英语听力—环球英语 985 Picture Stories

 　　Voice 1

 

　　Welcome to Spotlight¹. I’m Liz Waid.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　And I’m Nick Page. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Imagine this situation: It is 1985. Russia and the United² States are enemies.  In New York City, a man dies. This was not a normal man.  He was a superhero known³ as The Comedian⁴. Superheroes with amazing powers used to keep the United States safe.  But now, most superheroes have retired⁵ or lost their power.  People in the United States are afraid.  They fear nuclear war.  They worry it could happen at any time. Many of the nation’s superheroes are afraid of what is happening. But one of these heroes must decide: should he save the human race, or let them die?

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　This is the story Watchmen, a book by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. However, Watchmen is not a normal book. It is a graphic⁶ novel. Graphic novels use both pictures and words to tell a long story. Today’s Spotlight is on graphic novels.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Early graphic novels started in the 1930s as comic books. A comic book tells a short story with pictures and few words. Each page of a comic book includes several squares with pictures. The pictures show what is happening in the story. The pictures also have words with them.  These words express what the characters are saying or thinking. And each picture tells the next part of the story.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　At first, comic books were like magazines. Each monthly⁷ comic would include a small part of a larger story.  Often these stories were about superheroes or other non-human characters.  People would have to wait each month to read the next part of the superhero’s story. But in the 1970s, publishers began creating longer comic books. They did this by putting together the stories from all the comic books in a series⁸. Soon, writers wrote longer and longer stories using comic book design. They called these longer books graphic novels.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Graphic novels combine two kinds of storytelling - writing and narrative⁹ or story art.  Sometimes, a writer can have a good story idea, but she wants to tell her story with more than just words. So she creates pictures of her characters.  These pictures show what a character looks like.  But they can also show what the characters are doing.  By combining pictures and words, the writer can show special details.  She can also tell a more complex¹⁰ story with fewer words.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Like all stories, writers create graphic novels for many reasons.  Some graphic novels teach a moral¹¹ lesson.  Some are just for fun.  And others help readers learn about other people, times and cultures. Not all graphic novels are about superheroes.  In fact, some of the most famous graphic novels are true stories. They are about events and situations that happened to real people.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　One famous example is the novel Maus. The novel’s writer is named Art Spiegelman.  He lives in New York City. In the early 1980s, he wrote Maus about his father’s experience during World War II. During World War II, the German Nazi¹² army fought for control of Europe. They also tried to rid European countries of particular groups of people - including the Jews¹³. They killed millions of people in planned executions¹⁴, and in prison camps.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Speigelman’s father was named Vladek.  Vladek ran a factory in Poland before the war. And Vladek was Jewish¹⁵.  During the war, Nazis¹⁶ took Vladek’s factory away. They moved him to the huge prison work camp called Auschwitz. Most Jews that went to Auschwitz did not survive.  But Vladek did.  After the war, he moved to New York City.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Vladek told his story to his son. And Speigelman decided¹⁷ to make a graphic novel about his father’s experience. But instead of creating a story about people, Speigelman made the characters of the story animals.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　In the graphic novel Maus, the Jews are small animals called mice.  The Nazis are cats. People from Poland are pigs and people from America are dogs. There are many stories of survival¹⁸ from the Holocaust¹⁹, but Maus makes the reader look at the story of survival in a new way.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　People often consider cartoons, like the drawn²⁰ pictures of animals in Maus, to be funny or childlike.  So, some people may think using animal characters makes Maus less serious.  However, Lev Grossman would disagree.  Grossman is a writer for Time Magazine. He believes using cartoons in Maus makes people notice again a story we may have forgotten.  He wrote,

 

　　Voice 3

 

　　“Those mice are more human than most people.”

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Craig Thompson is another graphic novel writer.  As a boy, he loved reading comic books.  As an adult, he rediscovered comics and began writing graphic novels.  Thompson enjoys creating graphic novels because it combines many of his skills.  He told Mother Jones magazine,

 

　　Voice 4

 

　　“...one person can do it all — do the character designs and create the background setting²¹ and write the story.”

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　In 2003, Thompson wrote a graphic novel called Blankets. This story is based on his young adult life.  Thompson enjoys using his art skills to connect with other people.  The beauty of his art communicates much emotion and struggle.  Many people can relate to Thompson’s story. He asks questions about the faith he was raised to believe.  He also tells about his first love.  In his story, many people see their own story of growing up.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　For many people, graphic novels help them feel closer to the story emotionally²². They do not just read the words. Instead they look at the pictures too.  Readers are also part of the creative process. They must imagine what happens between the pictures and few words the writer provides.  They must work harder to understand the story.  And for many readers, this helps them remember the story better.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　The best thing about graphic novels may be the slowness of the reading process.  Graphic novels provide a chance to slow down and think about the story. Thompson told Mother Jones,

 

　　Voice 4

 

　　“There is something natural about the slowness of reading graphic novels. There is something natural about wanting to resist²³ the fast speed of modern, popular culture. With the graphic novel, it is the opposite of fast speed popular culture - it is about resisting²⁴ all the internet culture.”

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　The writer and producer of this program was Dianna Anderson.  The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes²⁵ were adapted and voiced by Spotlight. You can find our programs on the internet at http://www.radioenglish.net This .program is called “Picture Stories.”

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

3 known   

adj.大家知道的；知名的，已知的

参考例句：

• He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
• He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。

4 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

7 monthly   

adj.每月的，持续一个月的，每月发生的；adv.每月，按月； n.月刊；(复数）monthlies:月经

参考例句：

• The rent on his apartment was his biggest monthly expense.他的房租是每个月最大的开支。
• The monthly rent is $15,inclusive of light and water.每月租金15美元，包括水电费在内。

8 series   

n.连续；系列

参考例句：

• The students have put forward a series of questions.学生们提出了一系列问题。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

9 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

10 complex   

adj.复杂的，合成的，综合的；n.联合体

参考例句：

• What he said was too complex for me to understand.他说的太复杂了，我无法了解。
• Justice is part of the complex machinery of the law.正义是复杂的法律机器的一部分。

11 moral   

adj.道德(上)的，有道德的；n.品行，寓意，道德

参考例句：

• Moral beauty ought to be ranked above all other beauty.品德之美应列于其他美之上。
• He deceived us into believing that he could give us moral support.他骗得我们相信他能给我们道义上的支持。

12 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

13 Jews   

n.犹太教徒( Jew的名词复数 )；犹太人

参考例句：

• Hitler's original plan was to kill off all the German Jews. 希特勒的最初打算是杀光德国所有的犹太人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• For two millennia, exogamy was a major transgression for Jews. 两千年来，异族通婚一直是犹太人的一大禁忌。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 executions   

n.实行( execution的名词复数 )；（尤指遗嘱的）执行；演奏；依法处决

参考例句：

• Executions used to be held in public. 过去处决犯人都公开执行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The espionage, the betrayals, the arrests, the tortures, the executions, the disappearances will never cease. 间谍活动、叛党卖国、逮捕拷打、处决灭迹，这种事情永远不会完。 来自英汉文学

15 Jewish   

adj.犹太人的，犹太民族的

参考例句：

• The coin bears a Jewish symbol.硬币上有犹太标记。
• They were two Jewish kids;I was friendly with both of them.他们是两个犹太小孩；我同他们都很要好。

16 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

18 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

19 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

20 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

21 setting   

n.背景

参考例句：

• The play has its setting in Vienna.该剧以维也纳为背景。
• Where and when a story takes place is called the setting.故事发生的地点和时间称为故事背景。

22 emotionally   

adv.感情上，情绪上，冲动地

参考例句：

• a special school for emotionally disturbed children 为精神异常儿童开办的特殊学校
• A wide range of emotionally stressful events may trigger a relapse. 多种令人情绪紧张的事情都可能引起旧病复发。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 resist   

vt.抵抗，反抗，抗，忍得住

参考例句：

• It is vain to resist.抵抗是没用的。
• I couldn't resist telling him the secret.我忍不住把那个秘密告诉了他。

24 resisting   

使用武力阻止（某事）发生[取得成功]( resist的现在分词 )； 抵抗； 对抗； 阻挡

参考例句：

• She described in detail their resisting the invaders. 她详细叙述了他们抵抗侵略者的事迹。
• He did not fight back, he never thought of resisting. 他不反抗，也想不到反抗。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

25 quotes   

v.引用，援引( quote的第三人称单数 )；报价；引述；为（股票、黄金或外汇）报价

参考例句：

• He quotes a few verses from Tennyson in his paper. 他在论文中引用了英国诗人丁尼生的几行诗句。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He quotes (from) the Bible to support his beliefs. 他引用圣经来支持自己的信念。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》