2006年VOA标准英语-Hollywood Prepares for Oscars

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
03 March 2006

Workers are putting the final touches on Hollywood's Kodak Theatre, where the motion picture industry will award the Oscars on Sunday evening. The industry's most glamorous¹ and powerful people will be there for the presentation.

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Workers secure a 25-foot Oscar statue, which weighs 700 pounds, outside Kodak Theatre in Hollywood   
  

It is a time when actors and directors take a break from filming on movie sets, executives get a break from their rounds of deal-making, and all the glamour² of Hollywood is on parade on the red carpet.

George Clooney is nominated for three Oscars, as supporting actor in the thriller³ Syriana and as director and co-writer of Good Night, and Good Luck, a film about the legendary⁴ newsman Edward R. Murrow.

This is Clooney's first time at the Oscars, but as he told reporters recently, he does not expect to win. He notes there are five nominees⁵ in each category, and those odds⁶ make the Oscars a gamble.

"If you were going to [Las] Vegas, and you got 20 percent odds, would you take that? The truth is, realistically, it doesn't feel like I'm going to win," he said. "I like the idea of showing up. It's exciting to be nominated. It really is exciting to be nominated. And right now is sort of the golden time."

  
  
This year's Oscar competition has films that touch on controversy⁷, including several that deal with gay themes and characters. The foreign-film entry Paradise Now, which follows two suicide bombers⁸, has been criticized by some who say it glorifies⁹ terrorism.

Gil Cates, who produces the Oscar show, says the entries are always topical, and sometimes controversial.

Gil Cates looks over construction of stage at Kodak Theatre   
  
"And I think that this year is a very appropriate year for the academy members to have selected these political films, cultural films because it's very much on everyone's minds," he said.

Politics always creeps into the presentation, and the Oscar show producer says that is unavoidable when winners go on stage.

"You know, when someone wins an Oscar and they get their 40 seconds up there, I hope they talk about their craft and their art and I personally hope they don't talk politics, but I can do nothing about that," Cates said. "It's their 40 seconds basically."

Critics and viewers worry less worry about controversy than about a telecast that is sometimes slow and uneventful. The producer says this year's host, comedian¹⁰ Jon Stewart, should maintain a brisk pace and introduce some topical humor for the biggest event of the year in Hollywood.

1 glamorous   

adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的

参考例句：

• The south coast is less glamorous but full of clean and attractive hotels.南海岸魅力稍逊，但却有很多干净漂亮的宾馆。
• It is hard work and not a glamorous job as portrayed by the media.这是份苦差，并非像媒体描绘的那般令人向往。

2 glamour   

n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住

参考例句：

• Foreign travel has lost its glamour for her.到国外旅行对她已失去吸引力了。
• The moonlight cast a glamour over the scene.月光给景色增添了魅力。

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 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

5 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

6 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

7 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

8 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 glorifies   

赞美( glorify的第三人称单数 )； 颂扬； 美化； 使光荣

参考例句：

• He denies that the movie glorifies violence. 他否认这部影片美化暴力。
• This magazine in no way glorifies gangs. 这本杂志绝对没有美化混混们。

10 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。