和往年一样,在第92届奥斯卡颁奖礼上,摘取各种大奖的获奖者都会在接受金像之后发表感言,绝大多数获奖者都会大发感慨、大发议论,但他们感慨和议论的往往不是获奖本身的事,而是发表道德演说,突显他们的道德正确,站在道德高地上的是他们。对于这一几乎成为传统的获奖演讲,有人提出了质疑。就在奥斯卡颁奖结束的第二天,有两位美国大学的助理教授发表题为Oscar acceptance speeches: When moral outrage verges ongrandstanding的评论指出,不分场合,随意发泄道德义愤实际上是在哗众取宠,尤其是公众人物应该注意可能产生的不良后果。这一观点有很好的借鉴意义,同时作为英语学习者和爱好者应该借此机会了解一下与grandstanding有关的词汇、表达方式和句子。以下是从这篇评论文章选取的15个句子,既有批评grandstanding的含义,又是比较典型地道的具有学术性的英语表述,我们可以把它们作为英语学习语料库的内容加以学习和应用。下面既是关于所选的15个句子的词汇释义、语法解析和翻译,供有兴趣的读者参考。

1. The Academy Awards were Sunday night,and we all know what that means: the year's best films, high fashion on the redcarpet, and a heavy dose of moral scolding fromHollywood stars.

词汇释义:

1. academy:学院

2. award:奖,

3. dose:(大量的)一份,一次,一批,一场

4. scolding:斥责,责骂

语法解析:

The Academy Awards were Sunday night ——可看作是The Academy Awards were (held)on Sunday night。

what that means —— 动词know的宾语从句。

句子翻译:

学院奖在周日晚上举行了,大家都知道这意味着什么:本年度的最佳电影,红毯高端时尚,加上好莱坞明星不绝于耳的道德训诫。

2. Such warnings aside, this year's awardceremonies extended the long tradition of stars using Hollywood's biggestnights to signal both to their peers and to the folks at home that they havethe right moral values.

词汇释义:

aside:不考虑

ceremony:仪式

extend:伸长,扩大,延续

signal:显示

peer:同行

folk:亲属,家属

value:价值观

语法解析:

such warnings aside —— 独立主格,名词+副词表示逻辑上的主谓关系。

using Hollywood's biggest nights… ——现在分词短语作定语修饰stars。

that they have the right moral values ——动词singnal的宾语从句。

句子翻译:

本年度的颁奖礼对这类警告置若罔闻,继续发扬行之已久的传统,让明星们利用好莱坞最盛大的夜晚向同行和家人显示他们怀有正确的道德观。

3. But frequently, people who use moraltalk this way are also engaging in moral grandstanding -- trying to show offhow good they are.

词汇释义:

frequently:频繁地

engage:做,从事

grandstand:哗众取宠

show off:炫耀

语法解析:

-- trying to show off how good they are ——破折号引导补充成分说明grandstanding。

句子翻译:

但频繁出现的情况是,如此利用道德说教的人也同时在进行道德上的哗众取宠 —— 极力炫耀他们的好品行。

4. But someone can sincerely believe theyhave the best moral values and still use their public discourseto try to project an impressive image of themselves.

词汇释义:

sincerely:真诚地,诚实地

discourse:讲述,论述

project:展现,展示

project:印象深刻的

语法解析:

still use their public discourse… ——和主句的can… believe构成并列谓语。

句子翻译:

但是有人可能会真诚地相信他们拥有最佳道德观而且还在利用公开讲话争取展现出令人印象深刻的形象。

5. It's often difficult to know whethersomeone is using their moral talk for show in this way, just like it's hard toknow whether people who sincerely mention their large incomesin conversation over dinner during tax season are also trying to brag.

词汇释义:

income:收入

tax:税收

brag:吹嘘,炫耀

语法解析:

whether… —— 连词引导宾语从句。

just like… —— 副词+连词引导状语从句。

who sincerely mention… —— 定语从句修饰people。

句子翻译:

人们很难知道是否有人是在如此利用道德说教进行炫耀,就像人们很难知道在缴税季聚餐会上那些严肃地提及自己的高收入的人也是在努力炫耀。

6. When grandstanders get together, a moralarms race can break out, with each person trying tooutdo the rest with increasingly ramped up moral pronouncements.

词汇释义:

grandstander:哗众取宠的人

arm:装备,军备

race:竞赛:

break out:爆发

outdo:超过

ramp up:加速,加大

pronouncement:公告,宣告

语法解析:

with each person trying to… —— 独立主格。

句子翻译:

当喜欢哗众取宠的人聚在一起的时候,道德上的军备竞赛可能就会爆发,而每个人都在不断加码宣示道德以争取超过其他人。

7. Like dogmaticknow-it-alls, grandstanders dismiss those whodisagree with them as being beneath contempt, unworthy of a conversation.

词汇释义:

dogmatic:自以为是的,固执己见的

know-it-all:自以为无所不知的人

dismiss:不考虑,不屑于

contempt:蔑视,藐视

unworthy:不配的,不值的

语法解析:

dismiss those who disagree with them asbeing… —— dismiss接宾语those…,who…定语从句修饰those,as…介词短语作状语。

句子翻译:

如同那些自以为是无所不知的人一样,哗众取宠的人对于与不同意他们观点的人非常不屑,认为他们非常鄙视,不值与谈。

8. Each of us has instant access to an audience of friends, acquaintances or evenmillions of strangers whom we might try to impresswith our moral pronouncements.

词汇释义:

instant:即时的,即刻的

access:接近(或面见)的机会(或权利)

audience:会见

acquaintance:熟人

impress:(使)留下印象

语法解析:

whom we might try to… —— whom关系代词引导定语从句

句子翻译:

我们每个人都随时有机会接触朋友,熟人,甚至数以百万计的陌生人,我们可能会试图通过道德宣示给他们留下深刻印象。

9. Although it's easy to use social mediato impress others, grandstanding is bad, and we should avoid treating publicdiscourse as a vanity project, whether we are celebrities winning Oscars ortweeting to our like-minded friends.

词汇释义:

vanity:虚荣

project:项目

celebrity:名人

tweet:在推特上发文

like-minded:志趣相投的

语法解析:

grandstanding is bad, and we should avoid… ——并列主句。

Although it's easy…和whether we are celebrities… —— 状语从句。

winning… or tweeting… —— 并列现在分词短语作定语修饰celebrities。

句子翻译:

虽然使用社交媒体给别人留下深刻印象是很容易的,但哗众取宠却很糟糕,而我们应该避免把公开讲话当作一个虚荣的项目,不管我们是赢得奥斯卡奖的名人,还是在推特上给志趣相投的朋友发推文的名人。

10. In fact, because so much about ouridentities is determined by how we think we compare to others, we go to greatlengths to maintain our image as being morally superior.

词汇释义:

Identity:身份

determine:确定

go to great length:竭尽全力

maintain:保持,维持

superior:优越的

语法解析:

so much about our identities isdetermined... —— much是主语,about... 是定语,is determined 是系表结构。

how we think we compare to others ——介词by的宾语从句。

being morally superior —— 动名词短语作介词as的宾语。

句子翻译:

事实上,由于我们的身份很大程度上取决于我们如何看待我们与他人相比较,所以我们都竭尽全力维护我们道德上的优越形象。

11. In a quest to impress peers orembarrass enemies, grandstanders trump up obscure moral charges, perpetuallysearching for new features of the world to occasion a demonstrationof their high moral standards.

词汇释义:

trump up:捏造,伪造

obscure:模糊的

charge:指控

perpetually:永久地

feature:特征

occasion:造成,导致

demonstration:展示

standard:标准

语法解析:

perpetually searching for… —— 副词+现在分词短语作状语修饰谓语。

句子翻译:

为了打动同行或让敌人难堪,哗众取宠的人捏造模糊的道德指控,不断寻找世界的新特征,以展示他们的高尚的道德标准。

12. Excessive uses of outrage also lead to outrageexhaustion, making it more difficult to feel and express anger when it'srequired for purposes more important than the promotion of reputation.

词汇释义:

excessive:过度的,过分的

outrage:愤怒,义愤

exhaustion:耗尽,枯竭

reputation:声誉

语法解析:

making it more difficult… —— 现在分词短语作状语。

when it's required… —— 作现在分词短语making… 的状语从句

句子翻译:

过度使用愤怒也会导致愤怒的枯竭,其结果是,当出于比维护名誉还重要的目而需要感受和表达愤怒时,反倒更难感受和表达愤怒了。

13. Furthermore, studies show thatlittering public discourse with even more accusations and blame is unlikely to help people improve their behavior.

词汇释义:

litter:(使)凌乱

accusation:控告,谴责

blame:责备

unlikely:不可能的

语法解析:

littering public discourse with even moreaccusations and blame —— 动名词短语作主语。

句子翻译:

此外,研究表明,在公开讲话中胡乱谴责和指责,不太可能帮助人们改善自己的行为。

14. We can also redirect our natural desirefor esteem and praise to projects that accomplishsomethingproductive.

词汇释义:

redirect:重新调整,改变

esteem:尊重

accomplish:完成

productive:有成效的

语法解析:

that accomplish something productive ——定语从句修饰projects。

句子翻译:

我们还可以重新将我们对尊重和赞美的天然渴望转向能够取得成效的项目。

15. It's tempting to watch celebrities whopromote their favored causes with self-indulgent speeches and conclude that they're uniquely guiltyof grandstanding.

词汇释义:

tempting:诱人的

cause:事业

self-indulgent:自我放纵的

conclude:作结论

uniquely:唯一

guilty:感到羞愧,感到有罪

语法解析:

It's tempting to watch… and conclude… ——并列动词不定式短语作逻辑主语。

who promote their favored causes withself-indulgent speeches —— 定语从句修饰celebrities。

that they're uniquely guilty ofgrandstanding —— conclude的宾语从句。

句子翻译:

很诱人的是,人们可以关注名人通过自我放纵的演讲来推广自己钟爱的事业,并因此得出结论,他们是唯一应该为哗众取宠感到羞愧的一群人。

最后,知道grandstanding是什么意思了吧?就是playing or acting so as to impress onlookers,汉语的意思是哗众取宠。