VOA标准英语2010年-Museum Honors Man Who Delighted Millio

Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco pays tribute to creator of Mickey Mouse, other cartoon stars

Visitors to the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco will not find any amusement rides. For those, they will have to go to Disney theme parks in the United States or in other parts of the world. But they will gain a new understanding of the man who created so many superstars of the cartoon world.

For most people, the name Walt Disney conjures¹ up images of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pinocchio, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves². And there are the Disney theme parks.

But toward the end of last year, the Walt Disney Family Museum was born in a complex of modest red brick buildings less than a five-minute drive from San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. Richard Benefield is the museum's executive director.

"The Museum is really about the man, Walt Disney," Benefield said. "Walt Disney during his lifetime received 932 awards for his service to mankind as well as his professional achievements. And in this lobby area, we have 248."

Thirty-two of them are Oscars. Disney has more of them than anyone else.  "This entire wall has drawings that were done by Walt when he was in high school," he pointed³ out.

Disney was born in 1901 in the city of Chicago but at the ago of 20, the young man who loved to draw went to Hollywood.

"On this wall here, he had just started to do a prototype of something called The Alice Comedies," Benefield explained.

The Alice Comedies featured a live-action girl and an animated⁴ cat. But Disney's big breakthrough came when he did an animated cartoon starring a lowly rodent⁵. He and his wife Lily decided⁶ on the name for the main character on their way to Hollywood.

"And on that fateful trip from New York to Hollywood, Walt came up with the idea of using a mouse for his next cartoon character. And he said to Lilly, 'What about Mickey Mouse?' And she said, 'That's good, I think that will do just fine.' And that's how Mickey Mouse was born in 1928 on a train ride from New York to Hollywood."

But the building of Disney's kingdom did not always go smoothly⁷.

"In 1940 Disney lost both of his parents, and shortly after that his company experienced a very divisive strike. It was in the early days of the labor⁸ movement in the United States. He was very hurt by the strike, which shut down operations for quite a period of time," Benefield explains.

But Disney rebounded⁹ and his studio went to on to produce such classics as Peter Pan, 101 Dalmatians and The Lion King. he also had the idea of creating a theme park that celebrated¹⁰ all the Disney characters. Disney Land, the first Disney park, was in California.

"This walk down the ramp¹¹ in general celebrates Walt's love of trains, and how that led him to found Disney Land. Of course, one of the first rides at Disney Land was a train that ran all around the park," he said.

The magical world of Disney animation¹² lost its cornerstone in 1966 when the 65-year-old Disney died of lung cancer.

Television Announcer: "Walt Disney, the master of an entertainment empire, the most complete and influential¹³ showman of his generation, has died."

Millions of people around the world mourned the man whose creations brought such joy to their lives.
 

1 conjures   

用魔术变出( conjure的第三人称单数 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现

参考例句：

• The word 'birthday' conjures up images of presents and parties. “生日”这个词使人想起礼物和聚会的情景。
• The name Sahara conjures up images of a desert of aridity. "撒哈拉"这个名字使人想起干旱的沙漠情景。

2 dwarves   

n.矮子( dwarf的名词复数 )；有魔法的小矮人

参考例句：

• Everyone will try to claim it: Men, Dwarves, wizards. 每个种族都会争取它的拥有权：人类，矮人，巫师。 来自电影对白
• Have you learned nothing of the stubbornness of Dwarves? 难道你还不了解那个矮人的倔强吗？ 来自电影对白

3 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

4 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

5 rodent   

n.啮齿动物；adj.啮齿目的

参考例句：

• When there is a full moon,this nocturnal rodent is careful to stay in its burrow.月圆之夜，这种夜间活动的啮齿类动物会小心地呆在地洞里不出来。
• This small rodent can scoop out a long,narrow tunnel in a very short time.这种小啮齿动物能在很短的时间里挖出一条又长又窄的地道来。

6 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。

7 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 rebounded   

弹回( rebound的过去式和过去分词 )； 反弹； 产生反作用； 未能奏效

参考例句：

• The ball rebounded from the goalpost and Owen headed it in. 球从门柱弹回，欧文头球将球攻进。
• The ball rebounded from his racket into the net. 球从他的球拍上弹回网中。

10 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

11 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

12 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

13 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。