VOA标准英语2011--Superhero Thwarts Evil Nazi Plot in 'Cap

 Superhero Thwarts¹ Evil Nazi² Plot in 'Captain America: The First Avenger³'

A comic book super hero whose exploits began in the 1940's is back as one of this year's big action movies. Here's a look at Captain America: The First Avenger.
"General Patton has said that wars are fought with weapons, but they are won by men. Our goal is to create the greatest army in history, but every army begins with one man. He will be the first in a new breed of super soldier."
The year is 1941. As storm clouds of war gather, American scientists secretly inoculate⁴ a scrawny young man - a weakling too sickly for military service - with a serum⁵ that, they hope, will give him great strength:
PEGGY "Shut it down!"
PROF. ERSKINE "Kill the reactor⁶, Mr. Stark⁷! Turn it off. Kill the reactor!"
STEVE ROGERS "No! Don't! I can do this."
The experiment succeeds, turning skinny Steve Rogers into muscular and powerful "Captain America".
PEGGY "How do you feel?"
STEVE ROGERS "Taller."
It turns out that Nazi German scientists, led by the villain⁸ known as "Red Skull⁹," have developed their own super-soldier serum and it is up to Captain America to stop their evil plot that could change the course of the war.
Chris Evans stars as the title character and his toned, muscular physique would be the envy of any bodybuilder. However, instead of using a skinny actor as a "body double," thanks to digital special effects, Evans also plays the '90-pound weakling' version of his character.
"If you've seen pictures of me as a child, it's not to dissimilar to the way I looked in the film. Everyone asks if it's strange seeing myself as a weakling: no, that's what I looked like until I was 17, so understanding what it feels like to be small and slight wasn't too difficult," explains Evans.
STEVE ROGERS "Why me?"
PROF. ERSKINE "Because a weak man knows the value of strength (and) the value of power."
"The early stuff - the skinny stuff - is when the audience hopefully will fall in love with the character," notes Evans. "If you like the guy then, you hope in the last frame in the film you still see the skinny guy. So I really felt adamant¹⁰ about making sure that this was my performance. This wasn't something I wanted to share."
RED SKULL "What made you so special?"
CAPTAIN AMERICA "Nothing. I'm just a kid from Brooklyn."
Captain America is directed by Joe Johnston, who insists that despite the title and patriotic¹¹ origins, the movie is not about politics or nationalism. He says it's the story of an individual finding his own path to success - on and off the battlefield.
"I think that Steve Rogers has an innocence¹² about him and determination that is probably the most American thing about him," insists Johnston. " It is not a propaganda tool. We're not waving the flag or anything. It's about this guy who just wants to do the right thing and I think that runs throughout the tone of the picture."
In something of a tradition for a comic book superhero, "Captain America" is also trying to win the heart of a beautiful woman. She is British intelligence agent Peggy Carter, played by Hayley Atwell.
"She is a completely capable woman and it meant that her relationship with Steve was based on equality," explains Atwell. " I think they were kindred spirits. She had her own struggles getting to where she was being a woman and he obviously had his own struggles as well."
PEGGY "Do you have something against running away?"
STEVE ROGERS "If you start running they'll never let you stop."
The title Captain America: The First Avenger gives a clue where the character is heading. Next year, he joins up with a team of fellow Marvel¹³ Comics superheroes for a sequel - an action-adventure titled The Avengers.

1 thwarts   

阻挠( thwart的第三人称单数 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过

参考例句：

• Matcham steady and alert, at a sign from Dick, ran along the thwarts and leaped ashore. 麦青机警、镇静地照着狄克向他做的手势，急急地沿着船上的座板，跳到岸上。
• He laid himself down under the thwarts and waited, panting. 躺在坐板下面，气喘吁吁地等着开船。

2 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。

3 avenger   

n. 复仇者

参考例句：

• "Tom Sawyer, the Black Avenger of the Spanish Main. “我乃西班牙海黑衣侠盗，汤姆 - 索亚。
• Avenger's Shield-0.26 threat per hit (0.008 threat per second) 飞盾-0.26仇恨每击（0.08仇恨每秒）

4 inoculate   

v.给...接种，给...注射疫苗

参考例句：

• A corps of doctors arrived to inoculate the recruits.一队医生来给新兵打防疫针。
• I was just meant to come out here and inoculate some wee babies.我是过来这边给小孩子们接种疫苗的。

5 serum   

n.浆液，血清，乳浆

参考例句：

• The serum is available to the general public.一般公众均可获得血清。
• Untreated serum contains a set of 11 proteins called complement.未经处理的血清含有一组蛋白质，共11种，称为补体。

6 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

7 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

8 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。

9 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

10 adamant   

adj.坚硬的，固执的

参考例句：

• We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上，我们是坚定不移的。
• Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。

11 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

12 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

13 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。