节目资讯
刊物:空中英語教室
日期:2012-02-29
难易度:High
关键字:characterize, revolt, mythical, resemblance, spectacular
There are several parts of this beautiful national park that became an
inspiration in the hit movie Avatar.
James Cameron got the idea after a Hollywood photographer visited the park in
2008 and brought back several stunning images.
Of course, the 3,544-foot-tall Southern Sky Tower became an inspiration for the
movie's Hallelujah Mountain.
Now let's turn back to page 52, line 4 and continue our reading.
(Music).
Zhangjiajie.
Parts of the alien planet's floating mountains do bear a striking resemblance to
Zhangjiajie.
In fact, one of the tall sandstone columns, Southern Sky Column, is also dubbed
"Avatar Hallelujah Mountain." Avatar fans can even take special tours,
such as the "Magical Tour to Avatar-Pandora" or "Miracle Tour to Avatar's
Floating Mountain." With a unique landscape,
breathtaking scenery and rare wildlife, Zhangjiajie is more than a picturesque
park.
It's a spectacular wilderness, an environment that truly looks like another
world.
(Music).
OK. So we've been looking at how there are parts in Tianzi Mountain that had
been an inspiration for the hit film Avatar.
Now Avatar takes place on the mythical planet of Pandora.
Now Pandora has a lot of incredible parts to it.
One of the most incredible parts of that movie... uh, part of that planet is the
floating mountains.
That's right.
And so this... these alien planet's floating mountains actually bear a striking
resemblance to Zhangjiajie.
Oh. That's interesting.
So are there floating mountains in China?
No, there aren't actually floating mountains in Zhangjiajie, which actually, I
thought, was one of the coolest parts of the film,
but you can see some things that actually bear a striking resemblance to those.
Now "resemblance," we use that word to talk about when two things look alike.
Most commonly we could say of son and his father, there is a resemblance between
them when one looks like the other.
Mmhm.
So here you can see what looks like they bear a striking resemblance.
Something that is "striking" means it's very impressive, very amazing.
And if it bears that striking resemblance, that means it has a resemblance.
That's right. So it bears, it looks like this other part of China, which is so
cool.
Now what makes the mountains in this area actually look like they're floating
are the clouds.
Yes. There is a lot of mist in Zhangjiajie during certain times of the year.
And they can... that can make it look like these tall columns are floating in
the sky.
Now that's really cool because even though the mountains are floating like in
Pandora, you can see the resemblance and get the feeling of this.
And it's even more incredible because it's real.
Exactly. Now actually the hit film has actually had an effect on the park.
In fact, one of the tall sandstone columns called the Southern Sky Column is
also dubbed Avatar Hallelujah Mountain.
Now in the movie Avatar, there is one mountain specifically they talk about
called Hallelujah Mountain.
And it's a big part of that movie, so it's very special.
So they've taken this name "Hallelujah Mountain" and dubbed one of their local
mountains that.
Yeah. And to "dub" something means to name it that, means to call it something.
So they changed the name of this... this tower, this Southern Sky Column to now
call it Avatar Hallelujah Mountain.
Now Ryan, when we talk about dubbing, it doesn't mean completely changing the
name, right?
It means we take the name and add to it.
So it still has its own special name, but its nickname... it's called... is the
Avatar Hallelujah Mountain.
So it makes it special, gives it a unique feature that connects it directly to
this movie.
Right. So visitors you can now go see Avatar's Hallelujah Mountain by visiting
the Southern Sky Column.
That's right.
You could... I think this... I'm getting sold on this trip.
I think I may need to be visiting China soon to see this.
That's true. Now if you are a fan of the hit movie Avatar, you can even take
special tours.
For example, you can take the Magical Tour to Avatar-Pandora.
Ooh! Well, I'm not a huge fan of the movie, I enjoyed the movie.
But if you're a big fan, you can take a tour that is called this.
Now a tour is when someone is going to lead you around and tell you about
information about the area.
So this is great.
You can do this Avatar-Pandora Tour, or you could do the Miracle Tour to
Avatar's Floating Mountain.
Yeah. So like we were saying, there were floating mountains in the movie.
And they say you can take a miracle tour to see that.
Now we are using words like magical and miracle.
Now the word "miracle" is when something happens that is usually impossible.
That's right. "Magical" means it's very special.
It takes something unique to make it beautiful, takes something incredible to
make it happen.
So these two tours would take you to certain areas that are very much like the
movie,
that inspired the movie that can also help your imagination feel like you're in
a place like that.
Although I think this place is just beautiful enough that you wouldn't have to
do one of these movie-style tours,
you could just enjoy it if you choose to do that as well.
Yeah. I think I would want to bring my camera.
It really seems like it would be very beautiful.
Oh, don't forget your binoculars either.
You want to be able to see things up close even when they're far away.
So use your binoculars as you tour these amazing mountains.
Well, with a landscape that is this unique and breathtaking, the scenery is
beautiful and the wildlife is rare, this is a wonderful place to visit.
Yeah, you get to see a lot of beauty here as well as things that are very
unique.
The scenery is unique.
You usually don't see columns like these as well as the rare wildlife.
There really isn't a place that can be more picturesque than this park.
And "picturesque" means you want to take pictures of it.
It's so beautiful that it looks like it is a picture on its own.
That's right. And of course, it has a spetacular wilderness and... there is an
environment that truly looks like another world.
Now let's talk about the word "spectacular" here.
Well, "spectacular" is absolutely incredible.
It's very exciting to look at.
It's amazing.
Yeah. So it really is beautiful.
And it really does seem like there are very many reasons to visit this magical
national park.
That's right.
I hope you've enjoyed exploring it.
And I hope that your travels take you to interesting places all over the world.
Let's watch this video.
(Music).
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
And I guess that's it for today.
I'll see you next time. Bye-bye.
Thank you, Michelle, for your helpful tips.
Well, Steve, you know what they say, don't you?
Ryan, no, actually I don't.
What do they say?
Well, they say Pandora from the movie Avatar is far away, but Zhangjiajie is
near.
This is especially true now with more convenient air and ground transportation
to and from Wulingyuan.
So it really is closer than Pandora.
Now as with all of our TRAVEL features, words and pictures simply cannot
communicate the true magnificence of Wulingyuan's.
But we hope this lesson has wet your appetite for a real trip to this
otherworldly destination.
Right! There's nothing like seeing it yourself in person.
Friends, please enjoy the rest of your Wednesday.
And then join us tomorrow when we talk about a very famous rabbit.
Have a great day.
Bye-bye, everybody.