2007年VOA标准英语-Matt Damon Returns in "The Bourne Ultimatum"

By Alan Silverman
Hollywood
04 August 2007

Matt Damon is back as undercover agent Jason Bourne in a new espionage¹ action-adventure based on the best-selling books by Robert Ludlum. Alan Silverman spoke² with the stars and film-maker³ Paul Greengrass for this look at The Bourne Ultimatum⁴.

Matt Damon and Joan Allen play as Jason and Pamela in "The Bourne Ultimatum"

Jason Bourne is good at what he does ...deadly good. The trouble is, he is not sure why and not sure who he is. As was explained in the earlier films - 2002's The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy⁵ two years later - he is a highly-trained CIA operative; but the secret program that turned him into an assassin erased⁶ his memory. As bits and pieces of it start to resurface, he is now more of a liability than an asset to the his former bosses in the agency.

Of course, Bourne is a product of the best training they could give him; so stopping him is no easy task. As they are trying to kill him, he is trying to shed light on the secret and illegal operation that turned him into a killer⁷.

Matt Damon says playing Bourne again was made easier by the way the story develops as the training-induced amnesia⁸ begins to wear off; and, the actor admits, the action can be fun. "The whole thing is, in away, this middle-aged⁹ fantasy. Okay, I get bonked on the head and I wake up and I speak 12 languages and this really cool German girl falls in love with me so, to a certain extent, it's a little bit of wish fulfillment, but it's a fun role to play," he says.

It also looks like it can be physically¹⁰ punishing as Bourne uses his fists as well as his wits. The dirty little Hollywood secret, according to Damon, is that the exciting fight scenes are some of the most tedious to shoot. "Well, it's very, very technical. It's seven moves or whatever and we just do it over and over again until someone at the monitor would say 'okay, good!' It's just incredibly technical and boring, actually. The fun is when you get a take and it looks really brutal¹¹ and vicious and (afterward) you are laughing and saying 'oh, it looks great,' but in terms of being challenging mentally, it is not. It's like watching paint dry," says Damon.

Of course, sometimes that paint barely has time to dry in the hyper-thrilling, but also achingly realistic chases through New York, Paris, London and Tangier. Director Paul Greengrass, who also made the second film of the series, "The Bourne Supremacy," is better-known for documentaries and films that deal with contemporary social issues, like last year's acclaimed¹² United 93. The English-born film-maker says after that intense dramatization of events on 9/11, he saw The Bourne Ultimatum as a refreshing¹³ change.

"I love doing them and there is a bit of every film maker where you want to 'strut¹⁴ your stuff.' You want to to get out and do the car chase and the fight and the chase," he says. "Also, it's thrilling to connect with a mass audience. I've only ever done it the one time with The Bourne Supremacy.

As much as possible, Greengrass says he takes the film out of what he calls the isolation¹⁵ of the movie set as he puts the action in the middle of real-world locations like the streets of New York or London's Waterloo Station. "You can't close down Waterloo Station," he explains. "It's the biggest station in London and about 300,000 people go through it an hour. You get problems with that, of course, but what you get to compensate¹⁶ for that is this tremendous rush of energy: the raw energy of life really unfolding around you and it's the same in Waterloo or Tangier or New York. It creates this energized¹⁷, vibrant¹⁸, authentic¹⁹ landscape that the real character can move through."

The Bourne Ultimatum also features David Strathairn as the CIA official who wants to eliminate the problem by eliminating Bourne. Joan Allen, reprises her role from the second film as the dedicated²⁰ CIA officer who wants to keep Bourne alive; and Julia Stiles is also back as the analyst²¹ who becomes Bourne's ally. "What is interesting about these movies is that they don't deal with good guys and bad guys; it is the choices that those characters make that makes you label them good or bad," Stiles says.

Also in the cast: Albert Finney, Scott Glenn and Paddy Considine. The Bourne Ultimatum was filmed at locations ranging from North Africa to Europe and America.

1 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。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

4 ultimatum   

n.最后通牒

参考例句：

• This time the proposal was couched as an ultimatum.这一次该提议是以最后通牒的形式提出来的。
• The cabinet met today to discuss how to respond to the ultimatum.内阁今天开会商量如何应对这道最后通牒。

5 supremacy   

n.至上；至高权力

参考例句：

• No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员，无人能胜过她。
• Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说，她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。

6 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

8 amnesia   

n.健忘症，健忘

参考例句：

• People suffering from amnesia don't forget their general knowledge of objects.患健忘症的人不会忘记关于物体的一些基本知识。
• Chinese medicine experts developed a way to treat amnesia using marine materials.中国医学专家研制出用海洋物质治疗遗忘症的方法。

9 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

10 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

11 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

12 acclaimed   

adj.受人欢迎的

参考例句：

• They acclaimed him as the best writer of the year. 他们称赞他为当年的最佳作者。
• Confuscius is acclaimed as a great thinker. 孔子被赞誉为伟大的思想家。

13 refreshing   

adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的

参考例句：

• I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
• The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。

14 strut   

v.肿胀，鼓起；大摇大摆地走；炫耀；支撑；撑开；n.高视阔步；支柱，撑杆

参考例句：

• The circulation economy development needs the green science and technology innovation as the strut.循环经济的发展需要绿色科技创新生态化作为支撑。
• Now we'll strut arm and arm.这会儿咱们可以手挽着手儿，高视阔步地走了。

15 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

16 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

17 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

18 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

19 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

20 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

21 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。