3.The Oscar nominations (提名) will be announced tomorrow morning and despite the Academy's best efforts,it looks like the biggest films of the year will be mostly shut out of competition.Don't expect big nominations for The Avengers,The Dark Knight Rises or The Hunger Games.
Since 2008,the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has been playing with the scheme for Best Picture in the hopes of getting more popular films nominated (提名) and increasing audience for the Oscar ceremony which last year was watched by fewer people than watched the Grammy Awards.First they increased the number of nominated films from five to ten.This year,to complicate things,there could be as many as ten nominees or as few as five.In order to qualify for a Best Picture nod,a film has to be the top pick of at least 5% of the Academy voters.
That means there's room for an unknown factor.Our in-house film expert,Mark Hughes,thinks that could be Skyfall or The Hobbit which would ruin the condition of this post.I think Skyfall has a decent chance of being a spoiler.It has a admirable director in Sam Mendes,it's earned almost universal praise from critics and it's the first Bond movie ever to bring in 1billionattheboxoffice.ButIsuspectwe'regoingtoseeaveryblockbuster(大片)-lightlistofnominations.ThefilmsthataregettingthemostawardareLincoln,LesMiserablesandZeroDarkThirty.WhileLincolnandLesMizaredoingwellattheboxoffice(earning144million and 172millionsofarseparately),theyaren'tnearthetopearnersof2012.ZeroDarkThirtyhasonlybeenplayinginafewtheaters.Itexpandsintowidereleasethisweekend.It'snotnecessarilyabadthingthatbigblockbustersdon'tgetnominated.Filmsthatearnover1billion at the box office don't really need any more publicity or anything else to help increase DVD income.Smaller films,like Zero Dark Thirty,rely on that Oscar boom.Nominations focusing on smaller films is good for the overall Hollywood ecosystem,even if the people running the awards would like to make things interesting a bit.
The awards are scheduled for February 24th on ABC.Seth MacFarlane is this year's host.
63.The AMPAS made changes to Best Picture toC.
A.attract more people to watch movies
B.keep the biggest films away from it
C.make the Oscar ceremony more popular
D.increase the number of popular movies
64.The underlined part"Skyfall has a decent chance of being a spoiler"(in Paragraph 3)meansB.
A.Skyfall is the best Bond movie
B.Skyfall is quite likely to be nominated
C.Skyfall is just so-so
D.Skyfall has little chance to be nominated
65.Nominations focusing on smaller films is in the hope thatB.
A.smaller films are better than those so-called blockbusters
B.more people will go to see smaller films
C.blockbusters needn't any nominations
D.blockbusters will have better environment
66.There is a room for an unknown factor in the nominations this year becauseB.
A.the film has to be selected by at least 5% of the Academy voters
B.there could be five to ten nominees
C.the biggest films will be mostly shut out of competition
D.The Hobbit would ruin the condition of this post.
分析 本文是一篇报道.文章报道了明天将会宣布奥斯卡的排名,又讲述以往的奥斯卡于此此奥斯卡规则的对比.文章还对明天会提名的电影进行了预测.
解答 63.C.细节理解题.从文章第二段第一句….in the hopes of getting more popular films nominated and promoting viewership for the Oscar ceremony可知,AMPAS修改奥斯卡最佳影片奖的评选规则,希望更多受到欢迎的电影获得提名,同时提高奥斯卡颁奖典礼的收视率.故选C.
64.B.细节理解题.从文章第三段第四句It has an admirable director…..可知,对Skyfall这部电影评价很高,再结合第二段可推论出这部电影可能被提名.故选B.
65.B.推理预测题.从文章最后一段第二句Films that earn over $1 billion at the box office….可推出小成本制作如果有更多的宣传,就会有更多的人去观看,这有利于HOLLYWOOD的整体发展.故选B.
66.B.细节理解题.从文章第二段的最后两句"This year,to complicate things,there could be as many as ten nominees or as few as five.In order to qualify for a Best Picture nod,a film has to be the top pick of at least 5% of the Academy voters."可知,提名名单存在很大的未知因素是因为提名影片有可能多达10部,也有可能少至5部.故选B.
点评 本文为新闻报道类阅读.新闻报道类在英语阅读理解中是一种特点十分鲜明的题材.因为文章往往呈现出"倒金字塔"的特征,此类题的英语阅读理解技巧是重点看导语.导语位于新闻报道的首段,高度概括新闻事实,通过它点出新闻的主题,其次寻找关键词,理解题意,做出解答.