Leonardo DiCaprio

Callum:  Hello, I'm Callum Robertson and this is Entertainment. Dominating¹ the moviescene at the moment is the upcoming Oscars. In the programme today wefeature one of the Oscar nominees², Leonardo DiCaprio who has beennominated for his role in the film Blood Diamond.
　　In the programme we'll hear part of an interview with Leonardo DiCaprio. Wehear him describing how he prepared for the role and also we take a close lookat the language he uses. But first a little bit about the background to the film'Blood Diamond.'
　　In a number of civil wars in Africa the sale of diamonds has been used to payfor the conflict. These diamonds are known as Conflict diamonds, wardiamonds or blood diamonds and this is where the film gets its name.
　　The film is about the attempts of the character played by DiCaprio, to find aparticular diamond during the civil war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s.
　　DiCaprio's character is not a hero or a good guy; he's involved in tradingconflict diamonds, he's a mercenary, or a soldier for hire, also known as asoldier of fortune. His character comes from a country which is now known asZimbabwe and he has a very distinct³ accent. It was not only the accent thatDiCaprio had to learn about, but also the attitude, how did he learn about thekind of person his character was and firstly, how did he feel about the accent?
　　Leonardo DiCaprioIt was definitely⁴ the most difficult that I've ever had to take on, extremely foreign to me, notonly the accent but you know, the slang⁵, the attitude of some of these South Africanmercenaries in particular, soldiers of fortune. I got to meet some of these real guys and got togo to Africa and hear first hand accounts of what they've seen in battle and politically theirattitudes about Africa. That's why it was fundamentally important for me to go to Africa asearly as I possibly could, because I couldn't have done that research at home just by reading orby, you know, surfing the net, you know, you have to kind of immerse⁶ yourself in thatenvironment.
　　Callum:  The accent he said was the most difficult that he's ever had to do and helearned about his character by going to Africa and meeting mercenaries.
　　Now let's listen again to Leonardo DiCaprio talking about his research for hisrole in Blood Diamond. This time I'll break it down and look in more details atsome of the language he uses.
　　Leonardo DiCaprioIt was definitely the most difficult that I've ever had to take on,Callum:  The accent was difficult to take on, to take on, something that you take on is aresponsibility or job you accept.
　　Leonardo DiCaprioExtremely foreign to meCallum:  If something is 'foreign' to you it means that it is not something that you arefamiliar with, it's very different from the things that you experience ineveryday life. Apart from the accent, what else did DiCaprio find foreign?
　　Leonardo DiCaprionot only the accent but you know, the slang, the attitude of some of these South Africanmercenaries in particular, soldiers of fortune.
　　Callum:  As well as the accent he found the slang and the attitude of the mercenariesforeign. The way they view life and world was completely different from hisviews.
　　Leonardo DiCaprioI got to meet some of these real guys and got to go to Africa and hear first hand accounts ofwhat they've seen in battle and politically their attitudes about Africa.
　　Callum:  In this section he uses the same structure twice, got to, he got to meet somemercenaries and he got to go to Africa. Get has many many meanings and here,to get to do something means to have the opportunity to do something. He wasable to hear first-hand accounts of their experiences. A first hand account isinformation about something that has happened which you hear directly fromsomeone who was actually there.
　　Leonardo DiCaprioThat's why it was fundamentally important for me to go to Africa as early as I possibly could,Callum:  It was fundamentally important. Fundamentally – he uses this adverb toemphasise just how important it was to go to Africa, it was very very important.
　　Why was it so important?
　　Leonardo DiCapriobecause I couldn't have done that research at home just by reading or by, you know, searchingthe net, you know, you have to kind of immerse yourself in that environment.
　　Callum:  It was important because he learnt things that he couldn't have learnt byreading or looking on the internet. He had to immerse himself in thatenvironment, immerse himself. If you immerse yourself in something youbecome completely involved in it, you live it and breathe it.
　　Well, we'll find out on February 25  whether Leonardo DiCaprio's research haspaid off when the Oscar awards are announced.
　　That's all from this edition of Entertainment.

1 dominating   

adj.有领导作风的；统治的，独裁的v.控制( dominate的现在分词 )；在…中占首要地位；在…中具有最重要（或明显）的特色；在…中拥有最重要的位置

参考例句：

• He is dominating and active in manner. 他有领导作风而且能采取主动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gradually commodity production becomes the dominating form. 商品生产逐渐地成了统治的形式。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源

2 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

3 distinct   

adj.种类不同的，有区别的，清楚的，明显的

参考例句：

• I had the distinct impression that I was being followed.我清楚地感觉到有人跟踪我。
• The party split into two distinct groups.该党分裂成两个截然不同的团体。

4 definitely   

adv.一定地，肯定地；明确地，确切地

参考例句：

• The team will definitely lose if he doesn't play.如果他不参加比赛，这个队肯定会输。
• I shall definitely be home before six o'clock.6点以前，我一定回家。

5 slang   

n.俚语，行话；vt.使用俚语，辱骂；vi.辱骂

参考例句：

• The phrase is labelled as slang in the dictionary.这个短语在这本字典里被注为俚语。
• Slang often goes in and out of fashion quickly.俚语往往很快风行起来又很快不再风行了。

6 immerse   

v.使沉浸在，使深陷于；使浸没在

参考例句：

• Immerse the cloth in the dye for twenty minutes.把布浸在染料里20分钟。
• Don't immerse yourself in the infliction too long.不要长时间沉浸在痛苦经历中。