VOA慢速英语2009-AMERICAN MOSAIC - Road to Hollywood Gold: The Os

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)
　
Workers finish the preparation and mailing of final Oscar ballots² in January

I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week -- the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents its yearly awards Sunday night in Los Angeles, California. We tell about the nominees⁴ for best picture and best music and a little bit of history.

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Best Picture Nominees

HOST:

The eighty-first Academy Awards ceremony takes place Sunday at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, California. Hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the world will watch the show on television. It is the most exciting event of the year for people who make movies and for people who love to watch them. Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:

On Sunday, actors, directors, writers, producers and others will gather in Hollywood, California, the center of the American film industry. They will receive Academy Awards for the best acting⁵, directing, writing, editing, music and other work on movies released last year.

These five movies are competing for best picture of the year.

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" was nominated for thirteen Academy Awards, the most this year. It tells the unusual story about a man who is born old and gets younger as time goes by. Brad Pitt was nominated for best actor for his role as Benjamin Button.
　
Brad Pitt in ''Benjamin Button''

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON:

"Mama, some days I feel different than the day before."

"Everybody feels different about themselves one way or another, but we're all going the same way. You're on your own road, Benjamin."

"Slumdog Millionaire" received ten nominations⁷. It is about a poor young man in Mumbai, India, who competes in a popular television quiz show. This film is very different from most films nominated for best picture. It did not cost much money to film. Its actors are not well known in the United States. And some of the actors speak in the Hindi language. "Slumdog Millionaire" has already won several other awards in the United States.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE:
　
Dev Patel and Freida Pinto in ''Slumdog''

"I went on the show because I thought she would be watching. She is my destiny."

"The Reader" was also nominated as best picture. It is based on a book by German writer Bernhard Schlink. It tells the story of a German woman who served as a guard at a Nazi⁸ death camp during World War Two. Years later, she has a sexual relationship with a teenage boy. Kate Winslet was nominated as best actress for her role in the movie.

THE READER:

"Have you spent much time thinking about the past?"

"It doesn't matter what I think. It doesn't matter what I feel. The dead are still dead."

Another nominee³ for best picture is "Frost/Nixon." It recreates television interviews that British performer David Frost held with former president Richard Nixon after he left office in nineteen seventy-seven. Frank Langella was nominated as best actor for his role as Richard Nixon.

FROST/NIXON:

"I shall be your fiercest adversary⁹. I shall come at you with everything I've got, because the limelight can only shine on one of us."

The last nominated movie also tells about a real person during the nineteen seventies. "Milk" is about Harvey Milk, the first openly homosexual man elected to public office in the United States. The film shows the early struggle for gay rights in San Francisco, California. It received a total of eight nominations, including best actor for Sean Penn as gay rights leader Harvey Milk.

MILK:

"All men are created equal. No matter how hard you try you can never erase¹⁰ those words. That is what America is."

Academy Award History

HOST:

Our listener question this week comes just in time. Hideki Saka in Japan wants to know more about the history of the Academy Awards.
　
Katherine Hepburn was one of the most honored actresses in the history of the Academy Awards

A group of top movie industry professionals formed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in nineteen twenty-seven. The general aim of the organization was to support the growth of the movie industry. Its early projects included creating reports on movie technologies, training programs and a movie reference library. The group also decided¹¹ to hold an awards ceremony to honor excellence¹² in the movie industry.

The first Academy Awards were presented in nineteen twenty-nine during a private dinner at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, California. There were no great surprises that night because the winners of the awards had been announced three months earlier.

But the next year, the Academy decided to keep the names of the winners a secret until the awards ceremony. The nineteen thirty Academy Awards were also the first to be broadcast on live radio. The ceremony presented only seven awards: two for acting and one for best movie, director, writing, cinematography and art direction.

Over the years, more award categories were added. For example, in nineteen thirty-seven, the Academy added the awards for best supporting actor and actress.

The Academy made other changes over the years. When the awards ceremony grew too large, the Academy started holding the event in theaters. Nineteen fifty-three was the first year that the awards ceremony was broadcast on national television.

The official name for this famous prize is the Academy Award of Merit. But the award is better known by its nickname, Oscar. The Oscar is a small golden statue of a man standing¹³ on a reel of film. There are several stories about how the award received the name Oscar. One story says the Academy's librarian, Margaret Herrick, said the statue looked like her Uncle Oscar. But wherever the name for this golden statue came from, the award remains¹⁴ one of the biggest honors in the movie business.

Music Nominees

HOST:

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also presents Oscars to the best movie music and songs. Faith Lapidus has our report on the nominees this year.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

The movies nominated for best music are "Slumdog Millionaire," "Defiance," "Wall-E," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Milk."
　
Peter Gabriel

Two of those films also received nominations for best original song. One is from "Wall-E."

(MUSIC: "Down to Earth")

Peter Gabriel wrote and sings "Down to Earth." He shares the nomination⁶ with the movie's music composer, Thomas Newman.

A. R. Rahman wrote the music for "Slumdog Millionaire." Rahman is not well known in the western world but he is very famous in his native India.

Rahman began writing for Indian television advertisements in the early nineteen nineties. He has been writing music for Indian "Bollywood" movies for many years.

Here is one nominated song, "O Saya." The British rapper Maya Arulpragasam, known as M. I. A., wrote the words.

(MUSIC)
　
A. R. Rahman

Last month, A. R. Rahman became the first Indian to win a Golden Globe Award for the music in "Slumdog Millionaire." The award was presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. We leave you with the final song nominated for an Oscar. A. R. Rahman shares this nomination with the Indian poet and song writer Gulzar. Here is "Jai Ho," from the movie "Slumdog Millionaire."

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HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.

It was written by Dana Demange, Shelley Gollust and Caty Weaver¹⁵, who also was the producer. You can find transcripts¹⁶, MP3s and podcasts of our programs at voaspecialenglish.com.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA's radio magazine in Special English.

1 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

2 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

4 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

5 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。

6 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。

7 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

8 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

9 adversary   

adj.敌手，对手

参考例句：

• He saw her as his main adversary within the company.他将她视为公司中主要的对手。
• They will do anything to undermine their adversary's reputation.他们会不择手段地去损害对手的名誉。

10 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

14 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

15 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。

16 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句