Top Acting Oscars Go to Favorites

    It was no surprise in Hollywood last night when British actor Colin Firth and Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman took home Academy Awards(学院奖) for Best Actor and Best Actress. It was the first win for both actors.
    As the stammering¹ King George Vl, Firth towered over the other Oscar-nominated actors. In "The King's Speech," we see the king painstakingly² build his self-confidence. Firth's performance is seamless - from his struggle to punctuate³ his words to his fits of rage and then when he talks up a storm with perfect elocution.
    The actor triumphs in unforgiving close ups intended to magnify his labor⁴ with words. It's hard to watch, almost embarrassing. We feel his pain.
    "Anybody who would have to speak publicly would completely identify with this moment," says Firth. "It would be the anxiety dream they would have the night before. And I think people do have a problem with intimacy⁵. There is a level on which we are all alone no matter how intimate we are with our family."Firth first gained recognition for his role as Mr. Darcy in the 1995 BBC adaptation(适应,改编) of Jane Austin's "Pride and Prejudice." Then, in 2003, he appeared in the period drama "The Girl with the Pearl Earring⁶." Firth also landed an out-of-character role in the 2008 musical comedy "Mamma Mia."Last year, Firth was nominated for an Oscar for his leading role in Tom Ford's drama "A Single Man," about a gay man whose partner dies. But it is his performance as King George that is the apex⁷ of his career, so far.
    In the Best Actress category, some critics favored Annette Benning for her performance in “The Kid’s are All Right,” in which she plays a lesbian mother who discovers her partner is cheating on her.
    But her performance cannot overshadow Portman’s transformation⁸ into a dark prima ballerina in “Black Swan.” For more than two hours, Portman’s face reflects the emotional torment⁹ of her character, Nina.
    The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has traditionally favored actors who transform themselves into their character - not only emotionally but also physically¹⁰, as Portman does in this film.
    "It's so vicious on the body. And yet you never see it," says Portman. "It's like you see this beautiful image and underneath¹¹ it is some really, really grotesque¹² detail."Portman, 29, has had numerous film roles, including a leading part in the "Star Wars" prequels. In 2005, she received an Oscar nomination¹³ for her role in the drama “Closer.” She also starred opposite Scarlet¹⁴ Johansson in the 2008 period drama “The Other Boleyn Girl.”
    But it is her stunning¹⁵ turn in "Black Swan" that has catapulted her into the elite¹⁶ ranks of Oscar winners - in a film not universally admired but also not easily forgotten.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 stammering   

v.结巴地说出( stammer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He betrayed nervousness by stammering. 他说话结结巴巴说明他胆子小。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Why,\" he said, actually stammering, \"how do you do?\" “哎呀，\"他说，真的有些结结巴巴，\"你好啊？” 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

2 painstakingly   

adv. 费力地 苦心地

参考例句：

• Every aspect of the original has been closely studied and painstakingly reconstructed. 原作的每一细节都经过了仔细研究，费尽苦心才得以重现。
• The cause they contrived so painstakingly also ended in failure. 他们惨淡经营的事业也以失败而告终。

3 punctuate   

vt.加标点于；不时打断

参考例句：

• The pupils have not yet learned to punctuate correctly.小学生尚未学会正确使用标点符号。
• Be sure to punctuate your sentences with the correct marks in the right places.一定要在你文章句子中的正确地方标上正确的标点符号。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

6 earring   

n.耳环，耳饰

参考例句：

• How long have you worn that earring?你戴那个耳环多久了？
• I have an earring but can't find its companion.我现在只有一只耳环,找不到另一只了。

7 apex   

n.顶点，最高点

参考例句：

• He reached the apex of power in the early 1930s.他在三十年代初达到了权力的顶峰。
• His election to the presidency was the apex of his career.当选总统是他一生事业的顶峰。

8 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

9 torment   

n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠

参考例句：

• He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
• Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。

10 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

11 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

12 grotesque   

adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物）

参考例句：

• His face has a grotesque appearance.他的面部表情十分怪。
• Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。

13 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。

14 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

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 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。