VOA慢速英语--迪斯尼乐园开辟“星球大战”公园

Disneyland Opens 'Star Wars' Area of Park

Chewbacca climbed into the pilot seat of the Millennium¹ Falcon² as fireworks exploded above Disneyland in Anaheim, California, Wednesday.

Chewbacca is an imaginary creature born in the first of the Star Wars series of movies. He was in Disneyland for a ceremony to open the new Star Wars area at the theme park.

“Chewie, let’s fire up the Falcon,” said Mark Hamill, the actor who played Luke Skywalker. He also attended the event to open the more than five-and-one-half hectare area called Star Wars: Galaxy³’s Edge. It opened to the public Friday.

The furry⁴ Chewbacca had trouble starting the huge spaceship, which led actor Harrison Ford⁵ to surprise the crowd and offer an assist. Ford played the Star Wars character Han Solo. He hit the side of the ship and said “Peter, this one’s for you,” in honor of Peter Mayhew, the actor who played Chewbacca in five films and died in April.

Ford stood on stage with Hamill, Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger, Star Wars creator George Lucas, and Billy Dee Williams, who performed the part of Lando Calrissian in Star Wars.

Lucas created the Star Wars movie series in 1977 and sold it to Disney in 2012. He gave high praise to Galaxy’s Edge, which is set in Black Spire⁶ Outpost, a settlement on a planet called Batuu that appeared in “Star Wars” books but never in film.

“You did a great job,” Lucas said to Iger. “It could have gone very bad but it didn’t.”

Lucas described the Star Wars area as “something you couldn’t even have dreamed about 20 years ago."

“It will change your life,” he added.

The place offers visitors the chance to step into the Millennium Falcon’s cockpit and control a simulated flight.

Guests also can drink blue milk, eat space meat cooked by a pod-racing engine and have a drink at an outer-space restaurant.

Expectations run high from generations of fans. Many of the movie series lovers have waited 40 years since the first film to visit a real-world version of the galaxy far, far away.

“The goal was to be ambitious, really ambitious,” Iger told a reporter earlier on Wednesday. “To be bold, but not only bold in terms of scale, but in terms of detail, artistry, technology, and to make sure first and foremost that we are pleasing the most ardent⁷ Star Wars fan.”

Disney also aims to appeal to a broad group of Star Wars lovers as well as people without any attachment⁸ to the futuristic series.

I’m Caty Weaver⁹.

1 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

2 falcon   

n.隼，猎鹰

参考例句：

• The falcon was twice his size with pouted feathers.鹰张开羽毛比两只鹰还大。
• The boys went hunting with their falcon.男孩子们带着猎鹰出去打猎了。

3 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

4 furry   

adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的

参考例句：

• This furry material will make a warm coat for the winter.这件毛皮料在冬天会是一件保暖的大衣。
• Mugsy is a big furry brown dog,who wiggles when she is happy.马格斯是一只棕色大长毛狗，当她高兴得时候她会摇尾巴。

5 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

6 spire   

n.(教堂)尖顶，尖塔，高点

参考例句：

• The church spire was struck by lightning.教堂的尖顶遭到了雷击。
• They could just make out the spire of the church in the distance.他们只能辨认出远处教堂的尖塔。

7 ardent   

adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的

参考例句：

• He's an ardent supporter of the local football team.他是本地足球队的热情支持者。
• Ardent expectations were held by his parents for his college career.他父母对他的大学学习抱着殷切的期望。

8 attachment   

n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附

参考例句：

• She has a great attachment to her sister.她十分依恋她的姐姐。
• She's on attachment to the Ministry of Defense.她现在隶属于国防部。

9 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。