May 5th, 2017
Best Picture Mix-Up at 2017 Oscars 2017 年奧斯卡最佳影片出錯‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥p. 1
Best Picture Mix-Up at 2017 Oscars by Theodore Pigott, special correspondent It was a moment that could have come from a Hollywood movie itself. In a bizarre end to the 2017 Academy Awards, it was discovered that the movie La La Land had mistakenly been announced as the winner of the Best Picture of the year and that, in fact, the movie Moonlight was the rightful recipient of this honor. As the stage filled with the actors and producers from both movies, it finally became clear that a major mix-up had occurred. Actually, some are calling it the biggest mistake in the history of the Oscars. How did this epic blunder happen? Apparently, Hollywood actors Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were given the wrong envelope. Instead of the envelope for Best Picture, they were handed an envelope for Best Actress when they went onstage to announce the Best Picture winner. PricewaterhouseCoopers eventually did apologize for this error. This accounting firm has a long history of being in charge of counting the Oscar ballots, and before this night, no other major misstep like this had ever taken place. Although PricewaterhouseCoopers is still investigating to determine exactly what went wrong, initial reports seem to confirm that the two presenters were indeed given an incorrect envelope. Some reports say that there are usually two sets of envelopes for each award category, and these are usually kept on both sides of the stage. Apparently, one of these back-up envelopes from the wrong category made it into the hands of the presenters for Best Picture. Even though La La Land did not end up winning the award for Best Picture, it was still the biggest winner of the night. The film, a musical set in Los Angeles, won six Academy Awards, including Best Actress, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Cinematography, and Best Production Design. Its director, Damien Chazelle, also won the Best Director Award, making the 32-year-old man the youngest person ever to win this honor.
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For many, Moonlight, a coming-of-age story that had seen little box-office success, was a surprise Best Picture winner. The movie chronicles the life of a young African-American male growing up in poverty in Miami, and it ended up winning three Oscars in total, including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor award for Mahershala Ali. Without a doubt, however, the 2017 Academy Awards will be remembered for one thing—the strange, chaotic, and almost unbelievable situation involving the mistaken announcement of the winner of the Best Picture Award. This ending showed that anything is still possible, especially when it comes to Hollywood movies. Reading Comprehension (
) 1. What is the main topic of this passage? (A) A brief history of the Academy Awards ceremony and its impact on Hollywood. (B) A closer look at all of the winners at the 2017 Oscars. (C) A review of the 2017 Oscars, including the Best Picture mix-up at the end. (D) An investigation into the box-office success of the movie La La Land.
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) 2. The word “blunder” in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to “________.” (A) praise (B) mistake (C) success (D) conclusion ) 3. According to the passage, had any other similar mistakes like this one occurred at the Oscars before? (A) No, this was the first time such a big mistake had happened. (B) Yes, this kind of mistake had happened several times before. (C) Yes, this type of mistake actually happened every year at the Oscars. (D) The passage does not mention about it. ) 4. The movie La La Land did NOT win ________ at the 2017 Academy Awards. (A) Best Actress (B) Best Original Song (C) Best Director (D) Best Picture ) 5. In the final paragraph, what is the author’s attitude about the mix-up at 2017 Oscars? (A) He is very angry and upset about this embarrassing mistake. (B) He is strongly critical of the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. (C) He is confused about what has happened at the awards ceremony. (D) He is humorous and positive about the mistake that was made.
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Vocabulary and Phrases 1.
mix-up n. [C] 混亂
2.
There was a mix-up over the new booking system. Many customers had difficulties making a hotel booking. bizarre [] adj. 古怪的，不尋常的 Wendy’s behavior has been very bizarre recently. She took off her ring to hide the fact that she was married. ~2~
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mistakenly [] adv. 錯誤地
4.
Sam is sometimes mistakenly assumed to be a surfer because of his dark tanned skin. recipient [] n. [C] 接受者
5.
Juan Manuel Santos, who is the President of Colombia, was the sole recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. blunder [] n. [C] 愚蠢的錯誤
6.
The basketball player made some terrible blunders, and he was fouled out. apparently [] adv. 顯然
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Mia muttered about having to work overtime. Apparently, she was unhappy with that. onstage adv. 在舞臺上
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After the performance, all the dancers went onstage and bowed to the audience. accounting [] n. [U] 會計
9.
The car company’s shareholders demanded the revelation of its accounting information. ballot [] n. [C] (不記名)投票
The chairman of the board is elected by secret ballots. 10. misstep [] n. [C] 錯誤，失策 Mr. Wang made a big misstep in investing heavily in the bond market and ended up going bankrupt. 11. initial [] adj. 最初的，開始的 In the initial stage of Alzheimer’s disease, the patients will suffer memory loss. 12. incorrect [] adj. 不正確的，錯誤的 Bill thought he had solved the crossword puzzle. However, his answer was incorrect. 13. chronicle [] vt. 按事件順序記載 This history book chronicles the events leading up to the Cold War. 14. chaotic [] adj. 混亂的 Peter’s life became chaotic after he has been laid off. He was hard up for cash. 15. unbelievable [] adj. 令人難以置信的 It is unbelievable that our team won at the last 20 seconds. Words for Recognition 1.
Oscar [] n. 奧斯卡金像獎 奧斯卡金像獎設立於 1929 年，每年由美國電影藝術與科學學院組織與頒發，是全球電影業界 年度最重要的活動之一。
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Hollywood [] n. 好萊塢，美國電影 美國加州洛杉磯的一個地名，由於許多著名的電影公司在此設立片場，所以好萊塢一詞往往 用來指美國的電影工業。
3. 4. 5.
Academy Award [] n. 學院獎(亦稱奧斯卡獎) La La Land [] n. 《樂來越愛妳》 Moonlight [] n. 《月光下的藍色男孩》 ~3~
6. 7. 8.
Warren Beatty [] n. 華倫·比提 Faye Dunaway [] n. 費·唐娜薇 PricewaterhouseCoopers [] n. 普華永道會計師事務所 四大國際會計師事務所之一。自 1934 年起，普華永道成為奧斯卡獎獨家投票審計機構。
9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
Los Angeles [] n. 洛杉磯 cinematography [] n. 電影攝製藝術 Damien Chazelle [] n. 達米恩·查澤雷 Miami [] n. 邁阿密 Mahershala Ali [] n. 馬赫夏拉·阿里
Translation 2017 年奧斯卡最佳影片出錯 那一刻幾乎是好萊塢電影才會發生的情節。2017 年奧斯卡頒獎典禮進行到最後，《樂來越愛 你》被誤報成年度最佳影片得主，事實上，《月光下的藍色男孩》才是該獎項的正確得主。當舞 臺上站滿兩部片的演員和製作人，大家終於發現頒錯獎的烏龍。事實上，有些人稱此事件為奧斯 卡史上最大失誤。 怎麼會發生這個彌天大錯？顯然，有人拿錯宣獎信封給好萊塢影星華倫·比提和費·唐娜薇。 當他們上臺宣布最佳影片得主時，拿到的是最佳女演員而非最佳影片的宣獎信封。 普華永道會計師事務所最終為此次失誤道歉。這家會計師事務所長久以來負責奧斯卡計票工 作，在那一晚之前，不曾出過這麼大的差錯。 雖然普華永道會計師事務所仍在調查究竟是哪個環節出差錯，但初步報告似乎能證實兩位頒 獎人確實被給錯了信封。一些報導指出，每個獎項通常會有兩套信封，分別放在舞臺兩側。顯然 一個錯誤獎項的備用信封被交給了最佳影片頒奬人。 《樂來越愛你》 即使未能贏得最佳影片獎，但仍是當晚最大贏家。這部以洛杉磯為背景的音 樂劇囊括六座奧斯卡獎，包括最佳女主角、最佳原創音樂、最佳原創歌曲、最佳攝影與最佳美術 設計。該片導演達米恩·查澤雷也拿下最佳導演獎，讓這位 32 歲青年成為該獎項有史以來最年輕 的得主。 對許多人來說，票房不被看好的成長故事《月光下的藍色男孩》是出乎意料的最佳影片得主。 該片描寫生長在邁阿密貧困環境下的非裔美籍男孩的故事，最後共獲頒三座奧斯獎，包括最佳改 編劇本和馬赫夏拉·阿里勇奪最佳男配角。 然而，2017 年奧斯卡無疑會因為一件事被牢牢記住──奇特、混亂又幾乎令人不敢置信的最 佳影片烏龍事件。這個結局可以看出任何事情都可能發生，尤其涉及好萊塢電影時。 閱讀測驗解答：1. C 2. B 3. A
4. D 5. D
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