VOA慢速英语2018--又是一个动漫的大年

Another Big Year for Largest Comic Book Event of its Kind

Comic book and movie heroes are coming to life this week at Comic-Con International.

The four-day long event is held once every year in San Diego, California.

Comic-Con celebrates popular culture and the world of show business. Guinness World Records, the record-keeping business, recognizes it as the largest convention¹ of its kind in the world.

Before leaving for Comic-Con, many people change out of their normal clothes. They come looking like a superhero, such as Superman or Ant Man.

Santiago Gonzales went to the convention with a friend earlier this week. Gonzales explained why comic book lovers² like Comic-Con so much.

“If you don’t feel like you belong, like, in your hometown, or you like this nerdy stuff³ and no one really gets you, here is where everyone understands you and everyone has the same passion. And we’re all united together with the same love of pop culture.”

He came to the event looking like a favorite food of many Americans: a colorful hamburger. Gonzales said he made his hamburger costume in honor⁴ of the television series Bob’s Burgers.

David Ancheta loves the Star Wars movie series. Ancheta belongs to the international Star Wars fan club. This year the group asked its members to look like their favorite villain⁵. Ancheta attended Comic-Con as Star Wars character Jango Fett.

“This experience is amazing. I guess you could say I’m a geek and being surrounded by a ton of geeks is definitely⁶ an amazing experience.”

Attending Comic-Con is finally a reality for Soheil Behzad, an Iranian-American. After years of trying, he got a ticket to this year’s convention. Comic-con organizers normally⁷ limit the crowd’s size to just over 135,000 people.

“It’s always been, like, my life kind of dream to be here because I’m a huge movie buff, comic book, all of that stuff.

Behzad remembered the first comic book he read. It was a Spider-Man comic that appeared in an Iranian newspaper. The word were in Farsi, not English.

“It’s cool to see them on, like live action on, like a silver screen or like on TV. It’s the time to be alive, honestly.”

Making comic book superheroes into movie, TV show and video game characters is one reason Comic-Con has grown over the years. The first convention was held in 1970 and had only 300 attendees.

Comic-Con organizers said people from more than 80 countries and media from more than 30 countries were expected to attend the convention this year.

The convention is where creators can measure the interest of fans from around the world and get thoughts about future products.

David Glanzer is chief communications and strategy⁸ officer at Comic-Con. He says the convention is good business for publishers and producers of TV shows and movies.

“I think the United States has always had a wonderful ability to promote film and various forms of art, and that has a global audience.”

Comic-Con continues in San Diego through Sunday.

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

comic book – n. a magazine containing a series of images or pictures that tell a story

convention - n. a large meeting of people

nerdy – adj. of or related⁹ to a person who behaves unusually around other people and who likes computers or make believe

passion – n. a strong feeling or emotion

fan – n. someone who follows a sport or other activity

character – n. a person in a movie or play

villain – n. a bad person

geek – n. an intelligent person who is disliked

ticket – n. a piece of paper that enables¹⁰ the holder¹¹ to see a show

buff - n. someone who loves films

1 convention   

n.惯例，习俗，常规，会议，大会

参考例句：

• How many delegates have checked in at the convention?大会已有多少代表报到？
• He sets at naught every convention of society.他轻视所有的社会习俗。

2 lovers   

爱好者( lover的名词复数 )； 情人； 情夫； 情侣

参考例句：

• They were off-screen lovers. 他们是真实生活中的情侣。
• Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet 罗密欧和朱丽叶这一对莎士比亚笔下命运多舛的恋人

3 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。

4 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。

5 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

6 definitely   

adv.一定地，肯定地；明确地，确切地

参考例句：

• The team will definitely lose if he doesn't play.如果他不参加比赛，这个队肯定会输。
• I shall definitely be home before six o'clock.6点以前，我一定回家。

7 normally   

adv.正常地，通常地

参考例句：

• I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
• My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。

8 strategy   

n.方法，策略，战略

参考例句：

• The only way to take the enemy position is by strategy,not by forceful attack.只可智取，不可强攻。
• Tactics differs from strategy.战术有别于战略。

9 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

10 enables   

v.使能够，提供做…的权利[措施]( enable的第三人称单数 )；使可能

参考例句：

• The software enables you to access the Internet in seconds. 这种软件使你在几秒钟内便可访问互联网。
• This pass enables me to travel half-price on trains. 我用这张通行证可以半价乘火车。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。