VOA标准英语2010年-'The King's Speech' Tells True Story o

There is 'Oscar buzz' for The King's Speech. a new film that tells the true story of how Britain's King George VI overcame a debilitating¹ stutter to inspire his nation during World War II. "In this grave hour, perhaps the most fateful in our history, I send to every household of my people, both at home and overseas, this message."The hesitations² in an archival recording³ of a 1939 broadcast from Buckingham Palace give only a hint of how difficult it was for King George VI to speak in public because of his lifelong stammer⁴. Even before he was thrust onto the throne and into the limelight when his brother Edward VIII abdicated⁵ in 1936, every effort at therapy had failed ...until his wife Elizabeth, using the fictitious⁶ name "Johnson," found the shabby studio of Australian Lionel Logue.
"My husband has seen everyone, to no avail. I'm awfully⁷ afraid he has given up hope.""Well, we need to have your hubby pop by. He can give me his personal details, I'll make a frank appraisal⁸ and then we'll take it from there.""Doctor, I don't have a 'hubby.' We don't 'pop.' Nor do we ever talk about our private lives. No, you must come to us.""I'm sorry, Mrs. Johnson: my game, my turf, my rules.""And what if my husband were the Duke of York."Helena Bonham Carter plays the "Queen Mum" and Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush co-stars as the unorthodox, but ultimately successful therapist Logue.
Laurie Sparham/The Weinstein CompanyGefforey Rush as Lionel Logue in Tom Hooper's film THE KING'S SPEECH.
"Part of Lionel's technique was 'I'm treating you, the man, not you the King' and he insisted on that level of equality," explains Rush. "A lot of the therapy was getting the Duke of York and, subsequently as he became, George VI to drop that royal mask and find out who he was as a person.""What will I call you?""Your Royal Highness, then 'sir' after that.""How about 'Bertie?'""Only my family uses that.""In here it's better if we're equals.""If we were equals, I wouldn't be here. I'd be at home with my wife and no one would give a damn.""I kept saying to people [who would ask] what's this film about and I would say 'well, it's about two middle-aged⁹ men who become friends;' but I'd say to the producers 'don't put that on the poster because no one will come.' But that is the essence of it," Rush says.
Colin Firth stars as the monarch¹⁰ who, until meeting Logue, had little experience with friendship because of his stammer and his royal station. Firth believes that, in an odd way, "The King's Speech" tells a universal story.
Laurie Sparham/The Weinstein CompanyColin Firth as King George VI in Tom Hooper's film THE KING'S SPEECH.
"It's funny to say that about a member of the Royal family when none of us are one or can possibly know what that is like," notes Firth, "but I think what it has done is taken issues that apply to absolutely everybody and used this convention to heighten those things. Isolation¹¹ is universal. It doesn't matter how close you are to your family, how many good friends you have [or] how perfect your marriage is ...and most people are not ticking all those boxes. This is taking that truth and making a very extreme case out of it. If communication is imperfect, let's show a man for whom it is traumatic. If men protect themselves behind certain reserves from intimacy¹², then let's take a man who not only does that, he is protected by high walls, titles, protocols¹³. You could almost look at them as metaphors¹⁴ for barriers we all put up.
Director Tom Hooper says the heart of his film is how the King confronts those very ordinary problems.
Laurie Sparham/The Weinstein CompanyTHE KING'S SPEECH director Tom Hooper. "I think he humanized royalty¹⁵ for people. The public knew that he had a stammer so when they listened to him on the radio they were kind of hoping he would be okay and able to get through," says Hooper. "I think he put a human face on the monarchy¹⁶ because if someone is struggling with a disability like that it's hard not to feel connected.
The script by David Seidler is based on exhaustive research and first person accounts including Lionel Logue's unpublished diaries, discovered just weeks before filming began. Director Hooper says the challenge was to craft all that authenticity¹⁷ into an engaging story.
"It is probably the thing that I agonize¹⁸ about the most and gives me the most anxiety," admits Hooper, "because I care deeply about historical truth. I am the son of an historian. My mother, who is Australian, has written both on Australian and American history. I grew up in a house where history and truth mattered deeply around the dinner table. But I think in the end my responsibility is always to my audience and always to entertainment first, because you get no prizes for making a wholly accurate version of this film that was boring. In the end you've still got to invent. Even if you do everything truthfully, you still have to invent a ton load if you make a film about these people. That act of invention is something that has to sit alongside the concern for accuracy."The King's Speech also features Guy Pearce as George's brother Edward; Michael Gambon plays their father, King George V; and the historical figures include Winston Churchill, portrayed by Timothy Spall

1 debilitating   

a.使衰弱的

参考例句：

• The debilitating disease made him too weak to work. 这个令他衰弱的病，使他弱到没有办法工作。
• You may soon leave one debilitating condition or relationship forever. 你即将永远地和这段霉运说拜拜了。

2 hesitations   

n.犹豫( hesitation的名词复数 )；踌躇；犹豫（之事或行为）；口吃

参考例句：

• His doubts and hesitations were tiresome. 他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cool manipulators in Hanoi had exploited America's hesitations and self-doubt. 善于冷静地操纵这类事的河内统治者大大地钻了美国当局优柔寡断的空子。 来自辞典例句

3 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

4 stammer   

n.结巴，口吃；v.结结巴巴地说

参考例句：

• He's got a bad stammer.他口吃非常严重。
• We must not try to play off the boy troubled with a stammer.我们不可以取笑这个有口吃病的男孩。

5 abdicated   

放弃（职责、权力等）( abdicate的过去式和过去分词 )； 退位，逊位

参考例句：

• He abdicated in favour of his son. 他把王位让给了儿子。
• King Edward Ⅷ abdicated in 1936 to marry a commoner. 国王爱德华八世于1936年退位与一个平民结婚。

6 fictitious   

adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的

参考例句：

• She invented a fictitious boyfriend to put him off.她虚构出一个男朋友来拒绝他。
• The story my mother told me when I was young is fictitious.小时候妈妈对我讲的那个故事是虚构的。

7 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

8 appraisal   

n.对…作出的评价；评价，鉴定，评估

参考例句：

• What's your appraisal of the situation?你对局势是如何评估的？
• We need to make a proper appraisal of his work.对于他的工作我们需要做出适当的评价。

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 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

11 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。

12 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

13 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

14 metaphors   

隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I can only represent it to you by metaphors. 我只能用隐喻来向你描述它。
• Thus, She's an angel and He's a lion in battle are metaphors. 因此她是天使，他是雄狮都是比喻说法。

15 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

16 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

17 authenticity   

n.真实性

参考例句：

• There has been some debate over the authenticity of his will. 对于他的遗嘱的真实性一直有争论。
• The museum is seeking an expert opinion on the authenticity of the painting. 博物馆在请专家鉴定那幅画的真伪。

18 agonize   

v.使受苦，使苦闷

参考例句：

• Why do you agonize yourself with the thought of your failure?你为何总是对于你的失败念念不忘而自我折磨呢？
• There's no reason to agonize over telling people you're job hunting.没有理由为告诉他人你正在找工作而感到苦恼。