《英语流行话题阅读:语境识词3500》Unit 19 加菲猫的创造者吉姆·戴维斯

　　Unit 19
Jim Davis, Creator of Garfield
Jim Davis, is an American cartoonist who created the popular comic strip Garfield in 1978. As an Art and Business major at Ball State University, Davis distinguished¹ himself by earning one of the lowest accumulative grade point averages in the history of the school. Prior to creating Garfield, Davis worked for a local advertising² agency. Garfield is now one of the most popular cartoon characters in the world. The Garfield character is a selfish, overweight, orange and black cat with drooping³ eyelids⁴.
Davis was born on July 28, 1945, in Indiana, where he grew up on a small farm with his parents and brother Dave. His love of cartooning emerged during the time he would normally be doing chores, but couldn't due to asthma⁵. Davis' inspiration for Garfield probably came from his childhood on the farm, where he was surrounded by some 25 cats. The Garfield character is named after Davis' grandfather, James A. Garfield Davis, a big short-tempered man. Garfield is a tribute to the lazy person in all of us. His idea of a daily routine is sleeping, eating and occasionally biting a mail man or two just for the fun of it. Everyone can relate to Garfield in some way because most of the humor is about eating or sleeping, something we all do. Garfield is owned by a young man named Jon Arbuckle who also owned a happy, slobbering little dog named Odie, whom Garfield is always taunting⁶. Davis' childhood on a farm parallels the life of Garfield's owner, Jon Arbuckle, who was also raised on a farm with his parents and brother Doc Boy. Jon, too, is a cartoonist.
Garfield, now syndicated in over 2,500 newspapers, has been the subject of such prime time animated⁷ TV specials as Here Comes Garfield, Garfield in the Rough, Garfield in Paradise, The Garfield Halloween Adventure, and A Garfield Thanksgiving as well as his own Saturday morning program Garfield And Friends /CBS/1988~1995 and the theatrical⁸ cartoon Garfield: The Movie(2004).
Davis now lives in Muncie, Indiana where he and his staff continue to produce Garfield under his own company, Paws, Inc. which started in 1981. He is married to Carolyn, a singer and teacher whom he met while both were attending college, and has a son named James.
Oddly, Davis did not have cats when he started Garfield and still does not today, as his wife is allergic⁹ to them. He does, however, have a dog named Molly.

1 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

2 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

3 drooping   

adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词

参考例句：

• The drooping willows are waving gently in the morning breeze. 晨风中垂柳袅袅。
• The branches of the drooping willows were swaying lightly. 垂柳轻飘飘地摆动。

4 eyelids   

n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色

参考例句：

• She was so tired, her eyelids were beginning to droop. 她太疲倦了，眼睑开始往下垂。
• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

6 taunting   

嘲讽( taunt的现在分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落

参考例句：

• She wagged a finger under his nose in a taunting gesture. 她当着他的面嘲弄地摇晃着手指。
• His taunting inclination subdued for a moment by the old man's grief and wildness. 老人的悲伤和狂乱使他那嘲弄的意图暂时收敛起来。

7 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

8 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

9 allergic   

adj.过敏的，变态的

参考例句：

• Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
• Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏，比如花粉。