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休·格兰特电影:单亲插班生(图)
http://www.sina.com.cn 2004/09/09 11:41  《英语学习》

  about a boy 单亲插班生

  宋云峰 编写

  靠着父亲留下的遗产,英俊的伦敦男人维尔过着空虚无聊的生活。快到40岁了,维尔仍没有结婚的意思,他惧怕责任。但这并不妨碍他拈花惹草,及时行乐。一次,维尔发现了一个最新的泡妞良方:单亲家长联谊会。在他想来,单身母亲一定很渴望男性的关怀,而且分手的时候借口也很容易找到。但他与一位单身母亲的约会彻底改变了他的生活。

  Thanks to the royalties1 from his father's one-hit wonder Christmas record2, 38-year-old happy-go-lucky bachelor Will doesn't have to do anything but enjoy life and mess around with3 women. However, he feels upset whenever breaking up with his partner because with no exception he gets condemned for his playboy behavior. When he meets Angie, a single mother with a three-year-old kid, things turn out differently. Two months later, when Will is going to break up with Angie, Angie asks him out for dinner. To Will's surprise, it is Angie who puts forward the proposal over the table. What's more, she feels guilty because Will is such a wonderful man in her eye.

  "So that was the end of Angie, but the beginning of a whole new thing ?single mums." Will wonders why hadn't anyone told him about them before? "Passionate sex, a lot of ego massage4, and a guilt-free parting5. There must be thousands, waiting for a guy to sleep with and break up with. fabulous, sexy, gorgeous single mums."

  Will tries hard to look for opportunities to date single mothers but to no avail6. One day, he notices an activity organized by Single Parent Alone Together (SPAT) support group7 and goes there pretending to be a single father with a two-year-old kid "Ned." His story of having been dumped by his partner wins sympathy from those present since he's the only man there. Grasping the chance, Will begins to date a beautiful blonde called Suzie and invites her to a picnic at Regents Park8 at the weekend. Picking up Suzie, Will has to lie about the absence of Ned. What he does not expect is that Suzie brings along another single mother's kid Marcus since the woman has to work at the weekend.


  Marcus grows up in a miserable environment since his mother Fiona, working hard to support him, often gets sadly emotional and cries from time to time. What is worse, he doesn't feel fit to his school where he is treated as a weird kid who is often out of his mind murmuring and even singing songs unconsciously in class. In the park, Will soon gets along well with Suzie who sees him as a kind and humorous man. Meanwhile, the bored Marcus moves to the lakeside and feeds the ducks with huge homemade bread. Failing to tear off the hard bread made by his mother, Marcus throws the whole piece into the middle of the water and incidentally kills one of the ducks. Frightened, Marcus runs to Will and Suzie for help, and Will helps him out of the trouble by lying to the guard that the duck was not killed by Marcus who only intended to sink the dead duck for the sake of its disturbing effect on little kids. Now Marcus begins to like Will.

  When they get back to Marcus's home, they're shocked to see Fiona in a critical state ?she attempted suicide. They immediately call the ambulance and send her to hospital. Suzie stays to accompany Fiona and Will takes Marcus back to his home. The next day, Suzie brings Fiona back from hospital as she feels better now. But Marcus is not happy about his mother's unstable mental state and thinks that it needs three people to maintain the family. So he phones Will "forcing" him to invite his family to dinner to cheer Fiona up.

  The dinner ends up with no substantial result and life goes on as usual until Marcus rings Will's doorbell one day. Will is surprised to see Marcus who tells him his great discovery ?Will doesn't have a kid at all and he has been lying to Suzie and other people. Marcus asks Will to date his mother or he will tell the truth to everyone. Will is annoyed and replies that he cannot just date anyone and it must be someone he likes. Marcus threatens that he will be back again, and Will tells him sarcastically9 that he's "really scared." From then on, Marcus often comes to Will's place after school. At first, they dislike each other's company and just watch TV without speaking a single word. Gradually they get used to the routine and begin to enjoy the TV program together.

  One day, Marcus is bullied and chased by some boys after school and he has to run to Will's place for help. Will rescues him and learns about his condition in school. To help Marcus fit into the environment, Will decides to give him a new image by buying a new pair of trainer shoes10 for him. Unfortunately, Marcus has to come back home barefoot in the rain because the new shoes are stolen by his fellow pupils. Learning that Marcus has been hanging around at Will's place after school, Fiona is very angry with Will who entertains her son without her permission. She goes to Will and makes a fuss about it. Will reveals Marcus's current state and condemns Fiona for being irresponsible. Fiona is speechless, but begs Will to continue to take care of the kid.

  As Christmas draws near, Will decides to spend it alone at his own home. But as he borrows some horror videos11 and sits back to watch them, Will begins to feel a bit lonely and begins to miss Marcus. Thus he buys some presents and goes to Marcus's home where he is welcomed by the family. Will's presents of a rock CD and a CD player delight Marcus while Marcus's present of a book named "Single Parent Handbook" embarrasses Will somewhat. At this point, Suzie comes. She has never seen Will again after learning the truth about "Ned." As Suzie sarcastically asks about where Ned is, Fiona also criticizes Will for lying. Embarrassed, Will decides to leave. But Marcus insists that he stay. Only Marcus can understand and "defend" Will for what he did. They have a good time. For the first time, Will feels warm and wonderful.

  While Marcus has a crush for12 a girl called Ellie at his school, Will develops fondness of a single mother called Rachel. Marcus finds that a rap lyric "Shake Ya Ass" in Will's rock CD helps him get Ellie's attention. Meanwhile, Will also needs Marcus to play his "son" in his dating with Rachel who has a son of similar age. Marcus acts naturally and successfully at Rachel's home though her son Ali is rather hostile to Marcus and his mother's new "boyfriend". Later on, Marcus convinces Will that if he really fancies Rachel he should tell her the truth. And therefore, Will tries to tell Rachel the truth but finds it difficult to explain the complicated story.

  Marcus is worried when he sees his mother crying again recently. He wants to do something. Since Fiona says that when Marcus sings, it brings sunshine and happiness to her, Marcus decides to sign up for "Rock Kidz" to perform Fiona's favorite song "Killing Me Softly" (by Roberta Flack). But when he consults Ellie, now a quite close friend of his, she shakes her head and says, "It'll be a suicide" if he doesn't have any talent for singing. Then Marcus comes to Will for help, but Will is rather indifferent about the matter. He tells Marcus that he can't do anything and it's Marcus's problem. Coming out of Will's home, Marcus decides to go ahead no matter what happens. He brings back home the concert poster, which really pleases Fiona.

  When Marcus leaves, however, Will begins to think about what has happened recently. He has realized that he does care about Marcus, and that his defiant13 way of life against Bon Jovi's14 motto "no man is an island" is wrong. To make up for what he did to Marcus, Will hurries to Marcus's home. Nobody is at home. Finally he finds Fiona at SPAT and asks her about Marcus. When Will learns that Marcus has signed up for the "Rock Kidz" concert, he tells Fiona that it's social suicide since Marcus is not good at singing. He also tells Fiona that Marcus does it to cheer her up.

  When they rush to the concert, it's already started and Marcus is about to get onto the stage. Will tries to stop him, but Marcus insists on doing it. As Marcus cannot sing well, the audience begins to boo15 him. To "rescue" Marcus, Will borrows a guitar and gets on the stage to accompany him. This prevents it from becoming a disaster. When Marcus finishes his singing, he even wins some applause. To distract audiences' attention to the crude16 performance, Will carries on singing in a terrible voice and gets off the stage in catcalls17. Fiona is moved by the performance and decides to start a new life.

  The next Christmas, Will is no longer alone. At his place are Marcus and his girlfriend Ellie, Rachel and her son Ali, Fiona and her new partner. Bon Jovi is right in saying "no man is an island." -

  1. royalty: (著作)版税。

  2. one-hit wonder Christmas record: 一炮而红的单曲圣诞唱片。

  3. mess around with: (和异性)勾搭,调情。

  4. ego massage/#i:g2%m2#sa:3/: “精神按摩”,指心理上的安慰和满足。

  5. guilt-free parting: 没有负疚感的分手。

  6. to no avail: 毫无效果。

  7. support group: (自发成立的弱势群体等的)援助组织。

  8. Regents Park: (伦敦)摄政公园。

  9. sarcastically: 讽刺地,讥讽地。

  10. trainer shoe: 运动鞋。

  11. horror video: 恐怖电影录像带。

  12. have a crush for sb.: 爱上某人。

  13. defiant: 反叛的,反抗的,逆反的。

  14. Bon Jovi: 邦·乔维,美国著名摇滚歌星。

  15. boo: 嘘(某人),向……喝倒彩。

  16. crude: 不成熟的,粗糙的。

  17. catcall: (表示反对或嘲弄的)尖叫声,嘘声。

  Excerpts

  Marcus "Threatens" Will When He Finds That Will Doesn't Have a Kid

  (Doorbell rings and Will opens the door)

  Marcus: You don't have a kid, do you?

  Will: What?

  Marcus: You don't have a kid, do you?

  Will: Of course I've got a kid. What are you on about?

  Marcus: No you don't. I've been watching you and you don't have a kid.

  Will: Well, what is it to you, anyway? I...

  Marcus: Nothing. Except you've been lying to me, my mum, and my mum's friend. Can I come in?

  Will: No.

  Marcus: Why?

  Will: 'Cause I'm busy, I'm...

  Marcus: What are you doing?

  Will: I'm... watching TV.

  Marcus: I could watch it with you, if you like.

  Will: Well, that's very nice of you, Marcus, but I usually manage on my own, thanks. Don't you have homework to do?

  Marcus: Yeah. Do you wanna help me?

  Will: No. I meant, why don't you go home and do your homework?

  Marcus: I'll do you a deal. I won't tell anyone you don't have a kid... if you go out with my mum.

  Will: OK... Why would you want your mum to go out with me?

  Marcus: I don't think you're too bad. I mean, you told lies, but apart from that you seem OK. And she's sad. I think she'd like a boyfriend.

  Will: You know, I can't just go out with someone because you want me to, Marcus. I would have to like the person as well.

  Marcus: What's wrong with her?

  Will: There's nothing wrong with her. That's just the system, that's how it... For Christ's sake*, I'm not talking about this. Just go.

  Marcus: OK. But I'll be back.

  Will: Ooh, I'm really scared.

  编辑:趴趴


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