VOA标准英语2012--Five Leading Men Vie for Best Actor Oscar

Five Leading Men Vie for Best Actor Oscar

In The Descendants, a bittersweet family drama directed by Alexander Payne, George Clooney plays Matt Smith, a successful lawyer who finds himself at life's crossroads.
After a boating accident, his wife is in a coma¹ and is to be taken off life support. Overnight, Matt becomes a single parent to his two daughters. As if that is not enough, he finds out that before the accident his wife was cheating on him.
In portraying² Matt, Clooney loses his Hollywood persona. Matt is frumpy, and he's awkward with his kids and everyone else around him. He appears lost as he tries to make sense of what is happening to him.
With six Oscar nominations⁴ and one Oscar award under his belt, Clooney represents the status quo in Hollywood, but in a good way. He's as attractive as he is talented.
However, his performance as Matt King is reminiscent of Ryan Bingham, the driven businessman dealing⁵ with loneliness and middle age that Clooney played in Jason Reitman’s 2009 drama Up in The Air.
Clooney received a nomination³ for that role but did not win the Oscar. So, the question is will he get an Oscar this time around for a similar performance.
Oscar nominee⁶ Jean Dujardin does something quite different. He offers a tour de force performance as George Valentin, a 1920s silent movie star who loses fame and fortune with the advent⁷ of the "talkies."
In The Artist, by Michel Hazanavicius, Dujardin exudes⁸ star power. His elegance⁹, expressiveness¹⁰ and infectious smile represent what was alluring¹¹ in silent films. Dujardin could reap the Oscar unless voters opt¹² for the more wholesome¹³ and down to earth character of Los Angeles gardener Carlos Calindo, played by Mexican actor Demian Bichir in the drama A Better Life.
Carlos Calindo is an illegal alien and a devoted¹⁴ father. He wants a better life for his son.
Bichir offers a multilayered performance tackling a subject that speaks to many.
But, as the underdog among the contenders, an award for Bichir would be a surprise.
The Academy's voters could instead be swayed by the all-American character of Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland As baseball team, played by Brad Pitt in Moneyball.
Pitt gives a solid performance as the man who employs unorthodox methods to build a baseball team headed for the play-offs.
But the deck could be stacked against him. There's also Gary Oldman, who towers over Pitt in a fine-tuned performance as super spy "Smiley" in the thriller¹⁵ Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
But Gary Oldman's British reserve could alienate¹⁶ voters in the Academy, who might feel that his character is too arcane¹⁷ for the American palate.
All bets are on George Clooney's name in that famous envelope or maybe Monsieur Dujardin. For sure, Oscar night will be interesting this time around.

1 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。

2 portraying   

v.画像( portray的现在分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The artist has succeeded in portraying my father to the life. 那位画家把我的父亲画得惟妙惟肖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ding Ling was good at portraying figures through careful and refined description of human psychology. 《莎菲女士的日记》是丁玲的成名作，曾引起强烈的社会反响。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

3 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

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 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 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。

7 advent   

n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临

参考例句：

• Swallows come by groups at the advent of spring. 春天来临时燕子成群飞来。
• The advent of the Euro will redefine Europe.欧元的出现将重新定义欧洲。

8 exudes   

v.缓慢流出，渗出，分泌出( exude的第三人称单数 )；流露出对（某物）的神态或感情

参考例句：

• The plant exudes a sticky fluid. 这种植物分泌出一种黏液。
• She exudes sexual magnetism. 她洋溢着女性的魅力。

9 elegance   

n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙

参考例句：

• The furnishings in the room imparted an air of elegance.这个房间的家具带给这房间一种优雅的气氛。
• John has been known for his sartorial elegance.约翰因为衣着讲究而出名。

10 expressiveness   

n.富有表现力

参考例句：

• His painting rose to a fresh expressiveness and revealed a shrewder insight. 他的画富有一种新的表达力，显示出更敏锐的洞察力。
• The audiences are impressed by the expressiveness of the actors. 演员们的丰富表情给观众留下了深刻的印象。

11 alluring   

adj.吸引人的，迷人的

参考例句：

• The life in a big city is alluring for the young people. 大都市的生活对年轻人颇具诱惑力。
• Lisette's large red mouth broke into a most alluring smile. 莉莎特的鲜红的大嘴露出了一副极为诱人的微笑。

12 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

13 wholesome   

adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的

参考例句：

• In actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome.实际上我喜欢做的事大都是有助于增进身体健康的。
• It is not wholesome to eat without washing your hands.不洗手吃饭是不卫生的。

14 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

15 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。

16 alienate   

vt.使疏远，离间；转让(财产等)

参考例句：

• His attempts to alienate the two friends failed because they had complete faith.他离间那两个朋友的企图失败了，因为他们彼此完全信任。
• We'd better not alienate ourselves from the colleagues.我们最好还是不要与同事们疏远。

17 arcane   

adj.神秘的，秘密的

参考例句：

• The technique at one time was arcane in the minds of most chemists.这种技术在大多数化学家心目中一度是神秘的。
• Until a few months ago few people outside the arcane world of contemporary music had heard of Gorecki.直至几个月前，在现代音乐神秘殿堂之外很少有人听说了戈莱斯基。