英语听力精选进阶版 6158

The King of Words 词语之王

The cast and crew of British movies will no longer be hailed as the underdogs at awards ceremonies. At the recent 81st Oscars ceremony, British actors and movies won no less than 11 awards.

The list of Oscar winners is usually dominated by American films and actors but 2009 has seen a more international flavour to the ceremony.

British actors and actresses have long awaited such global recognition. Kate Winslet was nominated six times for an Oscar before she eventually won the Best Actress award at this year’s ceremony.

Slumdog Millionaire lived up to its status as a global success and movie phenomenon. The low-budget movie swept the board winning eight Oscars, including Best Director and Best Picture.

The movie, which documents the life of a young Indian boy after he wins a TV game show, has definitely helped to raise the profile of the British film industry.

Summarising the national feeling, British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, issued a statement saying "Britain is showing it has the talent to lead the world."

A spokesman for the UK Film Council agreed with Mr Brown’s comments but added that many of this year’s movie winners have benefited from national funding.

"With our lottery¹ funding for Man on Wire and The Duchess, and Film4's support for Slumdog Millionaire, last night proved that government support for film can deliver success on a global scale," he said.

Addressing the growing fervour for British film, Slumdog director Danny Boyle has urged people to remain calm and to be realistic after his remarkable² Oscar success.

"You’ve got to be careful of claiming that this marks the renaissance³ of the British film industry. It is one film," he said.

GLOSSARY 词汇表

cast and crew 演员和工作人员

hailed 称为

underdogs 输家

dominated 称霸

international flavour 国际味道

global recognition 全球认可

phenomenon 现象

swept the board 大获全胜

raise the profile 提升形象和影响力

national feeling 民族感情

talent 人才

spokesman 发言人

benefited 受益

national funding 政府拨款

lottery funding 彩票集资

global scale 全球范围

fervour 极度热情

urged 敦促

realistic 现实的

renaissance 文艺复兴

1 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

2 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

3 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。