THIS IS AMERICA - Academy Awards

THIS IS AMERICA - Academy Awards
By Shelley Gollust

Broadcast: Monday, February 23, 2004

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to This is America in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Phoebe Zimmermann. Today, we tell about the seventy-sixth Academy Awards ceremony which takes place on Sunday. It is a night of excitement for people who make movies and for people who watch them.

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VOICE ONE:

On February twenty-ninth, actors, directors and other filmmakers will gather in Los Angeles, California. It 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, 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 to win Academy Awards. Five movies were nominated as best foreign language film. They are "The Barbarian² Invasions," a film from Canada; "Evil," from Sweden; "The Twilight³ Samurai," from Japan; "Twin Sisters," from the Netherlands and "Zelary," from the Czech Republic.

This year, there are many more Academy Award nominees⁵ from countries outside the United States and Britain than in years past. Some examples are the nominees for best acting awards. They include Keisha Castle-Hughes from New Zealand, Shohreh Aghdashloo from Iran, Ken⁶ Watanabe from Japan and Djimon Hounsou from Benin.

A movie from Brazil, "City of God," is nominated for four Academy Awards. A French-Canadian director, Denys Arcand, is nominated for best original screenplay. And "The Triplets of Belleville," from France, is nominated for best animated⁷ feature film.

VOICE ONE:

 
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" received the most Academy Award nominations⁹. It received eleven nominations, including best motion picture of the year. It is a story about a struggle to save the world from the forces of evil. It is the third of three movies in the "Lord of the Rings" series. These are based on the books by British writer J-R-R Tolkien about an imaginary place called Middle-earth.

An adventure film that takes place on a British battleship in the eighteen-hundreds is nominated for ten Academy Awards. The nominations for "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" include best motion picture of the year.

VOICE TWO:

 
Cold Mountain Promotion¹⁰
"Seabiscuit" is also nominated for best picture. It is about a famous American racehorse in the nineteen-thirties. The movie is nominated for seven Academy Awards. "Cold Mountain," a love story that takes place during the American Civil War, is also nominated for seven awards. But, surprisingly, it did not receive a nomination⁸ for best picture.

"Mystic River" is another film nominated for best picture of the year. It is about three friends and the tragic¹¹ events in their lives. The last nominee⁴ for best picture is "Lost in Translation." It is about two Americans who meet in Tokyo. One is a famous movie star and the other is a lonely young woman.

VOICE ONE:

"Lost in Translation" was directed by Sofia Coppola. She is only the third woman in Academy Award history to be nominated for best director. She is also the first American woman to get the nomination. Her father is the famous movie director Francis Ford¹² Coppola.

The other best director nominees are Clint Eastwood for "Mystic River," Peter Jackson for "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" and Peter Weir¹³ for "Master and Commander." Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles was nominated as best director for "City of God." The film is about the violent lives of young people in a poor area of Rio de Janeiro.

VOICE TWO:

 
Scene from 
Other important Academy Awards are given for the best performance by an actor in a leading role. Sean Penn is nominated for his role in "Mystic River." Bill Murray is nominated for "Lost in Translation." The other nominees are Jude Law in "Cold Mountain," Ben Kingsley in "House of Sand and Fog," and Johnny Depp in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl."

There was one surprise among the nominations for best actress in a leading role. Thirteen-year-old Keisha Castle-Hughes from New Zealand was nominated for her performance in "Whale Rider." She is the youngest person ever nominated for this award. Other nominees are Diane Keaton for the comedy "Something's Gotta Give" and Samantha Morton for "In America." Charlize Theron was nominated as best actress for the film "Monster." And Naomi Watts¹⁴ was nominated for "Twenty-one Grams."

VOICE ONE:

Oscars also are awarded for the best music in movies and the best song. Five songs are nominated as best original song. Two of them are from the movie "Cold Mountain." One of these is "The Scarlet¹⁵ Tide" written by Henry Burnett and Elvis Costello. Alison Krauss sings this song.

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VOICE TWO:

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents the Oscars each year. Almost six-thousand people who work in the movie industry belong to the organization. It was established in nineteen-twenty-seven to support the film 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. Some people said this is how the statue got its name: In nineteen-fifty-one, a 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.

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

VOICE ONE:

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.

For example, actors nominate actors. Directors nominate directors. Designers nominate designers. All Academy members vote among those nominated to choose the final winners.

VOICE TWO:

The awards are presented every spring. This year, the ceremony is being held one month earlier than usual. It will be held in the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. Important people in the movie industry attend the ceremonies. Crowds of people wait outside the theater. They watch the famous movie stars as they arrive for the ceremony. The women wear beautiful dresses given to them by famous designers. Camera lights flash. Actors and actresses smile for the photographers and television cameras.

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 thank all the people who helped them win the award.

VOICE ONE:

Thousands of Americans in forty-six cities will attend Oscar Night parties to re-create the excitement of the Academy Awards. These parties raise money for local aid organizations.

Hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the world will watch the Academy Awards show on television Sunday. The American film industry will honor the best movies, actors and technicians. These winners will go home with a golden Oscar.

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VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Caty Weaver¹⁶. I'm Phoebe Zimmermann.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English.

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 barbarian   

n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的

参考例句：

• There is a barbarian tribe living in this forest.有一个原始部落居住在这个林区。
• The walled city was attacked by barbarian hordes.那座有城墙的城市遭到野蛮部落的袭击。

3 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

4 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。

5 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

6 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

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 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。

9 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

10 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

11 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。

12 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

13 weir   

n.堰堤，拦河坝

参考例句：

• The discharge from the weir opening should be free.从堰开口处的泻水应畅通。
• Big Weir River,restraining tears,has departed!大堰河，含泪地去了！

14 watts   

（电力计量单位）瓦，瓦特( watt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• My lamp uses 60 watts; my toaster uses 600 watts. 我的灯用60瓦，我的烤面包器用600瓦。
• My lamp uses 40 watts. 我的灯40瓦。

15 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

16 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。