VOA慢速英语 2008 1124b

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:
　
"Incredible Hulk" in July at the Comic-Con 2008 convention in San Diego, California

And I'm Barbara Klein. This week on our program, we take a break from the news of the real world for a look at the world of comic books.

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VOICE ONE:

Comics use drawings and words to tell stories that can be funny or serious, or a little of both. Comic books grew out of comic strips in newspapers.

One of the most successful early comic characters in America was Mickey Dugan, better known as "the Yellow Kid." He wore a yellow coat that was too big for him.

He was a character in a comic strip in New York called "Hogan’s Alley¹" by Richard Felton Outcault. It provided social commentary on the problems of cities.

The Yellow Kid first appeared in eighteen ninety-five. The character became so popular that it was also used to sell products and to create stage shows. Over the years, many movies and TV shows have been based on stories and characters that first appeared in comic form.

VOICE TWO:

Adventure stories in comic books were extremely popular during the nineteen thirties -- the period known as the Golden Age of Comics.

Famous characters created during that time include the science fiction hero Flash Gordon and the detective Dick Tracy. Others from the golden age are the medieval adventurer Prince Valiant² and the mysterious, masked Phantom³.

The nineteen thirties also gave us a superhero who came to Earth from the planet Krypton.

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VOICE ONE:

Superman is the secret identity of Clark Kent, a newspaper reporter for the Daily Planet in the big city of Metropolis⁴.

Superman became a hero of comic fans as he used his strength, X-ray eyes and ability to fly to fight for "truth, justice and the American way." Not bad for someone who jumped from the imaginations of two teenage boys in Cleveland, Ohio.

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were seventeen when they created Superman in nineteen thirty-three. They sold the rights to the character to the DC Comics company for one hundred thirty dollars.

That might have seemed like a lot to them at the time. But it was nothing compared to all the money made since then from Superman comics, radio and TV shows, movies and toys.

Finally, in nineteen seventy-five, they threatened a legal fight to get more of a reward for their creation. DC Comics agreed to pay each of them twenty thousand dollars a year for life. And it agreed to identify Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster as the creators of Superman in all future printed materials and films.

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VOICE TWO:

In nineteen thirty-nine, six years after Superman, another hero arrived. Batman was the creation of artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger.

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These days, Batman is presented as a complex character with a dark side. But a lot of people remember him as a simple hero. He dresses in a bat suit to hide his identity as he fights evil-doers like the Joker and the Riddler⁵ in Gotham City.

Batman does not have superpowers. But he does have lots of money to support himself. Batman is the secret identity of Bruce Wayne. He saw his wealthy parents killed during a robbery. That experience led him to a life of fighting crime.

VOICE ONE:

Spider-Man first appeared in nineteen sixty-two. Spider-Man is the secret identity of Peter Parker.

As the original story told it, he was an average teenager in high school until he got bitten by a radioactive spider in a laboratory. He developed great strength and the ability to shoot webs from his wrists. He can climb and swing between tall buildings and catch criminals with his sticky webs.

Peter Parker is a young photographer for the Daily Bugle⁶ newspaper in New York. If this were real life, he would surely have wanted to be at the White House last Monday. President Bush presented one of this year's National Medal of Arts to Stan Lee, the former head of Marvel⁷ Comics. He helped give us Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the X-Men and others.

This was his introduction at the ceremony:
　
President Bush presents a 2008 National Medal of Arts to comic book creator Stan Lee at the White House

SPEAKER: "The 2008 National Medal of Arts to Stan Lee, for his groundbreaking work as one of America's most prolific⁸ storytellers, recreating the American comic book. His complex plots and humane⁹ superheroes celebrate courage, honesty and the importance of helping¹⁰ the less fortunate, reflecting America's inherent goodness."

VOICE TWO:

Americans growing up in the nineteen fifties watched Superman on television.

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But the special effects needed to realistically show him flying through the air were not developed until the seventies. The first movie in the "Superman" series was released in nineteen seventy-eight. It was a huge success, with two hundred eighty-nine million dollars in ticket sales at theaters worldwide. And it led to other movies based on comic book superheroes.

"The Dark Knight," the latest of six Batman films, came out this year. The Internet Movie Database lists it as the fourth biggest film of all time, with almost one billion dollars in worldwide ticket sales.

Fans of Spider-Man, however, could point out that their hero beat all the other Batman films at the box office. Together his three movies took in more than two billion dollars. Yeah, Spidey rules.

VOICE ONE:

Last year, comic specialty¹¹ shops in North America ordered an estimated four hundred thirty million dollars in English-language comics. The Web site comichron.com, a resource for comics research, says that was a nine percent increase from the year before.

So who are the buyers? We went to NOVA Comics and Games in Springfield, Virginia, and got an answer from sales clerk Dave Weinberger.

DAVE WEINBERGER: "It’s not kids anymore. Comics are too expensive for kids. And they’ve changed -- comics for example like the one I’m showing you, back in the late sixties was fifteen cents. Right now comics go for about three, four bucks¹² each. And they’re not printed on paper anymore, they’re kind of like magazine stock which drives up the cost. So, average age is probably mid-twenties on. You just don’t see kids walking in with their allowance buying comics anymore. They’re too expensive."

VOICE TWO:

Customer Mark Smith was in the store buying old back issues from the nineteen sixties and seventies to complete his collection. He told us he has been collecting comic books for about thirty-three years, since he was seven years old. We asked him what comics he was interested in.

MARK SMITH: "Fantastic Four, X-Men, Avengers and some books from the eighties, Alpha Flight. You can see on the wall right there -- that Wolverine comic, I bought it when it came out for sixty cents. They’re selling it for thirty dollars right now. I bought it because I enjoyed it. I didn’t buy it for an investment."

VOICE ONE:

Comic books have also led to graphic¹³ novels. These look like comic books but tell stories like a novel. Some graphic novels explore social issues and historic events.

"Maus" by Art Spiegelman is about the Holocaust¹⁴, when Nazi¹⁵ Germany killed two-thirds of the Jewish people in Europe during World War Two. About six million died, along with millions of other victims.

In "Maus" the Nazis¹⁶ are shown as cats and the Jews as mice. The two-book series took Art Spiegelman thirteen years to complete. The story is based on the experiences of his father in Poland in the nineteen thirties and forties.

"Maus" won a special Pulitzer Prize in nineteen ninety-two.

VOICE TWO:

Frank Miller¹⁷ is also noted¹⁸ for his graphic novels, including "300." It tells an imaginary story about people involved in a real battle -- the Battle of Thermopylae in ancient Greece. A movie version of "300" was released last year.

Another Frank Miller graphic novel and movie, "Sin City," tells four connected stories of crime, corruption¹⁹ and sex. Here is a scene in which a killer²⁰ meets his victim on a balcony during a party.

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VOICE ONE:

Not all graphic novels are about subjects like war or violence. "American Splendor²¹," for example, is a series about the everyday life of a real person named Harvey Pekar. There was a movie version in two thousand three, and stage plays have also been based on the stories. The most recent American Splendor came out in September.

VOICE TWO:

Comic books today are often written for adults. But many people can remember when comics were mainly for children. Some still are. And some are even written by children. Almost one thousand schools in the United States are involved in the Comic Book Project.

Education researcher Michael Blitz started the project in two thousand one at Columbia University in New York. He wanted to create an activity for children that would combine skills like reading, writing and drawing.

The Comic Book Project lets children express themselves as they write and draw their own stories. The best ones are chosen and then published and sent to schools across the country.

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VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Caty Weaver²². I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

2 valiant   

adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人

参考例句：

• He had the fame of being very valiant.他的勇敢是出名的。
• Despite valiant efforts by the finance minister,inflation rose to 36%.尽管财政部部长采取了一系列果决措施，通货膨胀率还是涨到了36%。

3 phantom   

n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的

参考例句：

• I found myself staring at her as if she were a phantom.我发现自己瞪大眼睛看着她，好像她是一个幽灵。
• He is only a phantom of a king.他只是有名无实的国王。

4 metropolis   

n.首府；大城市

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a metropolis in China.上海是中国的大都市。
• He was dazzled by the gaiety and splendour of the metropolis.大都市的花花世界使他感到眼花缭乱。

5 riddler   

n.出迷(语)的人

参考例句：

• There was Batman Forever, in which he inherited the role of The Riddler. 其中包括《永远的蝙蝠侠》，该片中他继承了在《猜谜者》中的角色风格。
• For the so-called World's Greatest Detective, the real foe is Edward Nigma, aka The Riddler. 对于世界上最伟大的侦探，真正的敌人是爱德华~尼格玛，也就是谜语人。

6 bugle   

n.军号，号角，喇叭；v.吹号，吹号召集

参考例句：

• When he heard the bugle call, he caught up his gun and dashed out.他一听到军号声就抓起枪冲了出去。
• As the bugle sounded we ran to the sports ground and fell in.军号一响，我们就跑到运动场集合站队。

7 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

8 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

9 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

11 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

12 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

14 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

15 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

16 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

18 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

19 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

20 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

21 splendor   

n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌

参考例句：

• Never in his life had he gazed on such splendor.他生平从没有见过如此辉煌壮丽的场面。
• All the splendor in the world is not worth a good friend.人世间所有的荣华富贵不如一个好朋友。

22 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。