VOA标准英语2009年-Lifesize Dinosaurs Part of $20 Million The

By Carolyn Presutti
Washington
14 October 2009

 
An animatronic dinosaur¹ part of the 'Walking with Dinosaurs²' show
Dinosaurs, those extinct enormous animals, have been the subject of many books, movies, and scientific hypotheses. For the past two years, a lifelike dinosaur show has toured Australia, Europe and the United States. It teaches a timeline of when and how dinosaurs lived and demonstrates just how huge the animals were. VOA's Carolyn Presutti caught up with the show in Washington, DC.

Children know dinosaurs. Even though they've never seen one.

MATT: "How old are they? 65 million years old, I guess.
REPORTER: "Kind of like your parents?" 
MATT: "Yea, I guess."
REPORTER: "But dinosaurs are extinct, right? They don't really live, right?"
EVAN: "They do! The real ones are in there!"

He's right. Inside, it's a travel back in time, more than 100 million years ago, when dinosaurs ruled.

 
A baby brachiosaurus with its mother
There is a baby brachiosaurus and its mother. She towers above the arena³ at 11 meters tall and 17 meters long.

The bracs are part of the traveling show, "Walking with Dinosaurs." It's a $20 million production, where animatronics add to the realism. 

Here's how it works in rehearsals⁴.Stegosaurus lumbers⁵ in at 5 and a half meters tall and 11 meters high. Next to him stands the armored ankylosaurus. The 17 dinosaurs in the show are covered with elasticized mesh⁶ filled with polystyrene balls. The fabric⁷ skin contracts and stretches across muscles and bones just like on real creatures.

Three people activate⁸ each dinosaur by remote control. Two of them stand among the audience and work at what's called a voodoo rig. The voodoo rig is actually a mechanical miniaturized version of a dinosaur. This is the body, this is the spine⁹ and neck area and this is the head. So whenever the puppeteer¹⁰ moves this apparatus¹¹, it sends a remote signal to the floor and in turn, the dinosaur moves.

 Ed May
Ed May, the second puppeteer, controls the smaller movements. 

"This is the joystick that operates the mouth by moving it back and forth¹² and this little toggle switch here works the eyes has the eye blinks and side to side," he said.

A keyboard controls the dinosaur's voicebox. May coordinates¹³ that sound by pulling on the lever to open the mouth.

The third person is the driver who sits in the carriage beneath the animal.

"They have a joystick that allows them to turn left or right, go fast or slow....a brake so they can stop quickly if they need to," added Ed May.

They are oversized, bygone fossils, but it's the subtle coordination¹⁴ of the puppeteers¹⁵ that makes them appear lifelike.

DAVID (AGE 10): "It was just like bringing back all the creatures from long ago. You'd never think it could happen, but it did happen."

Just don't tell Evan they are remote control.

 

1 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

2 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

4 rehearsals   

n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复

参考例句：

• The earlier protests had just been dress rehearsals for full-scale revolution. 早期的抗议仅仅是大革命开始前的预演。
• She worked like a demon all through rehearsals. 她每次排演时始终精力过人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 lumbers   

砍伐（lumber的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Carefully she covers them and lumbers away. 它把这些卵仔细地盖好，然后慢吞吞地走开了。
• Research shows that the intrinsic frequency of hole defect lumbers is little lower than standard lumbers. 研究表明，含有孔洞试件的固有频率与标准试件相比略低一些，但差别不大。

6 mesh   

n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络

参考例句：

• Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。
• This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。

7 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

8 activate   

vt.使活动起来，使开始起作用

参考例句：

• We must activate the youth to study.我们要激励青年去学习。
• These push buttons can activate the elevator.这些按钮能启动电梯。

9 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

10 puppeteer   

n.操纵木偶的人，操纵傀儡

参考例句：

• Mr. Sullivan is a professional puppeteer.沙利文先生是一位专业的木偶戏表演者。
• One puppeteer controls the doll's head,face,and right hand.一个表演者控制木偶的头部，面部和右手。

11 apparatus   

n.装置，器械；器具，设备

参考例句：

• The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
• They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。

12 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

13 coordinates   

n.相配之衣物；坐标( coordinate的名词复数 )；（颜色协调的）配套服装；[复数]女套服；同等重要的人（或物）v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的第三人称单数 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• The town coordinates on this map are 695037. 该镇在这幅地图上的坐标是695037。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

15 puppeteers   

n.操纵木偶的人，操纵傀儡( puppeteer的名词复数 )

参考例句：