【英语趣味课堂】电影回顾-Movie Review

Todd: Howard, you said you saw the movie The Aviator¹.

 

Howard: Ah, yes, with Leonardo DiCaprio.

 

Todd: OK. What is the movie about?

 

Howard: Well, "The Aviator" refers to the character, Howard Hughes.

 

Todd: OK, who was Howard Hughes?

 

Howard: Well, Howard Hughes is a very famous person in the United States. He was a flyer, first of all, and he was a producer of movies and he was a little crazy. The interesting part of his character, although he was a very brilliant thinker, and a great aviator, he had a kind of obsession² with cleanliness, which actually drove him crazy in his later life.

 

Todd: Really, so he always wanted to be super clean.

 

Howard: Super clean! He hated germs and he went to extraordinary lengths to keep himself and all his surrounding clean. If anybody touched him, he had to wash many times to get all the germs off of him, and he was just, it became such an obsession that it interfered⁴ with his entire personal life.

 

Todd: Wow! What about you? Are you very clean? Do you worry about germs?

 

Howard: No not really. I don't think so.

 

Todd: OK, actually, if you're eating M&M's and one falls off your hand and hits the floor, would you pick it up real quick and still eat it, or would you not eat it?

 

Howard: It depends if I had cleaned the floor lately.

 

Todd: OK, but overall, back to the movie, was it a good movie?

 

Howard: Ah, yes. In fact, it's been nominated for a number of Academy Awards, and I think this year, it will do quite well. It's entertaining and it's well performed by Leonardo DiCaprio, although I think that Leonardo DiCaprio is a little young for the part but he did a very good job in his acting⁵.

 

Todd: Hmm, OK, thanks. Maybe I'll see it.

 

Howard: Try!

 

学习内容：

 

obsession

 

He had a kind of obsession with cleanliness, which actually drove him crazy. 

An 'obsession' with something is an intense focus on that thing. A person who is obsessed⁶ with cleanliness wants everything to be very clean. Notice the following:

 

We have developed an obsession with Japanese food.

His obsession with history can be interesting, but sometimes it's a little annoying.

went to extraordinary lengths

 

He went to extraordinary lengths to keep himself and all his surrounding clean. 

If a person 'goes to extraordinary lengths' to do something it means that a lot of effort is made to accomplish a particular goal. Notice the following:

 

His parents went to extraordinary lengths to make this a special day for him.

She went to extraordinary lengths to get the kids to like her at her new school.

off of him

 

If anybody touched him, he'd wash many times to get all the germs off of him. 

To 'get something off' of yourself is to remove it from your body. Notice the following:

 

It took a week for him to get all the paint off of himself.

After a trip to the beach it is really hard to get all the sand off of you.

interfered with

 

It became such an obsession that it interfered with his entire personal life. 

If something or someone 'interferes⁷' with your life it causes problems or prevents you from doing something that you wanted or had planned to do. Notice the following:

 

He is always interfering⁸ with other people's problems.

She gets frustrated⁹ when her parents interfere³ with her personal life.

pick it up real quick and still eat it

 

If a candy falls off your hand and hits the floor, would you pick it up real quick and still eat it? 

When you 'pick something real quick and still eat it' you take it quickly from where it has fallen and put it in your mouth even though it is dirty from being on the ground. Notice the following:

 

The fish fell in the sand, but the bird picked it up real quick and still ate it.

When his ice cream fell on the floor, my son tried to pick it up real quick and still eat it.

1 aviator   

n.飞行家，飞行员

参考例句：

• The young aviator bragged of his exploits in the sky.那名年轻的飞行员吹嘘他在空中飞行的英勇事迹。
• Hundreds of admirers besieged the famous aviator.数百名爱慕者围困那个著名飞行员。

2 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

3 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

4 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

7 interferes   

vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉

参考例句：

• The noise interferes with my work. 这噪音妨碍我的工作。
• That interferes with my plan. 那干扰了我的计划。

8 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

9 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》