英语专业晨读美文-文化篇 8 Movies I

[00:01.20]The Most Historically Inaccurate¹ MoviesⅠ
[00:06.65]10 000 B.C.
[00:10.10]Director Roland Emmerich is usually a stickler² for realism.
[00:14.40]So we hate to inform him that woolly mammoths were not,
[00:18.22]in fact, used to build pyramids.
[00:19.76]Woolly mammoths weren't even found in the desert.
[00:22.84]They wouldn't need to be woolly if that were the case.
[00:25.53]And there weren't any pyramids in Egypt until 2 500 B.C. or so.
[00:29.70]Gladiator
[00:32.92]Emperor Commodus was not the sniveling sister-
[00:35.60]obsessed creep portrayed³ in the movie.
[00:37.63]A violent alcoholic⁴, sure, but not so whiny⁵.
[00:41.39]He ruled ably for over a decade rather than
[00:45.04]ineptly for a couple months.
[00:46.61]He also didn't kill his father, Marcus Aurelius,
[00:50.37]who actually died of chickenpox.
[00:52.42]And instead of being killed in the gladiatorial arena⁶,
[00:55.69]he was murdered in his bathtub.
[00:57.56]300
[00:59.49]Though this paean⁷ to ancient moral codes
[01:02.05]and modern physical training is based on
[01:03.61]the real Battle of Thermopylae,
[01:04.97]the film takes many stylistic liberties.
[01:07.55]The most obvious one being Persian king Xerxes was
[01:10.81]not an 8-foot-tall leader. The Spartan⁸ council
[01:14.11]was made up of men over the age of 60,
[01:16.26]with no one as young as Theron
[01:18.30](played by 37-year-old Dominic West).
[01:21.35]And the warriors⁹ of Sparta went into battle
[01:24.02]wearing bronze armor, not just leather Speedos.
[01:26.92]The Last Samurai
[01:28.53]The Japanese in the late 19th century did hire
[01:32.10]foreign advisers¹⁰ to modernize¹¹ their army,
[01:34.39]but they were mostly French, not American.
[01:36.83]Ken Watanabe's character was based on
[01:39.66]the real Saigo Takamori who committed ritual suicide,
[01:43.66]in defeat rather than in a volley of Gatling gun fire.
[01:47.57]Also, it's doubtful that a 40-something
[01:50.50]alcoholic Civil War veteran,
[01:51.79]even one with great hair, would master the chopsticks
[01:55.37]much less the samurai sword.
[01:57.98]Apocalypto
[01:59.87]This one movie has given entire
[02:02.04]anthropology departments migraines.
[02:04.40]Sure the Maya did have the odd human sacrifice
[02:07.51]but not to the Sun God, and only high-ranking captives
[02:11.59]taken in battle were killed. The conquistadors
[02:14.88]arriving at the end of the film made for unlikely saviors:
[02:18.32]an estimated 90% of indigenous¹² American population
[02:23.42]was killed by smallpox¹³ from their infected livestock¹⁴.
 

1 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

2 stickler   

n.坚持细节之人

参考例句：

• She's a real stickler for etiquette,so you'd better ask her advice.她非常讲求礼节，所以你最好问她的意见。
• You will find Mrs. Carboy a stickler about trifles.您会发现卡博太太是个拘泥小节的人。

3 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

5 whiny   

adj. 好发牢骚的, 嘀咕不停的, 烦躁的

参考例句：

• People get rude and whiny when they are exhausted. 人们在精疲力竭的时候会变得粗野，爱发牢骚。
• People get rude and whiny and exacting when they are exhausted. 人在筋疲力尽的时候会变得粗暴、爱发牢骚而苛求。

6 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

7 paean   

n.赞美歌，欢乐歌

参考例句：

• She struck up the first paean on the grand piano.她开始在那架大钢琴上演奏起第一首颂歌。
• The novel is a paean to the end of empire.该小说奏响了一个帝国落寞的赞歌。

8 spartan   

adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人

参考例句：

• Their spartan lifestyle prohibits a fridge or a phone.他们不使用冰箱和电话，过着简朴的生活。
• The rooms were spartan and undecorated.房间没有装饰，极为简陋。

9 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

10 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

11 modernize   

vt.使现代化，使适应现代的需要

参考例句：

• It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化，明显失败了。
• There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。

12 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

13 smallpox   

n.天花

参考例句：

• In 1742 he suffered a fatal attack of smallpox.1742年，他染上了致命的天花。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child?你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

14 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。