【英语听和读】莱昂纳多

 Callum: Hello, I'm Callum Robertson and this is Entertainment. Dominating¹ the movie

scene at the moment is the upcoming Oscars. In the programme today we

feature one of the Oscar nominees², Leonardo DiCaprio who has been

nominated³ for his role in the film Blood Diamond.

In the programme we'll hear part of an interview with Leonardo DiCaprio. We

hear him describing how he prepared for the role and also we take a close look

at the language he uses. But first a little bit about the background to the film

'Blood Diamond.'

In a number of civil wars in Africa the sale of diamonds has been used to pay

for the conflict. These diamonds are known as Conflict diamonds, war

diamonds or blood diamonds and this is where the film gets its name.

 

The film is about the attempts of the character played by DiCaprio, to find a

particular diamond during the civil war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s.

DiCaprio's character is not a hero or a good guy; he's involved in trading

conflict diamonds, he's a mercenary, or a soldier for hire, also known as a

soldier of fortune. His character comes from a country which is now known as

Zimbabwe and he has a very distinct⁴ accent. It was not only the accent that

DiCaprio had to learn about, but also the attitude, how did he learn about the

kind of person his character was and firstly, how did he feel about the accent? 

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Leonardo DiCaprio

It was definitely⁶ the most difficult that I've ever had to take on, extremely foreign to me, not

only the accent but you know, the slang⁷, the attitude of some of these South African

mercenaries in particular, soldiers of fortune. I got to meet some of these real guys and got to

go to Africa and hear first hand accounts of what they've seen in battle and politically their

attitudes about Africa. That's why it was fundamentally important for me to go to Africa as

early as I possibly could, because I couldn't have done that research at home just by reading or

by, you know, surfing the net, you know, you have to kind of immerse⁸ yourself in that

environment.

Callum: The accent he said was the most difficult that he's ever had to do and he

learned⁹ about his character by going to Africa and meeting mercenaries.

Now let's listen again to Leonardo DiCaprio talking about his research for his

role in Blood Diamond. This time I'll break it down and look in more details at

some of the language he uses.

Leonardo DiCaprio

It was definitely the most difficult that I've ever had to take on,

Callum: The accent was difficult to take on, to take on, something that you take on is a

responsibility or job you accept.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Extremely foreign to me

Callum: If something is 'foreign' to you it means that it is not something that you are

familiar with, it's very different from the things that you experience in

everyday life. Apart from the accent, what else did DiCaprio find foreign? 

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Leonardo DiCaprio

not only the accent but you know, the slang, the attitude of some of these South African

mercenaries in particular, soldiers of fortune.

Callum: As well as the accent he found the slang and the attitude of the mercenaries

foreign. The way they view life and world was completely different from his

views.

Leonardo DiCaprio

I got to meet some of these real guys and got to go to Africa and hear first hand accounts of

what they've seen in battle and politically their attitudes about Africa.

Callum: In this section he uses the same structure twice, got to, he got to meet some

mercenaries and he got to go to Africa. Get has many many meanings and here,

to get to do something means to have the opportunity to do something. He was

able to hear first-hand accounts of their experiences. A first hand account is

information about something that has happened which you hear directly from

someone who was actually there.

Leonardo DiCaprio

That's why it was fundamentally important for me to go to Africa as early as I possibly could,

Callum: It was fundamentally important. Fundamentally – he uses this adverb to

emphasise¹⁰ just how important it was to go to Africa, it was very very important.

Why was it so important?

Leonardo DiCaprio

because I couldn't have done that research at home just by reading or by, you know, searching

the net, you know, you have to kind of immerse yourself in that environment. 

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Callum: It was important because he learnt things that he couldn't have learnt by

reading or looking on the internet. He had to immerse himself in that

environment, immerse himself. If you immerse yourself in something you

become completely involved in it, you live it and breathe it.

Well, we'll find out on February 25th

whether Leonardo DiCaprio's research has

paid off when the Oscar awards are announced.

That's all from this edition of Entertainment. 

1 dominating   

adj.有领导作风的；统治的，独裁的v.控制( dominate的现在分词 )；在…中占首要地位；在…中具有最重要（或明显）的特色；在…中拥有最重要的位置

参考例句：

• He is dominating and active in manner. 他有领导作风而且能采取主动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gradually commodity production becomes the dominating form. 商品生产逐渐地成了统治的形式。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源

2 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

3 nominated   

adj.被提名的，被任命的 动词nominate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She has been nominated for the presidency. 她已经获得了董事长职位的提名。
• The movie was nominated for an Oscar. 这部电影获奥斯卡金像奖提名。

4 distinct   

adj.种类不同的，有区别的，清楚的，明显的

参考例句：

• I had the distinct impression that I was being followed.我清楚地感觉到有人跟踪我。
• The party split into two distinct groups.该党分裂成两个截然不同的团体。

5 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

6 definitely   

adv.一定地，肯定地；明确地，确切地

参考例句：

• The team will definitely lose if he doesn't play.如果他不参加比赛，这个队肯定会输。
• I shall definitely be home before six o'clock.6点以前，我一定回家。

7 slang   

n.俚语，行话；vt.使用俚语，辱骂；vi.辱骂

参考例句：

• The phrase is labelled as slang in the dictionary.这个短语在这本字典里被注为俚语。
• Slang often goes in and out of fashion quickly.俚语往往很快风行起来又很快不再风行了。

8 immerse   

v.使沉浸在，使深陷于；使浸没在

参考例句：

• Immerse the cloth in the dye for twenty minutes.把布浸在染料里20分钟。
• Don't immerse yourself in the infliction too long.不要长时间沉浸在痛苦经历中。

9 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

10 emphasise   

vt.加强...的语气，强调，着重

参考例句：

• What special feature do you think I should emphasise? 你认为我该强调什么呢？
• The exercises heavily emphasise the required readings.练习非常强调必须的阅读。