VOA标准英语2009年-'Madmen', '30 Rock' Earn Top Emmy Honors

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
21 September 2009

 
Cast and crew of 'Mad Men' accept Emmy award for best series drama, 20 Sep 2009
Mad Men, a drama series about the advertising¹ business, and the comedy 30 Rock earned top honors at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday. The Emmys are considered the highest honors in American television.

 30 Rock, an ensemble² comedy that looks behind the scenes of a fictional³ television show, was named best comedy series for the third year in a row. Series' star Alec Baldwin was named best comic actor for the second year running. 

The show had 22 nominations⁴, but failed to live up to its promise. It won just three Emmys. Comedienne Tina Fey created the show. She is a writer on the series and stars in it. She lost out on the acting⁵ Emmy to Toni Collette, however, the Australian performer who stars in the series United States of Tara.

Actress Sigourney Weaver⁶ presented the Emmy for best drama series.

"And the Emmy goes to Mad Men," she said.

Mad Men, a show about the New York advertising business in the 1960s, won the Emmy for best drama for the second consecutive⁷ year.

 
'Damages' star Glenn Close accepts award for best lead actress in drama series at 61st Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, 20 Sep 2009 
Glenn Close earned the Emmy for best actress in a drama for her role as a ruthless lawyer in the series Damages. Accepting the award, she talked about the entertainment business and some of its stars who have died in the past year.

"I just think it is such a huge privilege to be in the community that we are all a part of," Close said. "Looking at who we lost this past year, you think, what a legacy⁸ we have, and what power we have." 

Pop star Michael Jackson, actor Patrick Swayze and actress Farrah Fawcett are among the entertainers and personalities⁹ who were memorialized on the show.

Bryan Cranston took the Emmy for best actor in a drama series for Breaking Bad, a show about a high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with terminal cancer and embarks¹⁰ on a career making illegal drugs. Accepting the award, Cranston reflected on the flawed character, and his own good fortune.

"Breaking Bad is a story about a good man who makes bad decisions. And I stand before you a humbled¹¹ man very grateful for the decision the academy has made to honor me with this award. Thank you so much," he said.

Iranian American actress Shoreh Aghdashloo was named best supporting actress in a miniseries or movie for her role as the wife of Saddam Hussein in House of Saddam. The miniseries, which was co-produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation and Home Box Office or HBO cable network, explored relations within the former Iraqi dictator's family and inner circle.

The actress, who was nominated for an Oscar for the 2003 feature film House of Sand and Fog, thanked her family, and the cast and crew of the four-episode series.

"I cherish this more than you can possibly imagine. Thank you," Aghdashloo said.

Irish-born Brendan Gleeson won the Emmy for best actor in a miniseries or movie for his role as former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the television film Into the Storm. Grey Gardens, a story based on two eccentric relatives of the late Jackie Kennedy Onassis, widow of President John F. Kennedy, was named best television movie. Jessica Lange won an Emmy for her starring role in the film, and Ken¹² Howard earned one for his supporting role.

The adaptation of Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit, a co-production of the BBC and U.S. Public Broadcasting System, won three awards.

The Emmys are presented by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. They are the highlight of the year in the U.S. broadcasting industry, but the telecast has suffered from poor ratings. Producers hoped this year's host, actor Neil Patrick Harris, would add some zest¹³ to the program, and several Emmy recipients¹⁴ had warm praise for his performance.

1 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

2 ensemble   

n.合奏(唱)组；全套服装；整体，总效果

参考例句：

• We should consider the buildings as an ensemble.我们应把那些建筑物视作一个整体。
• It is ensemble music for up to about ten players,with one player to a part.它是最多十人演奏的合奏音乐，每人担任一部分。

3 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

4 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

5 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。

6 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。

7 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

8 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

9 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

10 embarks   

乘船( embark的第三人称单数 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• Patricia is a free-spirited girl who embarks on an erotic odyssey. 翠茜亚是个任性少女、毅然踏上一次性爱之旅。
• Passenger train driver: Punctually embarks. 客车司机：准时出发。

11 humbled   

adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低

参考例句：

• The examination results humbled him. 考试成绩挫了他的傲气。
• I am sure millions of viewers were humbled by this story. 我相信数百万观众看了这个故事后都会感到自己的渺小。

12 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.

13 zest   

n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣

参考例句：

• He dived into his new job with great zest.他充满热情地投入了新的工作。
• He wrote his novel about his trip to Asia with zest.他兴趣浓厚的写了一本关于他亚洲之行的小说。

14 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》