AS IT IS 2015-12-24 The Year in Entertainment: Caitlyn Jenner, Star Wars, Adele

AS IT IS 2015-12-24 The Year in Entertainment: Caitlyn Jenner, Star Wars, Adele

Who and what entertained us in 2015?

Many of us read the award-winning book, “Between the World and Me,” a discussion of being black in America by journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates. Many also celebrated¹ the latest Star Wars movie, in which the lead actors of the original 1977 film reappear.

And probably all of us heard at least some new music from Adele who returned to recording² in 2015.

But few would argue that any entertainment news was bigger than the Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner story. That drama touched people, angered people, inspired people and amused people.

The birth of Caitlyn Jenner

Bruce Jenner won the 1976 Olympic decathlon championship. The decathlon tests the athlete in 10 sporting events. The athlete must excel in jumping, throwing, running, wrestling and other events. 

Jenner is also the famous stepfather of the Kardashian family. He regularly appears on the reality show, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”

But, in April of this year, Bruce Jenner announced to the world that he is transgender.

Jenner’s new name is Caitlyn. She told journalists that she had “always felt stuck in the middle.” She said she began wearing women’s clothing as a young boy. She did not know why she was doing it. It just made her feel good, she said.

Jenner also said she remains³ attracted to women and has not had a sex-change operation. She has been taking female hormones⁵ for years, however, to add female characteristics to her body.

In June, Caitlyn Jenner was on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine. The issue included a lengthy⁶ article about her new life. She said her ex-wife Kris Jenner and their children and step-children had been supportive of her decision.

Movies that moved us

What happens in reality is often mirrored in fiction. A few months after the Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner story drew the country’s attention, the movie “The Danish Girl” was released. The movie is based on the life of the Danish artist Lili Elbe, one of the first people to have a sex change operation. Critics have praised the movie.

The big movies of the year, however, were mostly action and adventure. The biggest money-maker of 2015 is expected to be “Star Wars: The Force Awakens⁷.” The futuristic adventure movie series has been around for almost 40 years.

“The Force Awakens” is the seventh installment⁸. It is breaking all kinds of box office records, including biggest domestic and worldwide openings. The film sold close to $250 million worth of tickets in the first three days of its release in the United States. Worldwide ticket sales add up to almost $530 million.

"The Force Awakens” sees the return of the three lead actors from the original “Star Wars." The new movie received major pre-release buzz, including a celebrity⁹ filled premiere in Los Angeles. The film was released to the general public on December 18.

Dinosaurs¹⁰ also had a huge impact on the box office this year. “Jurassic World” was released in June. It has since brought in more than $650 million in ticket sales around the world. The movie is the fourth installment in the “Jurassic Park” series that first hit theaters in 1993.

Other successful action movies this year include “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Furious 7.” Both are listed in the top five highest money makers¹¹ of 2015.

But, animated¹² characters stole the hearts of young movie goers this year. The Pixar film “Inside Out” was a huge hit, selling $356 million worth of tickets.

The story is set in the mind of a young girl. The characters are five emotions.

And “Minions¹³,” a spin off from the “Despicable Me” series, also did well at the box office. Movie goers around the world bought more than $336 million worth of tickets sales to see the little yellow creatures called minions star in their own movie.

The year in books

One of the most powerful and popular books of 2015 was from writer, journalist and educator Ta-Nehisi Coates. “Between the World and Me” is written in the form of a letter to the author’s son. It is meant to prepare him for the racial injustice¹⁴ he will face growing up African-American in the United States.

The book received much critical acclaim¹⁵ and won the National Book Award for non-fiction.

Another very successful book of 2015 is “Fates and Furies,” by Lauren Groff. The book is about the inside of a marriage. It is told in separate parts from the points of view of the wife and husband.

Recently, President Obama said that “Fates and Furies” was his favorite book of the year. The National Book Foundation liked it, too. It honored the work with the National Book Award for fiction.

Music in review

Twenty-fifteen was a good year for Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift. Both released wildly popular albums. Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” went straight to the top of Billboard’s Top 200 Albums in the first week it was out. It has sold about 750,000 copies in the U.S. alone.

Earlier this month, Kendrick Lamar led the music industry in Grammy nominations¹⁶. He is up for 11 awards including Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Rap Song.

Taylor Swift received seven Grammy nominations including Best Album for “1989.” That album sold more than 5 million copies in its first nine months.

But the most talked about music of the year came from British singer Adele. In 2012, Adele announced she was taking a break to “live a little bit.” This year her fans celebrated her return to recording.

Adele’s first single from her new album “25” was broadcast in October. The song “Hello” broke records for downloads, selling 1.1 million its first week.

Words in This Story

journalist – n. a person whose activity or job is collecting, writing, and editing news stories for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio

drama – n. a person (especially a woman) who acts as though things are much worse than they really are

transgender – n. of or relating to people who have a sexual identity that is not clearly male or clearly female

hormone⁴ – n. a natural substance that is produced in the body and that influences the way the body grows or develops

adventure – n. an exciting or dangerous experience — often used before another noun

despicable – adj. very bad or unpleasant: deserving to be despised

installment – n. any one of several parts of a long book, television program, etc., that are published or shown over a period of time

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

5 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

6 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

7 awakens   

v.（使）醒( awaken的第三人称单数 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• The scene awakens reminiscences of my youth. 这景象唤起我年轻时的往事。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The child awakens early in the morning. 这个小孩早晨醒得早。 来自辞典例句

8 installment   

n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期

参考例句：

• I shall soon pay the last installment of my debt.不久我将偿付我的最后一期债款。
• He likes to buy things on the installment plan.他喜欢用分期付款法购买货物。

9 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

10 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 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。

13 minions   

n.奴颜婢膝的仆从( minion的名词复数 )；走狗；宠儿；受人崇拜者

参考例句：

• She delegated the job to one of her minions. 她把这份工作委派给她的一个手下。 来自辞典例句
• I have been a slave to the vicious-those whom I served were his minions. 我当过那帮坏人的奴隶，我伺候的都是他的爪牙。 来自辞典例句

14 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

15 acclaim   

v.向…欢呼，公认；n.欢呼，喝彩，称赞

参考例句：

• He was welcomed with great acclaim.他受到十分热烈的欢迎。
• His achievements earned him the acclaim of the scientific community.他的成就赢得了科学界的赞誉。

16 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句