AS IT IS 2016-01-15 Trending Today: Oscars, Alan Rickman, and the Powerball

AS IT IS 2016-01-15 Trending Today: Oscars, Alan Rickman, and the Powerball

This is What’s Trending Today…

#Oscars

The nominations¹ for the year’s Academy Awards have been announced.

“The Revenant” led the way, with 12 Oscar nominations.The film is an 1820s-era drama about a man trying to survive in the wild after a bear attack.

"The Revenant" will compete with "Mad Max: Fury Road," "The Big Short," "Bridge of Spies," "Brooklyn," "The Martian," "Room" and "Spotlight²" for best picture.

On social media, talk was about the lack of diversity among the nominees³ -- for the second straight year. All of the actors and actresses nominated where white. On Twitter, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite reappeared. The hashtag first appeared last year, when nominees were also said to lack diversity.

Will Smith, who stars in football drama "Concussion," and Idris Elba from "Beasts of No Nation" were among the black actors who were not nominated.  Both films had received positive reviews.

Reginald Hudlin, who will produce the Oscars ceremony on February 28, said ignoring black actors is “tragic⁴.”

Alan Rickman dies

British actor Alan Rickman has died after a battle with cancer. He was 69 years old.

In recent years, he was most well-known for playing Professor Snape in the Harry⁵ Potter films.

Rickman won a Golden Globe and an Emmy during his career. He was famous for playing Hollywood villains⁶, but he also starred in films such as “Love, Actually” and “Truly Madly Deeply.”

On social media, actors and fans remembered Rickman.

Daniel Radcliffe starred alongside Rickman as Harry Potter.  He wrote on his Google Plus page that Rickman was “undoubtedly one of the greatest actors I will ever work with.”

Harry Potter author JK Rowling tweeted: "There are no words to express how shocked and devastated⁷ I am to hear of Alan Rickman's death. He was a magnificent actor and a wonderful man.”

#Powerball winners

The record-breaking $1.5-billion Powerball lottery⁸ has a winner. Or three. Powerball announced winners in three states: Tennessee, California, and Florida.

The identities of the winners have not been released.

But on social media, people are already claiming to be Powerball winners. Instagram user Erik Bragg posted a photo of himself holding a lottery ticket with Wednesday night’s winning numbers.

The photo received almost 95,000 likes and 74,000 comments. Most commenters said that he was not an actual winner. And, he is not.

Bragg was not the only fake winner on social media. Many other people on Instagram and Twitter posted similar photos.  

The Washington Post even published an article Thursday that explains how to know if the lottery tickets posted on social media are fake.

Words in This Story

era - n. a period of time

diversity - n. the state of having people who are different races or who have different cultures in a group or organization

tragic - adj. involving very sad or serious topics

lottery - n.  a way of raising money for a government, charity, etc., in which many tickets are sold and a few of the tickets are chosen by chance to win prizes

fake - adj. not true or real

1 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

2 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

3 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

4 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。

5 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

6 villains   

n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼

参考例句：

• The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

8 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。