VOA标准英语2013--'After Earth' Imagines a Hostile Future Planet

 

'After Earth' Imagines a Hostile Future Planet

General Cypher and his son, Kitai, played by Smith's real-life son, Jaden, are the only survivors¹. Cypher, stranded² in the ship’s hull³, is critically injured. Kitai must to retrieve⁴ a beacon⁵ 100 kilometers away to call for help.

“We need that beacon," Cypher tells his son in the film. "You understand? You are going to retrieve that beacon or we are going to die.”

Kitai battles extreme temperatures, poisonous plants and wild animals in his quest to retrieve the beacon.

Jaden Smith, 13, says there is a lesson in After Earth, if we continue polluting our planet.

“If we don’t get rid of all the horrible plastics and the oil and fossil fuels," he said. "We’re on an escalating⁶ path that just keeps going up, keeps going up, so I definitely think it could get to the point where Earth will evict⁷ us.”

Garrett Reisman, a Space X engineer and former NASA astronaut, says that although the film is based on the real science of space travel, it does take liberties.

“Even if we went on a crash program over the next 10 years, we wouldn’t come close to taking that kind of a number of people," Reisman said. "We still have such a long way to go. My message is we better take care of this planet because if we mess it up too fast, before we have an opportunity to leave, we are going to be in big trouble.”

Will Smith says while the film aims to educate, it's main purpose is to entertain.

“It’s rare that you can make a movie like this that your grandma, and your aunt and your little niece can all go to," he said. "There is something for everybody in the movie.”

After Earth is also about a father-son relationship, not unlike the one Jaden has with his dad. Like Kitai, Jaden says he wants to forge his own path.

“I just want to make movies, and I don’t want to be labeled as following in his footsteps," Jaden said.

Will Smith says he’s there to teach his son the trade, and how to survive in the jungle that's Hollywood, which is not very different from the futuristic poisonous jungle envisioned in After Earth.

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

3 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。

4 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

5 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。

6 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

7 evict   

vt.驱逐，赶出，撵走

参考例句：

• The lessor can evict the lessee for failure to pay rent.出租人可驱逐不付租金的承租人。
• The government always says it's for the greater good when they evict farmers from their land.当政府把农民从他们的土地赶出去的时候，总是号称是为了更大众的利益。