英语听力精选进阶版 6169

The Year of the Heavyweights 大腕儿云集的一年

The 62nd Cannes Film Festival opened with an animated¹ movie called Up. This light-hearted and popular Disney movie about an elderly global explorer showcases cutting edge animation² techniques but it has been viewed as a surprising choice to open the festival.

2009 is being hailed as the year of the heavyweights. With classic filmmakers such as Coppola, Tarantino, Ang Lee and Von Trier showing films, few expected the festival to kick off with an animated movie.

Up may have been chosen in an attempt to show the broad reach and mass appeal of animation. After all, animated movies have proved to be some of the most popular and best selling in recent times.

This year’s festival appears to have a cross-cultural theme. Asia and Europe are well represented with films such as Looking for Eric, a British movie featuring the French football hero Eric Cantona. Other cross-cultural examples include Map of the Sounds of Tokyo which is a Spanish thriller³ set in Japan, and a movie about a French chef set in Hong Kong called Vengeance⁴.

Asia and Europe also dominate the judging panel for the coveted⁵ Palme d’Or for best film. Actress Shu Qi will be one of a six-strong jury who decides which of the twenty nominated feature films merits this prestigious⁶ award.

Although there has been much speculation⁷ and not a lot of agreement on who will win, one thing is for certain.

The media attention that can be gained from participation⁸ in the festival provides enough of a draw for the industry heavyweights – not to mention the typical Cannes glitterati.

So, it looks as though the celebrities⁹ and media will still be out in force even though many thought the festival would be lower key than usual due to the current economic climate.

GLOSSARY 词汇表

animated 动画的

light-hearted 轻松的

showcases 展示

cutting edge 前沿的，领新的

hailed as 被誉为

heavyweights 重量级人物

broad reach 触及广博

mass appeal 广泛吸引力

cross-cultural 跨文化的

thriller 惊险影片

dominate 主导

judging panel 评选委员会

coveted 令人垂涎的

jury 评委

merits 值得/应受

speculation 揣测

media attention 媒体的关注

glitterati 影视名流

out in force 兴师动众

lower key 比较低调的

1 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

2 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

3 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

4 vengeance   

n.报复，报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
• For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。

5 coveted   

adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图

参考例句：

• He had long coveted the chance to work with a famous musician. 他一直渴望有机会与著名音乐家一起工作。
• Ther other boys coveted his new bat. 其他的男孩都想得到他的新球棒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

7 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

8 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

9 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目