VOA标准英语2009年-Michael Moore's 'Capitalism: A Love Story'

By Penelope Poulou
Washington
03 October 2009

 
Michael Moore in a scene from his new movie, "Capitalism¹, A Love Story"
In his new documentary "Capitalism: A Love Story," Director Michael Moore turns his lens on one of the most contentious² subjects in America today: the economic crisis. Mixing scathing³ satire⁴ with human drama, Moore talks about the housing collapse⁵, the credit crunch⁶, the Wall Street shakeup and the U.S. government's $750 billion bank bailout.

In "Capitalism: A Love Story," Michael Moore says unfettered greed plunged⁷ middle America into the deepest financial crisis since the Great Depression. In his usual theatrical⁸ style, Moore puts the blame on banks and other financial institutions.

"Here's how it worked. First, tell these home owners that they own a bank and that bank is your home. And you can use your bank to get more money. Just refinance! Everyone is doing it. Of course, hidden in the dozens of hundreds of pages of fine print are tricky⁹ clauses that allow the bank to raise your interest rate to a number you didn't know about. Perhaps so high, that you won't be able to repay your loan. But that's o.k. If you can't repay it, we'll just take your house," says Moore.

Moore says housing is just one facet¹⁰ of America's economic crisis today. "Stock markets crash, bankruptcy¹¹, foreclosures, a global meltdown and the government bails¹². By spending just a few million dollars to buy Congress, Wall Street was given billions," he says.

Moore alleges¹³ that government officials, along with corporate¹⁴ executives, created a doomsday scenario¹⁵, saying the financial system would collapse without a hefty bank bailout.

Congress agreed to give $750 billion of taxpayer¹⁶ money to imperiled financial giants. But Elizabeth Warren, of the Congressional Oversight¹⁷ Panel, says in the film the money is unaccounted for.

In his trademark¹⁸ baseball hat and jeans, Moore knocks at the doors of giant corporations demanding answers and …the people's money. "I'm gonna take it back to the U.S. treasury¹⁹. Right in this car. It's safe. You can trust me," he says.

Vitriole aside, Moore delivers a heartbreaking picture of middle class Americans, hard working people who cannot get jobs, put food on the table or pay for their homes.

Moore questions the morality of capitalism which he describes as an unregulated economic system where the few maximize their profits at the expense of the many. He repeated that point at a post-screening discussion moderated by journalist Ariana Huffington. "It's not capitalism versus²⁰ communism discussion I want to have. I just want to go back to our root values, what Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin and all those guys said about democracy," he says.

The right to vote, says Moore, is the people's most effective weapon against abuse of power.

His documentary does not offer economic alternatives nor does he prove allegations about corporate corruption²¹.

His preachy tone about greed may alienate²² many, who seek a more cerebral²³ treatment. 

But Moore's intent is not intellectual dialogue. He wants to spark a visceral reaction. This way, he hopes, Americans will get angry enough to do something about it. "There's got to be some kind of rebellion between the people that have nothing and the people that's got it all," he says.

1 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

2 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

3 scathing   

adj.（言词、文章）严厉的，尖刻的；不留情的adv.严厉地，尖刻地v.伤害，损害（尤指使之枯萎）( scathe的现在分词)

参考例句：

• a scathing attack on the new management 针对新的管理层的猛烈抨击
• Her speech was a scathing indictment of the government's record on crime. 她的演讲强烈指责了政府在犯罪问题上的表现。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 satire   

n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品

参考例句：

• The movie is a clever satire on the advertising industry.那部影片是关于广告业的一部巧妙的讽刺作品。
• Satire is often a form of protest against injustice.讽刺往往是一种对不公正的抗议形式。

5 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

6 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

7 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

8 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

9 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

10 facet   

n.(问题等的)一个方面；(多面体的)面

参考例句：

• He has perfected himself in every facet of his job.他已使自己对工作的各个方面都得心应手。
• Every facet of college life is fascinating.大学生活的每个方面都令人兴奋。

11 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

12 bails   

（法庭命令缴付的）保释金( bail的名词复数 )； 三柱门上的横木

参考例句：

• Heavy-duty wire bails offer extra durability for heavy use. 重型丝保释提供额外的耐用性，为大量使用。
• To retire (a batsman in cricket) with bowled ball that knocks the bails off the wicket. 使出局，打败：因投球击落柱上横木而迫使（板球以中的击球员）退场。

13 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

14 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

15 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

16 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

17 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

18 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

19 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

20 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

21 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

22 alienate   

vt.使疏远，离间；转让(财产等)

参考例句：

• His attempts to alienate the two friends failed because they had complete faith.他离间那两个朋友的企图失败了，因为他们彼此完全信任。
• We'd better not alienate ourselves from the colleagues.我们最好还是不要与同事们疏远。

23 cerebral   

adj.脑的，大脑的；有智力的，理智型的

参考例句：

• Your left cerebral hemisphere controls the right-hand side of your body.你的左半脑控制身体的右半身。
• He is a precise,methodical,cerebral man who carefully chooses his words.他是一个一丝不苟、有条理和理智的人，措辞谨慎。