，城郊小屋

参考例句：

• We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
• We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。

7 retrieved   

v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Yesterday I retrieved the bag I left in the train. 昨天我取回了遗留在火车上的包。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He reached over and retrieved his jacket from the back seat. 他伸手从后座上取回了自己的夹克。 来自辞典例句

8 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

9 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

10 speculations   

n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断

参考例句：

• Your speculations were all quite close to the truth. 你的揣测都很接近于事实。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• This possibility gives rise to interesting speculations. 这种可能性引起了有趣的推测。 来自《用法词典》