VOA标准英语2010年-Academy Announces Oscar Nominations

The competition for Hollywood's highest honors has begun with the announcement Tuesday in Los Angeles of this year's nominations² for the 82nd Academy Awards.

As expected, James Cameron's $500 million blockbuster Avatar received a Best Picture nomination¹. And Cameron's former wife, Kathryn Bigelow, was nominated for The Hurt Locker³, a gritty war film set in Iraq.  Bigelow would be the first female director to win Best Picture.

Hollywood author Tom O'Neil says the race between the former couple adds more drama to the competition.  "We have a classic David-versus-Goliath battle here for Best Picture at the Oscars . The most successful movie ever made, Avatar, up against a movie that lost money, The Hurt Locker - directed by the former Mrs. Goliath, Kathryn Bigelow. This race has all kinds of dimensions to it," he said.

For the first time since 1943, 10 films are competing for the coveted⁴ Best Picture award.

 

Entertainment reporter Sam Rubin says that means greater interest in the Academy Awards ceremony March 7th.  "The Oscars are a television show," he explained. "So the idea is to increase ratings and interest in the television show."

The Best Picture films run the gamut⁵ of movie genres⁶ and several go against long-standing Academy trends. Up is a heartwarming tale about new beginnings -- only the second animated⁷ film ever nominated.
 
District Nine represents another departure -- a tale of science fiction -- like the box office hit Avatar.

"No science-fiction movie has ever won Best Picture. Only two have been nominated in the past: Star Wars and E.T. Two are nominated for Best Picture now," O'Neil said.

Best Picture nominee⁸ Precious is a drama about the struggles of an inner-city teen, and its director, Lee Daniels, is also nominated in the Best Director category. He is first African-American director to get a Best Picture nomination. 

The other Best Picture nominees⁹ are An Education, The Blind Side, Inglourious Basterds, A Serious Man, and Up in the Air.

Over the past 20 years, the film with the most nominations has won best picture 15 times --making Avatar and The Hurt Locker the favorites. 

(report narrated by Marissa Melton)
 

1 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。

2 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

3 locker   

n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人

参考例句：

• At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
• He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。

4 coveted   

adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图

参考例句：

• He had long coveted the chance to work with a famous musician. 他一直渴望有机会与著名音乐家一起工作。
• Ther other boys coveted his new bat. 其他的男孩都想得到他的新球棒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 gamut   

n.全音阶，(一领域的)全部知识

参考例句：

• The exhibition runs the whole gamut of artistic styles.这次展览包括了所有艺术风格的作品。
• This poem runs the gamut of emotions from despair to joy.这首诗展现了从绝望到喜悦的感情历程。

6 genres   

（文学、艺术等的）类型，体裁，风格( genre的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Novel and short story are different genres. 长篇小说和短篇小说是不同的类别。
• But confusions over the two genres have a long history. 但是类型的混淆，古已有之。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

7 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。

8 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。

9 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