【英语时差8,16】「喧宾夺主」的变形金刚

While we were just expecting to see a box-office hit that rested solely¹ on the success of the first movie—after all, it is a sequel—there are some surprises in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen." Once again the Decepticons are trying to destroy the world, while the Autobots are cooperating with the humans. The Decepticons are after some silver shards³ with special powers. Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) happens to have one of the shards from his adventures in the previous movie. "LaBeouf gets little chance to show what charm he might have. Meanwhile, Megan Fox has little to do except look great in a tank top and tight jeans while running in slow motion through flying sand," said Ray Bennet from the Hollywood Reporter on the matter of the lead role actors that are basically not carrying the film. "The true stars here are the Transformers themselves, who continually steal the spotlight⁴ from the flesh-and-blood cast, even in scenes of tragic⁵ death or comic relief usually reserved for real actors," explained Jordan Mintzer from Variety. Michael Bay clearly realized that for the sequel to Transformers, he needed more than just action scenes and showing off how cool they look when Transformers transform. It is the Transformers themselves, however, that still limit the capabilities⁶ of the movie, which seems to have more potential than it uses.

重点词汇：

box-office 电影票房（的） to rest on something 依靠；仰赖 sequel (n.) 序篇 to destroy (v.) 摧毀；毀减 shard² (n.) 碎片；破片 tank top 无袖上衣；背心装 slow motion 慢动作 continually (adv.) 持续不断地；不停地 flesh-and-blood 血肉之躯；真实的 capability⁷ (n.) 能力；潛力

1 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

2 shard   

n.（陶瓷器、瓦等的）破片，碎片

参考例句：

• Eyewitnesses spoke of rocks and shards of glass flying in the air.目击者称空中石块和玻璃碎片四溅。
• That's the same stuff we found in the shard.那与我们发现的碎片在材质上一样。

3 shards   

n.（玻璃、金属或其他硬物的）尖利的碎片( shard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyewitnesses spoke of rocks and shards of glass flying in the air. 目击者称空中石块和玻璃碎片四溅。 来自辞典例句
• Ward, Josh Billings, and a host of others have survived only in scattered shards of humour. 沃德、比林斯和许多别的作家能够留传下来的只是些幽默的残章断简。 来自辞典例句

4 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

5 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

6 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

7 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。