"Hawthorn Tree" girl to lead Stanley Kwan's film

    BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Zhou Dongyu, the starlet in Zhang Yimou's drama "Under the Hawthorn¹ Tree", has been cast as a lead for Stanley Kwan's upcoming romantic film, "Ta De Guo" ("His Kingdom"), according to the Guangzhou Daily.
    The newspaper cited Kwan as saying that 19-year-old Zhou is a perfect candidate(候选人) for the role, Niba, who is supposed to be clean and pure.
    Zhou was a high school student when she was chosen to star in Zhang Yimou's "Under the Hawthorn Tree", which was her acting² debut³. She rose to stardom soon after the film's release, in September, 2010.
    "His Kingdom", an adaptation of Han Han's best-selling novel of the same name, will center on the love stories of a young man living in a small town.
    Director Kwan says singer-actor Juno Mak will play the protagonist⁴, but he is yet to announce the other female lead.
    Rumors⁵ have it that Kwan is deciding between Kwai Lun-mei and Zhang Yuqi.
    Filming will begin in June.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 hawthorn   

山楂

参考例句：

• A cuckoo began calling from a hawthorn tree.一只布谷鸟开始在一株山楂树里咕咕地呼叫。
• Much of the track had become overgrown with hawthorn.小路上很多地方都长满了山楂树。

2 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。

3 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

4 protagonist   

n.(思想观念的)倡导者；主角，主人公

参考例句：

• The protagonist reforms in the end and avoids his proper punishment.戏剧主角最后改过自新并避免了他应受的惩罚。
• He is the model for the protagonist in the play.剧本中的主人公就是以他为模特儿创作的！

5 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》