Monalisa Smile《蒙娜丽莎的微笑》视频精讲之四

影片对白

Joan: Sunflowers. Vincent van Gogh. 1888.

Katherine: He painted what he felt, not what he saw. People didn't understand. To them, it seemed childlike and crude. It took years for them to recognize his actual technique to see the way his brush strokes seemed to make the night sky move. Yet, he never sold a painting in his lifetime. This is his self portrait. There's no camouflage¹; no romance. Honesty. Now, 60 years later where is he?

Giselle: Famous?

Katherine: So famous; in fact, that everybody has a reproduction. There are post cards.

Connie: We have the calendar.

Katherine: Here you go. With the ability to reproduce art, it is available to the masses. No one needs to own a van Gogh original.

Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh

Susan: We do. In the Newport house. But it's small. Tiny.

Katherine: They can paint their own. Van Gogh in a box, ladies. The newest form of mass distributed art. Paint by numbers.

Connie: Now everyone can be van Gogh. It's so easy. Just follow the simple instructions and in minutes; you're on your way to being an artist.

Giselle: Van Gogh by numbers? 

Katherine: Ironic², isn't it? Look at what we have done to the man who refused to conform his ideals to popular taste, who refused to compromise his integrity. We have put him in a tiny box and asked you to copy him. So the choice is yours, ladies. You can conform to what other people expect or you can--

Betty: I know. Be ourselves.

Connie: You're a sight for sore eyes.

Betty: I would've been here sooner but, silly me; I thought class was in the classroom.

Katherine: Glad you could join us, Mrs. Jones. We thought we'd lost you.

Connie: There's sort of unwritten rule for marr-

Betty: Don't bother.

Katherine: Since your wedding, you've missed six classes, a paper and your midterm.

Betty: Well, thank god I didn't miss the paint-by-numbers lecture. I was on my honeymoon³ and then I had to set up house. What does she expect?

Katherine: Attendance.

Connie: Most of the faculty⁴ turn their heads when the married students miss a class or two.

Katherine: Then why not get married as freshmen⁵? That way you could graduate without actually ever stepping foot on campus.

Betty: Don't disregard our traditions just because you're subversive⁶.

Katherine: Don't disrespect this class just because you're married.

Betty: Don't disrespect me just because you're not.

Katherine: Come to class, do the work, or I'll fail you.

Betty: lf you fail me, there will be consequences.

Katherine: Are you threatening me?

Betty: I'm educating you.

Katherine: That's my job.

妙词佳句，活学活用

1. I would have been here sooner.
这句话的意思是我本来能早点来的。

Would/should have been on time这种表达通常的意思是“本来应该做但结果没有做成的事情”，经常在语法中被归为虚拟语气的一种。我们在听听力或者日常对话中往往容易忽略这种语气，但是英语国家的人对这个表达的意思特别敏感，因为往往一听到would/should have been，就明白对方说的事可能黄了。举几个电影中的例子：
1）I should have died there with my men. 我本来应该和我的手下一起死在战场上的。（Forrest Gump）
2）Paris is always a good idea. I was happy there. You would have been too. 去巴黎永远都是好主意。我在那儿很快乐。你本来也可以很快乐的。（Sabrina）
3）I don't think anybody doubts it would have been an enormously successful venture. 我想没人会怀疑我们合并后会成为一个相当成功的企业。（Sabrina）

2. unwritten rule
不成文的规矩

An unwritten rule, law, or agreement is one that is understood and accepted by everyone, although it may not have been formally or officially established. 例如：
He bore the unwritten rule in mind. 他牢记那条不成文的规矩。

3. Don't bother.

这是一个常用短句，意思是“别劳神，别费心，别麻烦”。大家可以学着用用：
1）Don't bother, I'll do them myself later. 别麻烦了，我一会自己做。
2）I didn't bother to have the car checked, a mistake for which I paid dearly. 当时我为了省事没有检查汽车，这一失误让我付出了惨重代价。
3）Mrs. Wilkes, don't bother about your husband. 维尔克斯太太，您不必为你的先生担心。

文化面面观

Vincent Van Gogh  文森特·梵·高

Van Gogh, Vincent (1853-1890), Dutch painter who exemplified the idea of the artist as tortured genius. His work represents the epitome⁷ of expressionism: color, line, and brush stroke are used to express the artist's emotional response to the subject rather than to describe it accurately⁸.
凡·高，文森特是荷兰后印象主义派作家。他的早期作品，如《吃马铃暑的人》，用低沉、暗淡的色彩描绘了农民的生活。他的后期作品，包括许多自画像，一系列向日葵花的画，和《星夜》(1889年），以大胆的、有节奏的绘画技巧和鲜艳的颜色为特点。他与失落情绪长期斗争最终以自杀结束.

Bedroom at Arles

The Starry9 Night

 

考考你

请翻译下面一段精彩对白。

Betty: Don't disregard our traditions just because you're subversive.
Katherine: Don't disrespect this class just because you're married.
Betty: Don't disrespect me just because you're not.
Katherine: Come to class, do the work, or I'll fail you.
Betty: lf you fail me, there will be consequences.
Katherine: Are you threatening me?
Betty: I'm educating you.
Katherine: That's my job.

Monalisa Smile 《蒙娜丽莎的微笑》精讲之三 考考你 参考答案

1) "It's grotesque¹⁰", he muttered, "you can't expect me to accept this!"
“这件事太离奇了，”他喃喃自语道，“你们别指望我会接受！”

2) Being passive and receptive rather than active and aggressive, Carrie accepted the situation. Her state seemed satisfactory enough.
嘉莉天性被动、容忍,而不是主动、进取,因此她安于现状。她的处境似乎还很令她满意。

3) This work is beyond my grasp.
这份工作非我能力所及。

1 camouflage   

n./v.掩饰，伪装

参考例句：

• The white fur of the polar bear is a natural camouflage.北极熊身上的白色的浓密软毛是一种天然的伪装。
• The animal's markings provide effective camouflage.这种动物身上的斑纹是很有效的伪装。

2 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

3 honeymoon   

n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月

参考例句：

• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。
• The happy pair are leaving for their honeymoon.这幸福的一对就要去度蜜月了。

4 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

5 freshmen   

n.（中学或大学的）一年级学生( freshman的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We are freshmen and they are sophomores. 我们是一年级学生，他们是二年级学生。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• University freshmen get lots of razzing, but they like the initiation. 大一新生受各种嘲弄，但是他们对这种入门经验甘之如饴。 来自辞典例句

6 subversive   

adj.颠覆性的，破坏性的；n.破坏份子，危险份子

参考例句：

• She was seen as a potentially subversive within the party.她被看成党内潜在的颠覆分子。
• The police is investigating subversive group in the student organization.警方正调查学生组织中的搞颠覆阴谋的集团。

7 epitome   

n.典型，梗概

参考例句：

• He is the epitome of goodness.他是善良的典范。
• This handbook is a neat epitome of everyday hygiene.这本手册概括了日常卫生的要点。

8 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

9 starry   

adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的

参考例句：

• He looked at the starry heavens.他瞧着布满星星的天空。
• I like the starry winter sky.我喜欢这满天星斗的冬夜。

10 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。