THIS IS AMERICA - Academy Awards

THIS IS AMERICA -March 18, 2002: Academy Awards

By Shelley Gollust
VOICE ONE:

On March twenty-fourth, actors, directors and other filmmakers will gather in Los Angeles, California, for the
yearly Academy Awards ceremonies. It is a night of excitement for people who make movies and for people who
watch them. I'm Sarah Long.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. The Academy Awards is our report today on the VOA Special English program, THIS IS
AMERICA.

((MUSIC FROM LORD OF THE RINGS))

VOICE ONE:

Sunday will be the most important day of the year for hundreds of people in the movie industry. Filmmakers will
receive Academy Awards for the best acting¹, directing, writing, editing, sound, music and other work on movies
released last year.

The winners will receive an award called an Oscar. It is shaped like a man. It is made of several metals covered
with gold. The statue is only about thirty-four centimeters tall. It weighs less than four kilograms. But the award
can be priceless to the person who receives it. Winning an Oscar can mean becoming much more famous. It can
mean getting offers to work in the best movies. It also can mean earning much more money.

VOICE TWO:

Movies from the United States and several other countries are competing in the Academy Awards this year. Five
movies were nominated as best foreign language film. They are from France, Norway, India, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, and Argentina. The film from France, “Amelie,”was nominated for four other awards. It is about a
young woman who brings happiness to other people.

For the first time, an Oscar will be given for best animated² feature film. Three movies are competing. They are
“Shrek,” “Monsters, Inc.”and “Jimmy Neutron³: Boy Genius.”

VOICE ONE:

A movie based on a famous series of books by British writer J.R.R. Tolkien received the most Academy Award
nominations⁵. The movie, “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,”is a story about a struggle to save the
world from the forces of evil. Good creatures called hobbits and elves battle against evil creatures. The movie is
competing for thirteen Oscars, including best motion picture. Peter Jackson was nominated as best director. Ian
McKellen was nominated as best supporting actor. Two more movies in the “Lord of the Rings”series will be
released this year and next.

VOICE TWO:

“A Beautiful Mind”received eight nominations, including one for best motion picture. It is about a famous
American mathematician⁶, John Nash. He suffered from severe mental illness. Yet he shared the Nobel Prize for
Economics in Nineteen-Ninety-Four. Russell Crowe was nominated for best actor for playing John Nash as he
struggles against the disease. Jennifer Connelly received a nomination⁴ for best supporting actress for playing
Nash’s wife, Alicia. The movie’s director, Ron Howard, also was nominated for an Oscar.

VOICE ONE:


An unusual movie musical called “Moulin Rouge⁷”also was nominated for eight awards, including best motion
picture. It is about a famous night club in Paris, France around the year Nineteen-Hundred. Yet it uses modern
popular music to tell the story. Nicole Kidman was nominated for best actress for playing a singer and dancer at
the Moulin Rouge.

((MUSIC FROM MOULIN ROUGE))

VOICE TWO:

Two other movies were nominated for Academy Awards for best motion picture of the year. “Gosford Park ”is a
murder mystery that takes place in a rich country home in Britain in Nineteen-Thirty-Two. It was nominated for
seven Academy Awards. Its director, Robert Altman, was nominated as best director. Two actresses in the movie,
Helen Mirren and Maggie Smith, were nominated for best supporting actress.

The movie “In the Bedroom”received five nominations, including best motion picture. It is a tragic⁸ story about
parents who seek to punish the killer⁹ of their twenty-one-year-old son. Three of the actors in the movie also were
nominated to win Oscars. They are Tom Wilkinson for best actor, Sissy Spacek for best actress and Marisa
Tomei (toe -MY) for best supporting actress.

VOICE ONE:

Several other people were nominated for Academy Awards as best leading actor or actress. Renee Zellweger was
nominated for her part in “Bridget Jones’s Diary.”Judi Dench was nominated for playing the British writer Iris¹⁰
Murdoch in the movie “Iris.”And Halle Berry received a nomination for her performance in “Monster’s Ball.”

The other nominations for best leading actor are Sean Penn for “I Am Sam,”Denzel Washington for “Training
Day,”and Will Smith for playing boxer¹¹ Muhammad Ali in the movie “Ali.”This is the first time in thirty years
that three African American actors were nominated for leading acting awards. They are Halle Berry, Denzel
Washington and Will Smith.

VOICE TWO:

Three people will be honored at the Academy Awards ceremony. Sidney Poitier will receive a special award for
his performances in more than forty movies and for representing the motion picture industry. He is the only
African American actor who has received an Oscar for best leading actor. Robert Redford will be honored for his
work as actor, director, producer and supporter of independent movies by young filmmakers. And director Arthur
Hiller will receive an award for his humanitarian¹² efforts.

((MUSIC FROM A BEAUTIFUL MIND))

VOICE ONE:

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents the Oscars each year. About six-thousand people
who work in the movie industry belong to the organization. It was established in Nineteen-Twenty-Seven to
support the industry.

The Academy began presenting awards in Nineteen-Twenty-Nine. At that time, films were just starting to have
sound. The awards were not called Oscars until much later.

In Nineteen-Fifty-One, the woman who worked in the Academy library said the statue looked like a family
member -- her Uncle Oscar. A reporter heard this story and wrote about it. Some people said the reporter and the
librarian named the statue.

But actress and former Academy president Bette Davis disputed this. She claimed she named the Oscars in honor
of her first husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson.

VOICE TWO:

The process of choosing award winners begins with members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and
Sciences. These people work in thirteen different professions. They nominate candidates for Academy Awards.


The members choose among people doing the same kind of work they do. For example, actors nominate actors.
Directors nominate directors. Designers nominate designers. All Academy members vote among those nominated
to choose the final winners.

The awards are presented every spring. This year, the ceremony will be held in its new home, the Kodak Theater
in Hollywood. Important people in the movie industry are invited to the ceremonies. The presentation is called
Oscar Night.

On Oscar night, crowds of people always line the streets. They watch the famous movie stars as they arrive for
the ceremony. Camera lights flash. Actors and actresses smile for the photographers and television cameras.
Some popular movie stars make statements to waiting reporters. Others hurry inside the theater.

VOICE ONE:

During the Academy Awards ceremony, famous actors and actresses announce the names of the winners. Then
the winners walk up onto the stage to receive their Oscars. Their big moment has arrived. They cry. They laugh.
They act surprised. They thank all the people who helped them win the award.

Only a few hundred invited guests can attend the awards presentation. But millions of people in the United States
and other countries watch the Academy Awards show on television. A total of about one-thousand-million people
watch the show around the world. Thousands of Americans in almost forty cities will attend Oscar Night parties
to re-create the excitement of the Academy Awards. These parties raise money for local aid organizations.

Sunday will be the seventy-fourth Academy Awards presentation. The American film industry will honor some
of the best in their industry. These winners will go home with a golden Oscar.

((CUT TWO: MUSIC FROM LORD OF THE RINGS))

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Caty Weaver¹³. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Sarah Long. Join us again next week for another report about life in the United States on the VOA
Special English program, THIS IS AMERICA.

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1 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

2 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

3 neutron   

n.中子

参考例句：

• Neutron is neutral and slightly heavier than the proton.中子是中性的，比质子略重。
• Based on the neutron energy,the value of weighting factor was given.根据中子能量给出了相应的辐射权重因子的数值。

4 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。

5 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

6 mathematician   

n.数学家

参考例句：

• The man with his back to the camera is a mathematician.背对着照相机的人是位数学家。
• The mathematician analyzed his figures again.这位数学家再次分析研究了他的这些数字。

7 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

8 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。

9 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

10 iris   

n.虹膜，彩虹

参考例句：

• The opening of the iris is called the pupil.虹膜的开口处叫做瞳孔。
• This incredible human eye,complete with retina and iris,can be found in the Maldives.又是在马尔代夫，有这样一只难以置信的眼睛，连视网膜和虹膜都刻画齐全了。

11 boxer   

n.制箱者，拳击手

参考例句：

• The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
• He moved lightly on his toes like a boxer.他像拳击手一样踮着脚轻盈移动。

12 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

13 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。