VOA慢速英语--美国报纸漫画感谢医务工作者和护理人员

US Newspaper Comics to Thank Medical Workers, Care Givers

In the United States, the funny papers will have more than laughs this Sunday.

More than 70 comic strips will each have six objects hidden in the artwork when they appear in newspapers this weekend. These symbols were added to recognize workers in the battle against COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Look closely at the comics and you will find a face mask for medical workers and caregivers. There is a steering¹ wheel for workers who transport masks and other personal protective equipment, as well as an apple for teachers. Readers will also find a shopping cart in honor of supermarket workers, a fork for food service crews and a microscope for medical researchers.

In the "Sherman's Lagoon²" comic strip, the six objects are hidden in ocean waters. In "Blondie," they appear on the computer of Dagwood Bumstead, Blondie's husband. In "Zits," they are hidden in Jeremy Duncan's bedroom.

The effort to honor healthcare and other frontline workers was the idea of Rick Kirkman, a co-cartoonist of the "Baby Blues³" comic strip.

Kirkman said he wanted to show his thanks to the frontline helpers. He contacted other cartoonists, who helped shape the idea, and it just kept growing.

This Sunday would have marked the last day of the National Cartoonists Society's yearly meeting, which was canceled. "I just felt like that was a great day to do it because we're missing that big communal⁴ feeling, but at least we can get to do something together," Kirkman said.

All the participating comics, including additional art, will appear on two websites: ComicsKingdom.com and GoComics.com. All the cartoonists provide links to local or national aid groups in their social media feeds.

Jason Chatfield produces the "Ginger⁵ Meggs" strip and is president of the National Cartoonist Society. He said that while cartoonists have worked together before for causes, nothing of this size has been attempted.

"There's nothing quite like sitting down and seeing all the comics together on one page and on a really special day where we've all coordinated⁶ to do something very special for a really good cause," he said.

Because comic strips are often finished weeks before publication, many of the cartoonists had to go back into already approved works to add the symbols or create a new strip.

Kirkman left it up to the artists how to hide the six symbols. For some cartoonists, the work was relatively⁷ easy. For others, it required a little more work. After all, how exactly was "Prince Valiant⁸" — set in the fifth century — supposed to add a microscope, which was not invented until the late 16th century?

One cartoonist, Wiley Miller⁹, had to work especially hard since his "Non Sequitur" strip takes place thousands of years ago. "I told him, ‘Well, you know, you just hide stuff in there,'" Kirkman said. "And the next day he came back, and he said, ‘I did it!'"

Chatfield said some of his fellow artists came up with stylized versions of the objects, like half-eaten apples or an apple pie. "Something that cartoonists love is a creative challenge," he said.

While many cartoonists hope to keep their work escapist and so have avoided dealing¹⁰ directly with the coronavirus, Kirkman and Chatfield have added information about the health crisis into their daily strips.

Kirkman and "Baby Blues" co-creator Jerry Scott had some characters wear face masks when coming from outside, and Chatfield's sports-loving hero is now being schooled at home.

The cartoonists are looking forward to Sunday.

"I'm going to be as pleasantly surprised, I think, as everybody else to see all of this," said Kirkman.

I'm Mario Ritter Jr.

Words in This Story

comic strip – n. a series of pictures that tell a story

shopping – adj. related to or involving the purchase of goods or services

cart – n. a small wheeled vehicle

fork – n. an instrument for lifting food into the mouth

cartoonist – n. an artist who produces simple images of people or animals

participate – v. to take part in

stylized – adj. treating something in a non-realistic way

challenge – n. a call to take part in a competition

character – n. a person or actor in a play, movie or other production

1 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

2 lagoon   

n.泻湖，咸水湖

参考例句：

• The lagoon was pullulated with tropical fish.那个咸水湖聚满了热带鱼。
• This area isolates a restricted lagoon environment.将这一地区隔离起来使形成一个封闭的泻湖环境。

3 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

4 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

5 ginger   

n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气

参考例句：

• There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
• Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。

6 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

7 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

8 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%。

9 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。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。