听力练习

【NPR边听边练】致力于提供新鲜有趣、饶有意味的时讯资料，致力于通过精听的方式促进听力提高，致力于不断开阔眼界和深入了解美国观点。

精听建议：
先完整地把一条新闻听一到三遍，争取掌握大意。然后，一句一句精听，力争每句话都听明白。遇到实在不懂的地方，再听写。

下面的文本材料中空缺部分里面要填的词都很简单，不过是一些值得注意的连读或者典型的美式发音哦，有些语速比较快。试试看，你能不能全部写对？

（参考文本，欢迎指出错误^^）

On Sunday in L.A., you're either at the show, at the parties or at home watching. I'm talking about the Academy Awards. This is a company town that virtually shuts down on Oscar night. Actually, the whole weekend will be a blur of Oscar craziness, and here to talk about that is Allison Hope Weiner. She's been covering Hollywood for a long time and writing for publications like Entertainment Weekly and the New York Times. And welcome to the program.

"Thanks. ___1___" Now you've lived here for a long long time, and you've been in the scene for a long time. What is it like here on the weekend? ___2___ "You can't move anywhere. I assume it's ___3___ I gets in New York when the president comes downtown. They've already ___4___ Hollywood. Everybody is scrambling to try to get into parties. Anyone who's gonna get in anywhere is already in. So if their... if they haven't been invited somewhere, it's probably best to pretend like you'll leave and tend business, or, you know, turn all your lights up, sort of like people'll come trick-or-treat in your aid of candy. That kind of situation. So it's pretty crazy." And also, you have to be invited to the right parties. "Yes. There're some parties that are just the in parties. And a lot of people know that would be ___5___, which is actually cutting. It's gasless to shear. And it's greatly... completely pandemonium."

词汇解析

1.virtually ['vɜ:tjʊəli]

adj. 几乎,差不多
adv. 几乎,实际上

例句与用法:
Two independent investigators have reached virtually the same conclusions.
两个调查人员各自做出的结论简直完全一致.
Musical Instrument Digital Interface, or MIDI, is a communication interface provided on virtually every synthesizer made today.
音乐设备数字接口，或称MIDI，实际上是为目前制造的各种合成器提供的一种通信接口。
She is so solicitous and persistent that she virtually kills you with kindness.
她非常关心而固执，以致她的善意实际上反而使人感到尴尬。

2.shut down

vt. 关闭(降临,关闭)

例句与用法:
Some coal-mines had to shut down.
有些煤矿不得不关闭。
I was in harness at the factory for over twenty years before it shut down.
我在那家工厂关闭前在那儿工作了20多年了。

3.assume [ə'sju:m]

vt. 假定,设想,承担

例句与用法:
She was in arrogance to assume she would win every time.
她认为每次都能赢，未免太自大了。
I made a mistake and I will assume responsibility for it.
我错了，我愿为此承担责任。
I assumed you can speak French fluently.
我以为你能讲流利的法语。

4.sort of

adv. 有几分地(稍稍,到某种程度)

例句与用法:
It's sort of embarrassing.
这有点叫人难为情。
That sort of music is rubbish.
那种音乐毫无价值。
What sort of book do you want?
你要哪一类的书？

5.vanity fair

n. 浮华世界, 虚荣无聊的社会,名利场

6.shear [ʃiə]

n. 修剪,剪下的东西,羊的一岁
v. 修剪,割,剥夺

例句与用法:
With a few quick snips of the shears he pruned the bush.
他用大剪刀几下子就把灌木给修剪好了.
I start shearing the sheep at the beginning of July.
我一般在7月初开始剪羊毛。
All her curls have been shorn off.
她的一头卷发被剪得精光。