英语专业晨读美文-文化篇 9 Movies II

[00:01.45]The Most Historically Inaccurate¹ Movies Ⅱ
[00:04.39]Memoirs of a Geisha
[00:07.72]The geisha coming-of-age, was really more of a makeover,
[00:11.81]where she changed her hairstyle and clothes.
[00:14.30]It didn't involve her getting intimate with a client.
[00:17.45]In the climactic scene where Sayuri wows
[00:20.59]Gion patrons with her dancing prowess,
[00:22.90]her routine—which involves some platform shoes,
[00:26.22]fake snow, and a strobe light—
[00:28.76]seems more like a Studio 54 drag show
[00:31.53]than anything in pre-war Kyoto.
[00:33.61]Brave Heart
[00:35.76]Let's forget the fact that kilts weren't born
[00:38.44]in Scotland until about 300 years after William Wallace's day
[00:42.96]and just do some simple math. According to the movie,
[00:46.70]Wallace's blue-eyed charm at the Battle of Falkirk
[00:50.28]was so overpowering, he seduced² King Edward II's wife,
[00:54.21]Isabella of France, and the result of their affair was Edward III.
[00:59.35]But according to the history books,
[01:01.68]Isabella was three years old at the time of Falkirk,
[01:04.60]and Edward III was born seven years after Wallace died.
[01:08.43]Elizabeth: The Golden Age
[01:11.30]In 1585, when the movie takes place,
[01:15.12]Queen Elizabeth was 52 years old—
[01:17.90]Cate Blanchett was 36 when she shot the film—
[01:21.37]and was not being courted by suitors like Ivan the Terrible
[01:25.08]who was dead by then. And though the movie
[01:28.43]has her rallying the troops at Tilbury astride
[01:31.58]a white steed in full armor with a sword,
[01:33.98]in fact she rode side saddle, carrying a baton³.
[01:37.18]She was more of a regal majorette than Joan of Arc.
[01:41.30]The Patriot⁴
[01:42.92]Revolutionary War figure Francis Marion “The Swamp Fox”
[01:47.40]was the basis for Mel Gibson's character,
[01:50.39]but he wasn't the forward-thinking family man
[01:53.01]they show in the flick⁵. He was a slave owner
[01:56.48]who didn't get married (to his cousin) until
[01:59.22]after the war was over. Historians also say
[02:02.29]that he actively⁶ persecuted⁷ and murdered native Cherokees.
[02:06.08]Plus, the thrilling Battle of Guilford Court House
[02:09.93]where he vanquishes⁸ his British enemy?
[02:11.65]In reality, the Americans lost that one.
[02:14.55]2001: A Space Odyssey⁹
[02:17.64]According to this film, in year 2001
[02:21.81]we would have had manned voyages to Jupiter,
[02:24.38]a battle of wits with a sentient¹⁰ computer,
[02:27.14]and a quantum leap in human evolution.
[02:29.59]Instead we got the Mir Space Station falling from the sky,
[02:33.36]Windows XP, and Freddy got fingered.
[02:36.40]Apparently the lesson here is that sometimes
[02:40.26]it's better when the movies get the facts all wrong.

 

1 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

2 seduced   

诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷

参考例句：

• The promise of huge profits seduced him into parting with his money. 高额利润的许诺诱使他把钱出了手。
• His doctrines have seduced many into error. 他的学说把许多人诱入歧途。

3 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

4 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

5 flick   

n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动

参考例句：

• He gave a flick of the whip.他轻抽一下鞭子。
• By a flick of his whip,he drove the fly from the horse's head.他用鞭子轻抽了一下，将马头上的苍蝇驱走。

6 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

7 persecuted   

（尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人

参考例句：

• Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。

8 vanquishes   

v.征服( vanquish的第三人称单数 )；战胜；克服；抑制

参考例句：

9 odyssey   

n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险

参考例句：

• The march to Travnik was the final stretch of a 16-hour odyssey.去特拉夫尼克的这段路是长达16小时艰险旅行的最后一程。
• His odyssey of passion, friendship,love,and revenge was now finished.他的热情、友谊、爱情和复仇的漫长历程，到此结束了。

10 sentient   

adj.有知觉的，知悉的；adv.有感觉能力地

参考例句：

• The living knew themselves just sentient puppets on God's stage.生还者认识到，他们不过是上帝的舞台上有知觉的木偶而已。
• It teaches us to love all sentient beings equally.它教导我们应该平等爱护一切众生。