VOA标准英语2011--Halloween Recalls Radio Drama Which Spre
时间：2019-01-14 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2011年(十月)
Halloween Recalls Radio Drama Which Spread Panic in US
Halloween - October 31 - is a time to wear spooky costumes and tell scary stories. Perhaps the scariest tale was told on Halloween eve in 1938, when a radio drama spread panic along the U.S. East Coast.
“Something’s happening!” yelled the “reporter” on the scene of a mysterious collision of an object with Earth in what the audience was told was the little town of Grover’s Mill, New Jersey 1.
Screams, shouts of “Stand back” followed.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the shaken observer told listeners, “this is the most horrifying 2 thing I’ve . . . It’s indescribable. I can hardly force myself to keep looking at it. Saliva 3 dripping from its rimless 4 lips. It’s rising up now, and the crowd falls back.” And so forth 5, as it became clear that the object was not a meteorite 6 but an alien spaceship.
As actors all-too-skillfully performed H. G. Wells’s story, “War of the Worlds” - which he had written four decades earlier in 1898 - many listeners completely fell for the story that Martians were invading New Jersey. People hid in cellars and packed their cars to flee.
So we got to wondering: Could the same thing happen today? Not likely on radio, of course, which has a fragmented audience and airs few dramas these days.
But suppose a diabolical 7 television producer or Internet website assembled convincing actors, created believable video footage and added the kind of breathless reporting that Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre troupe 8 used to stunning 9 effect way back when?
Today we’d probably laugh at the notion that Martians were coming. But what if the invaders 10 were ruthless terrorists, and - as in 1938 - thousands tuned 11 in a tad late and missed the announcement that this was all make-believe? Would we cower 12 under our beds?
Probably not. We’re more worldly these days, more skeptical 13. We’ve seen so many action thrillers 14 that we would take it for granted that this was merely another one. And we’d quickly switch to a news source we trusted and see that nobody else was bothering to cover this catastrophe 15.
Besides, terrorism is such a real menace in our world today that TV producers and popular websites would never dare toy with our nerves on a subject so chilling. Would they?
- He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
- They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。
- He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
- The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
- He wiped a dribble of saliva from his chin.他擦掉了下巴上的几滴口水。
- Saliva dribbled from the baby's mouth.唾液从婴儿的嘴里流了出来。
- Among the guests was a quiet, agreeable man with rimless glasses locking like a college professor. 宾客中有一个沉静和蔼的人戴着无边眼镜，看起来象大学教授。 来自辞典例句
- Heyward's aquiline, austere face showed concentration; behind rimless glasses his grey eyes were cool. 海沃德那长着鹰钩鼻子的严峻的脸上露出十分专注的神情，无框眼镜的后面，一双褐色的眼睛闪着寒光。 来自辞典例句
- The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
- He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
- The meteorite in Jilin Exhibition Hall is believed to be the largest in the world.吉林展览馆的陨石被认为是世界上最大的。
- The famous Murchison meteorite smashed into the Australian ground in 1969.1969年著名的默奇森陨石轰然坠落在澳大利亚。
- This maneuver of his is a diabolical conspiracy.他这一手是一个居心叵测的大阴谋。
- One speaker today called the plan diabolical and sinister.今天一名发言人称该计划阴险恶毒。
- The art troupe is always on the move in frontier guards.文工团常年在边防部队流动。
- The troupe produced a new play last night.剧团昨晚上演了一部新剧。
- His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
- The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。
- They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
- The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。
- The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
- The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat.我决不会在任何一位大师面前发抖，也不会为任何恐吓所屈服。
- Will the Chinese cower before difficulties when they are not afraid even of death?中国人死都不怕，还怕困难吗？
- Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
- Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。
- He has written seven thrillers, and clearly enjoys intellectual pursuits. 他已经写了7本惊悚小说，显然很喜欢这样的智力活动。 来自辞典例句
- Most Americans prefer to read fast-moving adventure stories that we call "thrillers". 大部分美国人喜欢看我们称之为"惊险小说"的情节多变的冒险故事。 来自辞典例句
- I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
- This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。