Hollywood Gears Up For Oscars

 　　Hollywood is gearing up for the 84th annual Academy Awards Sunday. The prestigious¹ film honors, also known as the Oscars, acknowledge the best in movie making, and golden statuettes will go to actors and actresses and others behind the camera. The top contenders are facing off in a very competitive year.

　　Meryl Streep is considered one of the favorites for the Oscar for best actress.  She won a Golden Globe from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Bafta award from the British film and television academy for her role as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher² in The Iron Lady.

　　Viola Davis is another favorite for the best actress Oscar for her role in The Help as an African American maid in the American South of the 1960s.  The film explores themes of race and class, and the performance earned Davis an acting³ award from the Screen Actors Guild⁴.

　　George Clooney is up for two Oscars, for co-writing the adapted screenplay for the political film The Ides of March and for his starring role in The Descendants, a family drama set in Hawaii.

　　Clooney earned the Golden Globe as best actor in a drama for that role.  Alexander Payne, who directed The Descendants, is up for the Oscar for best director, and the film is a leading contender for the Oscar for best picture.

　　Another top contender is The Artist from French director Michel Hazanavicius.  The film earned seven honors at this year's Bafta awards. Jean Dujardin, the male lead in The Artist, could go home with Oscar for best actor.

　　So could Gary Oldman for the espionage⁵ thriller⁶ Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

　　This year's foreign film entries come from Belgium, Israel, Poland, Canada and Iran, and many critics predict that the Iranian drama A Separation  will win the Oscar.  A Separation is the story of conflict in a family torn between a wife's wish to emigrate and her husband's desire to stay in Iran to care for his ailing⁷ father.

　　There's intense competition at the Oscars, and always some surprises, but George Clooney told reporters earlier this month that he's honored just to be included as a nominee⁸.

　　“It's nice because it comes from people that you work with a lot from every category.  It's really nice.  It's fun,” Clooney said.

　　Oscar winners are determined⁹ by a vote of nearly 6,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a professional organization of key people in the movie industry.  The envelopes revealing  results of the tally¹⁰ will be opened Sunday at a gala presentation in Hollywood.

1 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

2 thatcher   

n.茅屋匠

参考例句：

• Tom Sawyer was in the skiff that bore Judge Thatcher. 汤姆 - 索亚和撒切尔法官同乘一条小艇。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• Mrs. Thatcher was almost crazed; and Aunt Polly, also. 撒切尔夫人几乎神经失常，还有波莉姨妈也是。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

3 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。

4 guild   

n.行会，同业公会，协会

参考例句：

• He used to be a member of the Writers' Guild of America.他曾是美国作家协会的一员。
• You had better incorporate the firm into your guild.你最好把这个公司并入你的行业协会。

5 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

6 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

7 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

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 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

10 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。