VOA标准英语2010年-Versatile American Film Star Meryl Str

Award-winning actress wins acclaim¹ for her ability to transform into whatever the role requires

Nancy Greenleese 10 February 2010

Photo: Universal Pictures
Meryl Streep scored two Golden Globe nominations³ for Best Actress (Comedy or Musical) for "It's Complicated" (above) and "Julie & Julia," winning for her portrayal⁴ of chef Julia Child.

 

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Film director Mike Nichols said of her, "Meryl's got to be one of those phenomena⁵, like Garbo, that happen once in a generation."

 

Mary Louise Streep or Meryl, as she's known, seems to collect an award with every appearance: Oscars, Emmys, an Obie, even a Grammy nomination². But the renowned⁶ theater and film actress is disarmingly modest during an October press conference in Rome for the opening of "Julie & Julia", in which she plays the late TV chef Julia Child.

 

Columbia Pictures (Sony)
Streep received her 16th Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of chef Julia Child in "Julie & Julia".

Streep says she often fails, as an actor, a mother and as a woman. But she thinks that failure serves her art. "It's the human frailty⁷ that most interests me in my work. To discover what is not perfect." She adds with a laugh, "I am in search of the thing that is broken. Even in characters like [Julia Child, who] is a character that's very happy, a happy woman."

An early introduction to drama

Streep says her portrayal of Julia Child, for which she received her 16th Oscar nomination, is a tribute to her own mother, a commercial artist who had a similar joy for life.

Streep says her mother and father, who was a business executive, were funny and sad, weird⁸ and musical. They fought with each other for 60 years, giving her daily instruction in drama growing up in a wealthy borough⁹ of New Jersey¹⁰.  

American actress Meryl Streep receives a bronze statue of Rome’s symbol from the Mayor Gianni Alemanno in October 2009.
 

Television movies also provided lessons. "I remember seeing Carole Lombard in something and running downstairs and telling my mother that this woman was so funny but she was so beautiful at the same time. The two things that I never knew could happen, you know. I remember that very clearly."

Streep has graced the stage and screen for more than three decades. She first took to the stage her sophomore¹¹ year at Vassar College, when she landed the lead in "Miss Julie". Yale School of Drama followed and soon she was traveling the same path of many young actors that led to New York City.

 

A woman of many faces and voices

 

She made her professional debut¹² in the New York Shakespeare Festival's 1975 staging of "Trelawny of the Wells", alongside other names that are well-known today, including John Lithgow, Mary Beth Hurt and Mandy Patinkin. That was followed by production after production that showed her versatility¹³. 

 

Miramax Films
Streep received an Oscar nomination for her role in 2008's "Doubt".

 

"I thought of myself as actor," Streep says. "I could play a man, I could play a woman, I could play an old fat person. I could play a young slim person. I thought of myself as malleable¹⁴, as clay."

Soon she was shaping herself into film characters. The stunning¹⁵ 60-year-old has transformed herself with each role, from an elegant baroness¹⁶ in "Out of Africa" to an angry drunk in "Ironweed" to a lesbian in "Manhattan". She became a Polish concentration camp survivor¹⁷ in "Sophie's Choice", earning an Oscar and acclaim that continues for her ability to do accents.

Her first Oscar arrived for the 1979 custody¹⁸ battle film "Kramer vs. Kramer". Streep plays Joanna, a mother who chooses to give up custody of her son to her ex-husband, played by Dustin Hoffman. She re-wrote some of the dialogue, after pointing out to the director that Joanna was too evil.

She's never directed but jokes that many directors would say she has due to her obsessive¹⁹ involvement during filming.

Taking an active role in charitable causes

 

Streep is equally passionate²⁰ about social issues. In the late 1980s, she and her Connecticut neighbors banded together to ensure that children had access to sustainably produced food that was not tainted²¹ by pesticides²².

 

"We contacted Julia Child," Streep recalls, "thinking that she would be very sympathetic to our aims. And she was very cranky and unsympathetic as it turned out. At first. But then she changed her mind."

The group, called Mothers and Others, brought attention to children's environmental health for 10 years before becoming inactive. Streep has continued to support a wide range of causes, including children and hunger, human rights and the environment as well as fighting AIDS and animal abuse.

Last month, she lent her celebrity²³ status to Haitian relief efforts. She revealed that the dress she wore at the Golden Globes award ceremony will be sold at a charity auction²⁴ to raise money for victims of the disaster. Later, she joined Morgan Freeman, Julia Roberts and other stars to film a public service announcement. Streep also appeared in a TV campaign to aid Darfur in 2006.

An extraordinary ordinary woman

Decades of memorable²⁵ characters prompted Streep's peers at the American Film Institute to give her a Life Achievement award a few years ago. Last year, she received a career award from the Rome Film Festival.

Film director Mike Nichols said of her, "Meryl's got to be one of those phenomena, like Garbo, that happen once in a generation." 

Yet despite her success as an actress and her worldwide recognition, Streep remains²⁶ modest and realistic. "I try to lead as ordinary a life as I can. You can't get spoiled if you do your own ironing."
 

1 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。

2 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

3 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

4 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

5 phenomena   

n.现象

参考例句：

• Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。
• The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系，如果存在着任何联系的话。

6 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

7 frailty   

n.脆弱；意志薄弱

参考例句：

• Despite increasing physical frailty,he continued to write stories.尽管身体越来越虛弱，他仍然继续写小说。
• He paused and suddenly all the frailty and fatigue showed.他顿住了，虚弱与疲惫一下子显露出来。

8 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

9 borough   

n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇

参考例句：

• He was slated for borough president.他被提名做自治区主席。
• That's what happened to Harry Barritt of London's Bromley borough.住在伦敦的布罗姆利自治市的哈里.巴里特就经历了此事。

10 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

11 sophomore   

n.大学二年级生；adj.第二年的

参考例句：

• He is in his sophomore year.他在读二年级。
• I'm a college sophomore majoring in English.我是一名英语专业的大二学生。

12 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

13 versatility   

n.多才多艺，多样性，多功能

参考例句：

• Versatility is another of your strong points,but don't overdo it by having too many irons in the fire.你还有一个长处是多才多艺，但不要揽事太多而太露锋芒。
• This versatility comes from a dual weather influence.这种多样性是由于双重的气候影响而形成的。

14 malleable   

adj.(金属)可锻的;有延展性的；(性格)可训练的

参考例句：

• Silver is the most malleable of all metals.银是延展性最好的金属。
• Scientists are finding that the adult human brain is far more malleable than they once thought.科学家发现成人大脑的可塑性远超过他们之前认识到的。

15 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

16 baroness   

n.男爵夫人，女男爵

参考例句：

• I'm sure the Baroness will be able to make things fine for you.我相信男爵夫人能够把家里的事替你安排妥当的。
• The baroness,who had signed,returned the pen to the notary.男爵夫人这时已签过字，把笔交回给律师。

17 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

18 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

19 obsessive   

adj. 着迷的, 强迫性的, 分神的

参考例句：

• Some people are obsessive about cleanliness.有些人有洁癖。
• He's becoming more and more obsessive about punctuality.他对守时要求越来越过分了。

20 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

21 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 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。

24 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

25 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

26 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。