2007年VOA标准英语-'Into The Wild' Tells True Story of Young Man's

By Alan Silverman
Hollywood
26 September 2007

The short life of 24-year-old self-styled adventurer Chris McCandless, chronicled in a best-selling book by Jon Krakauer, became an inspiration for young people seeking to reconnect with nature and face the world on their own terms. The true story is now a feature film adapted from the book and directed by Sean Penn. Alan Silverman has a look at Into The Wild.

Chris McCandless was born into American suburban¹ comfort, growing up in Northern Virginia and graduating with honors from a prestigious² university. He is supposed to go on to law school, but abruptly³ decides to reject what he considers the materialism⁴ of his parents' dreams for him.

To Chris it is a big deal. He donates the $20,000 in his college fund to world hunger relief and, adopting the nickname 'Alexander Supertramp,' sets off on a back roads journey that takes him from the wheat fields of the American midwest to the barrios of northern Mexico and, ultimately, to the continent's last great wilderness⁵.

With no survival equipment, no camping gear and not even a compass, McCandless treks⁷ off the beaten path near Denali National Park. He happens upon the hulk of an abandoned school bus and that makeshift shelter becomes his solitary⁸ home for almost four months - the last four months of his life.

"He was a very, very smart guy who really made the circumstances for his survival to be very difficult by design. He wanted to be in the most challenging survival environment that he could get," explains Emile Hirsch, who stars as Chris McCandles.

"The movie does not present him as a flawless hero and I think one of the keys to McCandless is that he is not a perfect person," he adds. "This is not a glorification⁹ of Chris, in my opinion. This is a story about a real, complicated person who had virtues¹⁰ and he also had problems."

"The point of this thing is the heroism¹¹ of his will and the courage that this young man had. All the rest of it is somebody else's folly¹² for me," director Sean Penn says.

Penn took a quest of his own: a 10-year journey from when he first read the book that took him to meet the McCandless family in Virginia and then retrace¹³ the path Chris took on his travels, meeting the friends the young man made along the way. Penn angrily dismisses critics who say Chris made fatal mistakes that could have - should have - been avoided, such as not taking a map with him on his final trek⁶ into the Alaskan wilderness.

"This is a guy who wanted to challenge himself in a way that for us to judge would just be ridiculous," says Penn. "He could have gone out there naked in the woods. You go out there and challenge yourself the way that you want to challenge yourself; but I think that this isn't about whether there was more equipment to be bought at Patagonia, it is about somebody who had a will that is so uncommon¹⁴ today ...a lack of addiction¹⁵ to comfort that is so uncommon and is so necessary to become common or humankind does not survive the next century."

Into the Wild features William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden as Chris McCandless's parents. Jena Malone plays his beloved sister Carine. Some of the people he meets on his journey are played by Catherine Keener, Brian Dierker, Vince Vaughn and Hal Holbrook. Director Penn uses the actual locations and his longtime friend, Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder, provides original music to complement¹⁶ the remarkable¹⁷ journey of the young adventurer Into the Wild.

1 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

2 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

3 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

4 materialism   

n.［哲］唯物主义，唯物论；物质至上

参考例句：

• Idealism is opposite to materialism.唯心论和唯物论是对立的。
• Crass materialism causes people to forget spiritual values.极端唯物主义使人忘掉精神价值。

5 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

6 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

7 treks   

n.远距离行走 ( trek的名词复数 )；长途跋涉，艰难的旅程（尤指在山区）v.艰苦跋涉，徒步旅行( trek的第三人称单数 )；（尤指在山中）远足，徒步旅行，游山玩水

参考例句：

• And visiting companies and completing job treks are becoming much more important in the job search. 参观公司、进行实地考察在找工作中变得重要得多。 来自互联网
• These range from treks around Mont an ascent of North Africa's highest mountain, Mount Toubkal. 参与者是徒步绕勃朗峰，然后攀登北非最高峰托布卡尔山。 来自互联网

8 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

9 glorification   

n.赞颂

参考例句：

• Militant devotion to and glorification of one's country; fanatical patriotism. 对国家的军事效忠以及美化；狂热的爱国主义。
• Glorification-A change of place, a new condition with God. 得荣─在神面前新处境，改变了我们的结局。

10 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

11 heroism   

n.大无畏精神，英勇

参考例句：

• He received a medal for his heroism.他由于英勇而获得一枚奖章。
• Stories of his heroism resounded through the country.他的英雄故事传遍全国。

12 folly   

n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话

参考例句：

• Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
• Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

13 retrace   

v.折回；追溯，探源

参考例句：

• He retraced his steps to the spot where he'd left the case.他折回到他丢下箱子的地方。
• You must retrace your steps.你必须折回原来走过的路。

14 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

15 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

16 complement   

n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足

参考例句：

• The two suggestions complement each other.这两条建议相互补充。
• They oppose each other also complement each other.它们相辅相成。

17 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。