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The 'surprises' of the 91st Oscars

 

The most surprising thing about this year’s Oscars was how little surprise there was; the unexpected wasn’t all that unexpected, the unpredicted not all that unpredictable. This said, there were lessons to be learned from the 91st Academy Awards that may serve pundits and campaigners well in the years to come.

今年奧斯卡頒獎禮最令人驚訝的，就是無甚驚喜。所謂的意外賽果並不那麼令人意外，無法預料的結果也不真的不可預知。這樣說來，第九十一屆奧斯卡金像獎的賽果，的確給業界專家和助選團上了寶貴一課。
 

 

serve sb well 促進，對… 有利

e.g. The President's wisdom has served the country well. 

總統的智慧對國家有利。

e.g. John’s linguistic ability served him well in his chosen profession. 

John的語言能力為他贏得行業優勢。

 

serve sb right（某人）罪有應得，（某人）活該 (INFORMAL)

e.g. "He hit me!" "It serves you right. You shouldn't have been so mean to him."

「他打了我！」「活該。你不該對他那麽差。」

 

pundit (n.) （某方面的）專家，權威

a political/foreign-policy/sports pundit

政治／外交政策／體育權威

 

e.g. During the trial, the prosecutor will call upon a pundit of forensics to link the evidence to the suspect.

審判期間，檢察官會傳召法證專家，以指出呈堂證據跟疑犯的關係。

 

e.g. Although Jill has never been to Greece, she often speaks about the culture as though she is a pundit of the country.

雖然 Jill 從未去過希臘，她提起當地文化時總是一副專家口吻。

 

The infusion of new members, many drawn from the independent and international arenas, led some observers to believe the kinds of movies the Academy would reward were changing… but Green Book’s victory laid that argument to rest; one cynic called it “the best film of 1965.”

新加入的會員，許多都來自獨立電影或國際電影舞台，令一些觀察員相信金像獎大會的口味會慢慢改變。可是 Green Book (綠簿旅友) 獲勝（指獲得「最佳電影」），令此說法不攻自破。有人更謔稱它為「1965年最佳電影」。
 

 

arena (n.)

  1. （體育比賽或表演用的）場地，競技場，劇場

e.g. an Olympic/a sports arena 奧運會／運動會比賽場地

 

2. 活動場所；鬥爭場所；競爭舞臺

e.g. After 30 years in the political arena, our local member of parliament is retiring next year. 本地選出的這位下議院議員已經在政治舞臺上活躍了30年，明年他就要退休了。

 

> arenas    (plural)

 

lay sth to rest 打消，消除（顧慮或恐懼）

e.g. I hope what he said has laid your fears to rest.

我希望他說的這些能消除你的恐懼。

 

cynic (n.) 憤世嫉俗的人；懷疑人之真誠者；認為人皆自私者

e.g. I'm too much of a cynic to believe that he'll keep his promise.

我懷疑這世間的一切，不相信他會遵守諾言。

 

e.g. A cynic might say that the government has only taken this measure because it is concerned about its declining popularity.

憤世嫉俗者會說政府之所以採取這項措施僅僅是由於對其信任度下降感到擔憂。

 

cynical (adj.)

1. 憤世嫉俗的；懷疑人之真誠的；認為人皆自私的

e.g. She has a pretty cynical view of men.  她對男人的態度太過偏激。

e.g. I've always been deeply cynical about politicians.  我對政客們總是嗤之以鼻。

​

2. 利用他人感情的；損人利己的

e.g. She works in that most cynical of industries - advertising.

她於最具煽惑性的行業中工作——廣告行業。

e.g. He praises my cooking but it's just a cynical ploy to get me to make him dinner.

他誇我燒一手好菜只不過是在耍花招，哄我給他做飯。

 

Where were Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Jennifer Lawrence, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock and a host of other A-listers who didn’t deign to appear on the show? Once upon a time, Hollywood’s mega-wattage stars turned out en masse for the industry’s leading event; now, they have to be begged to appear and even then say no. Somehow, the Academy has lost clout with its own most prominent members, and that could be a much more dangerous threat to its future ratings than an overlong show. 一眾不願「屈就」的重量級巨星哪裡去了？曾幾何時，荷李活的大明星總會空群而出，現身業界盛事；現在即使是求他們也不肯來。某程度上，金像獎已經叫不動它的重要會員，對收視率而言，這比典禮過長更具殺傷力。

 

heavyweight stars / mega-wattage stars 重量級/ （百萬伏特）電力十足的明星

A-lister 名人 (ALSO A-list celebrity)

 

deign to do sth 屈尊做…，放下架子做…

e.g. If she deigns to reply to my letter, I'll be extremely surprised.

如果她能放下架子回信給我，那我肯定會感到非常詫異。

 

clout (n.) 權勢；影響力

e.g. The Queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.

女王可以享有特權，但沒有真正的政治權力。

 

Once again, voters opted for acting they could see, and stuck to this reporter’s rule for winning: Play period, play ugly, play with an accent and play big enough that everyone knows you’re acting.

 

Acceptance Speech of Mahershala Ali (Best Actor in the Supporting Role)

I wanna dedicate this to my grandmother, who has been my ear my entire life, telling me that if I at first don’t succeed, try, try again, that I can do anything I put my mind to, always, always pushing me to think positively, and I know that I would not be here without her, she’s got me over the hump every step of the way… thank you so much!

 

put/set one’s mind to sth 決心要，一心想

e.g. If you'd just put your mind to it, I'm sure you could do it.

如果你一心一意的去做，我肯定你能完成。

 

be over the hump 完成了最困難的部分，渡過難關 (INFORMAL)

e.g. It's been hard work but I think we're over the hump now.

這是一項很艱苦的工作，但我想我們已經完成最困難的部分了。

 

> get me over the hump = help me get through the most distressful times

 

A Song For You - “Shallow” by Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper

Best Original Song – From ‘A Star Is Born’

 

   
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