第二篇（英译汉）Passage 2（E--C）

相关词语 Related Words and Expressions

centennial 百年纪念

be commissioned 受委托作某事

pedestal 底座

auction 拍卖

prizefight 拳击

secondary skeletal framework 辅助框架

editorial pages 社论版

centennial gift 百年庆礼

National Park Service 国家公园管理处

World Heritage Site 世界遗产

The Statue of Liberty standing at the entrance to New York harbor is a gift given by the people of France to the people of the United States over one hundred years ago in recognition of the friendship of the two nations established during the American Revolution. Over the years, the Statue of Liberty has become a representative of freedom and democracy of people everywhere.

To commemorate the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence，sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was commissioned by the French government to design a sculpture in 1876. The Statue was a joint effort between America and France and it was agreed upon that the American people were to build the pedestal, and the French people were responsible for the Statue and its assembly here in the United States. However, lack of funds was a problem on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

In France, public fees, various forms of entertainment, and a lottery were among the methods used to raise funds. In the United States, benefit theatrical events, art exhibitions, auctions and prizefights assisted in providing needed funds. However, fund raising for the pedestal was going particularly slowly, so Joseph Pulitzer (noted for the Pulitzer Prize) opened up the editorial pages of his newspaper, The World, to support the fund raising effort. Pulitzer used his newspaper to criticize both the rich who had failed to finance the pedestal construction and the middle class who were content to rely upon the wealthy to provide the funds. Pulitzer's campaign of harsh criticism was successful in motivating the people of America to donate.

Financing for the pedestal was completed in August 1885, and pedestal construction was finished in April of 1886. The Statue was completed in France in July 1884. In transit, the Statue was reduced to 350 individual pieces and packed in 214 crates. The Statue arrived in New York Harbor in June of 1885 and was re-assembled on her new pedestal in four months time. The pedestal was designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt and built on Bedloe’s Island. The Statue’s framework was engineered by Gustave Eiffel who later designed the famous tower in Paris, which bears his name. On October 28, 1886, in front of thousands of spectators, President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty, which was officially titled Liberty Enlightening the World. Since then millions have made pilgrimage to visit her. She was a centennial gift ten years late.

Over the years, Americans shortened the name of the statue. They called it the Statue of Liberty, or Miss Liberty. The care and the administration of the statue changed several times. In 1956, the name of Bedloe’s Island was changed to Liberty Island and became part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.

The statue wears a loose robe. Her right hand holds a torch----a golden light. Her left hand holds a tablet which shows the date of the American Declaration of Independence-----July 4th, 1776. The statue wears a crown on her head. The crown has 7 points, each of these rays representing the light of freedom. A chain representing oppression lies broken at her feet. The height from base to torch is 151 feet. The height from the foundation of the pedestal to the torch is 305 feet. She weighs 225 tons (100 tons of copper and 125 tons structural steel). Visitors may climb into her head for a spectacular view of New York Harbor. At night the statue is floodlighted, and the lights that shine from her torch can be seen for miles.

By the 1980, the statue badly needed repairs. Again people on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean cooperated to raise money. In May of 1982, President Ronald Reagan appointed Lee Iacocca to head up a private sector effort to restore the Statue of Liberty. Fund raising began for the $87 million restoration under a public/private partnership between the National Park Service and the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., to date the most successful such partnership in American history. In 1984, at the start of the Statue's restoration, the United Nations designated the Statue of Liberty as a World Heritage Site. On July 5, 1986 the newly restored Statue re-opened to the public during Liberty Weekend, which celebrated her centennial. Today thousands of people still visit the statue every day. They reach the statue by boat. Many people climb the 354 steps to the crown. Or they ride up to observation areas in an elevator. Or they study the story of the statue in a museum in the monument.