Section B
Disney Mirrors
American Culture
Background Information

1. Walt Disney Company
It was formerly (1929—1986) known
as Walt Disney Productions. It is an
American corporation that was the bestknown provider of family entertainment
in the 20th century. It is getting even
more popular now.

2. Walter Elias Disney
Walter Elias Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1901.
He was famous as a pioneer of animated cartoon films (动画
片) and as the creator of such cartoon characters as Mickey
Mouse (米老鼠) and Donald Duck (唐老鸭). Walt produced
such animated classics (经典动画片) as Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs (《白雪公主》)，Pinoccho (《木偶奇遇
记》)and Dumbo (《小飞象》). He also planned and built
Disneyland, a huge amusement park that opened near Los
Angeles in 1955. During his lifetime Disney won a record of
30 Academy Awards(奥斯卡金像奖) and had been named
among the most successful American entrepreneurs (企业家).
Walt Disney died on December 15, 1966.

3. Disney World
Walt Disney World opened near
Orlando, Florida, in 1971. It is the most
popular theme park in the world; it
draws over 40 million visitors annually.
It is modeled as a utopian (乌托邦式的)
city of leisure (消闲). It is represented
by personalities (人物) from Disney
animation (动画) and operated by
26,000 employees.

4.Pocahontas
Pocahontas is a Disney film. Pocahontas is a
peaceful Indian princess that is puzzled by the
newcomers to her world, the white men. The
white men have come in on large ships and
created a colony (殖民地), destroying the
countryside for gold. As hatred grows among the
two sides, and the weak relationship among the
natives (土著人) and the Europeans is getting
worse, Pocahontas becomes attracted to John
Smith, one of the head white men. As their
friendship develops, Pocahontas teaches John
about the living spirit in all things, the wind, the
water, the rocks. However, a war is about to break
out between the rivaling cultures and
both Smith and Pocahontas must decide
what their loyalties (忠诚) are.

5.The Lion King
The Lion King is a Disney film released
(发行) in 1994. It is a story about a young
lion cub (幼狮) named Simba, who
struggles to accept the responsibilities of
adulthood and his destined (注定的) role as
king of the jungle (丛林).

6.Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (1809—1865) was the 16th
President of the United States. Lincoln became
the President at a critical period in U.S. history,
just before the Civil War, and died from an
assassin's (暗杀者) bullet at the end of the war.
Lincoln was perhaps the most esteemed (受尊
敬的) of the American presidents. He was
famous for his eloquent (雄辩的) speeches,
including the Gettysburg Address of 1863.

7.The Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a speech delivered on
Nov.18, 1863 by Abraham Lincoln at the
dedication (落成典礼) of the national cemetery
(国家公墓) on the site of the Battle of Gettysburg
(葛底斯堡战役) in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Lincoln's speech not only memorialized the dead,
but also gave the idea of equality. It is the bestknown speech of Abraham Lincoln.
Reading More
Questions and Answers:
Direction: Answer the following questions according to
the text.
1.What rare thing did the Walt Disney company do last
autumn?
2.People are influenced by Disney in Many ways. Which
of the following is Not mentioned in the text?
3.According to Professor Bloom, what will happen if
people continue to be influenced by Disney in such a
way?
4.According to the text, what is wrong with Disney films?
Disney’s Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages(For)
Disadvantages(Against)
cheerfulness
Cultural uniformity
Good-hearted fun
Sexist,racist
a tradition of artistic
quality
…the
murder …played out
as a love story
Intensive Reading
1. Disney Mirrors American Culture(Title)
2. It admitted defeat in its fight to build a history theme park
in Virginia. (para.1)
3. The park was going to be called “Disney’s America”.
(para.1)
4. Americans rushed out to see Disney films(para.4)
5. they make trips to Disneyland and Disney world. (para.4)
6. The world of Disney is becoming anything but small.
(para.5)
7. All this makes some people more than a little upset.
(para.6)
8. “At the end of this road lies cultural uniformity of the
worst kind. Its just terrible.”(para.7)
9. most of whom will be able to perform every word of the
Lion King long before they even learn US President
Abraham Lincoln’s historic Gettysburg Address.(para.13)
10. Critical or not, most of those who oppose the company
are Disney customers themselves. (para.14)
mirror: 1. n. 镜，反映
2. v. 反映
Meaning: Disney is a mirror of American culture: it
accurately represents the American culture.
e.g.
1. Fashion is a mirror of the times.
时尚反映着时代。
2. Does art mirror society , or shape it?
究竟艺术是反映了社会，还是塑造了社会？
admit: v.1. 承认，供认
2. 准许…进入
e.g.
John openly admitted that it was his own mistake.
约翰公开承认了自己的错误。
辨析：
acknowledge,admit,concede,confess,recognize都含有
一定的“承认”之意
acknowledge 着重”公开承认”,常用来指过去曾隐瞒
或否认的事
admit 是指在压力下不得不承认已经证实或难以否认
的事实,供认(事实,错误等)
concede (不情愿地)承认,(在结果确定前)承认失败
confess 着重承认自己的过错或罪恶
recognize 指正式承认主权、权利等
Practice
A that the statement was true in an argument.
1.He ___
A.conceded B.admitted C.confessed D.recognized
C having been at fault.
2.She ___
A.admitted B.confessed C.acknowledged D.recognized
C difficult to
3.The new law was generally admitted ___
enforce.
A.being B.to being C.to be D.to have
4.Although they had suffered heavy losses,they refused to
A defeat.
___
A.conced B.conserve C.admit D.assert
B himself guilty.
5.Finally he has to ___
A.concede B.confess C.admit D.acknowledge
D as the legitimate representative.
6.Mr.Zhang was___
A.acknowledge B.admitted C.conceded D.recognized
Key
1.He concededthat the statement was true in an argument.
他在辩论中承认对方的说法是正确的.(有点不情愿的
承认)
2.She acknowledged having been at fault.他承认自己曾
犯过错误.
3.The new law was generally admitted to be difficult to
enforce.大家普遍认为,新的法律很难实施.(admit后面
可跟名词或动名词作宾语,不根不定式作宾语,但可接
不定式作宾补.此句中admit为被动结构,所以用to be
difficult to enforce作主语补语.)
4.Although they had suffered heavy losses,they refused
to concede defeat.虽然他们已遭受惨重损失,但还是不
肯认输.
5.Finally he has to confess himself guilty.最终他不得不
认罪.(confess oneself认罪)
6.Mr.Zhang was recognized as the legitimate
representative of the company.张先生背城认为公司的
合法代表.
rush :v. 急速行进；突然猛冲
e.g.
1. When the bell rang, the children rushed into the classroom,
out of breath.
上课铃响了，孩子们上气不接下气的冲进教室。
2.They rushed up the stairs.
他们冲上了楼梯。
make a trip/ trips to : 旅行；旅游
e.g.
1. Being a reporter means making frequent business trips
to different places.
做一名记者意味着要经常到各地出差.
2.Making a trip to Louvre Museum is the dream of many
young artists.
去卢浮宫博物馆参观是许多年轻艺术家的梦想。
anything but: 根本不;一点也不
e.g.
1. The performance is anything but successful.
这次演出一点都不成功。
2. Many people got confused, for what he said was anything
but clear.
他讲的一点都不清楚，所以许多人都糊涂了。
more than a little: 非常；极其
Notice “all this” refers to what is mentioned before: Disney
is affecting every aspect of people’s life.
e.g.
1. Everyone became more than a little excited when hearing
the good news.
听到这个好消息，每个人都非常激动。
2. In completing the task, we got more than a little help from
the friends.
在完成任务的过程中，我们从朋友那得到了很大的帮助。
of the worst kind: 最糟糕的
e.g.
1.Many tourists complain that the service here is one of
the worst kind.
许多游客抱怨说这里的服务真是糟糕透顶。
2. That earthquake was a natural disaster of the worst
kind in U.S history.
那次地震是美国历史上最为严重的自然灾害。
long before: 早在…之前
e.g.
1. Thousands of the devoted fans had already gathered
together in front of the hall long before the performance
started .
在演出开始前，数以千计的忠实的歌迷们已经早早地聚
集在大厅前。
2. In life,many things have already gone long before we
actually realize their values.
人生中有许多事情，当我们真正意识到他们的价值时，
它们早已一去不复返了。
Critical or not: 不管是否存心挑剔
Similar expressions:
Believe or not 不管相信与否
Like it or not 不管是否喜欢
Consciously or not不管有意识还是无意识
e.g.
Believe it or not, computers have actually entered every
corner of our life.
不管你是否相信，电脑的确已经地进入到了我们生活的
每个角落。
Testing Yourself
Getting the Message
1.What rare thing did the Walt Disney company do last
autumn?
A. It planned to build a history theme park
in Virginia.
B. It admitted that their plan to build another park failed.
C. It bought a big company.
D. It claimed to be the mirror of American
culture.
2.People are influenced by Disney in many ways. Which
of the following is not mentioned in the text ?
A.People eat Disney food.
B.People love to see Disney films. C. People listen to
Disney songs on Radio Disney.
C. People listen to Disney songs on Radio Disney.
D. People visit Disneyland and Disney World.
3. According to Professor Bloom, what will happen if
people continue to be influenced by Disney in such
a way?
A.Children can learn a lot before they go to school.
B.People will have many different forms of
entertainment.
C. People will find themselves in the same culture all
over—Disney’s culture.
D. People will become sexist or racist.
4. According to the text, what is wrong with Disney films?
A.Some films are love stories and are not good
for children.
B.Some films are not good in quality.
C. Some films are too cheerful to be true.
D. Some films are not true to the history.
5. What is the main idea of the text?
A. Walt Disney Company is a successful company.
B. Disney is the symbol of American culture, though
some people don’t like it.
C. Disney is not good because it gives false accounts in its
films.
D. Disney is good because it brings people fun.