Statue of Liberty - Part II

  Statue of Liberty - Part II    audio        Aulas de inglês em Sorocaba com o professor Fúvio mais informações no site www.inglesvip.xpg.com.br

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1. France had wanted to give the statue to the United States on the one hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence -- July fourth, eighteen seventy-six. But technical problems and lack of money delayed the project.

2. France finally presented the statue to the United States in Paris in eighteen eighty-four. But the pedestal, being built in New York, was not finished. Not enough money had been given to complete the project.

3. The publisher of the New York World newspaper came to the rescue. Joseph Pulitzer used his newspaper to urge Americans to give more money to finish the pedestal. Hisefforts brought in another one hundred thousand dollars. And the pedestal was finished.

4. In France, workers separated the statue into three hundred fifty pieces, put them on a ship and sent them across the ocean. The statue arrived in New York in more than two hundred wooden boxes. It took workers four months to put together the statue on the new pedestal.

5. President Grover Cleveland officially accepted the statue in a ceremony on October twenty-eighth, eighteen eighty-six. He said: "We will not forget that Liberty has here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected."

6. The Statue of Liberty became a symbol of hope for immigrants coming to the United States by ship from Europe. More than twelve million people passed the statue between eighteen ninety-two and nineteen fifty-four on their way to the immigration center on nearby Ellis Island.

7. More than forty percent of Americans have an ancestor who passed through Ellis Island. Through the years, millions of people continued to visit the Statue of Liberty. A trip to New York City did not seemcomplete without it.

8. Still, the statue was old and becoming dangerous for visitors. In nineteen eighty-two, President Ronald Reagan asked businessman Lee Iacocca to lead a campaign to repair it. The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation raised about one hundred million dollars in private money to do the work.

9. The repairs included replacing the torch and covering it with twenty-four carat gold. On July fourth, nineteen eighty-six, New York City celebrated a restored and re-opened Statue of Liberty.

10. Officials closed the Statue of Liberty following the terrorist attacks in New York on September eleventh, two thousand one. It remained closed until August, two thousand four. When it re-opened, visitorscould only go onto the statue's pedestal. But the Statue continued to attract visitors—more than three million a year.

11. This year, on July fourth, visitors once again will be able to climb inside the statue all the way to the top. It is not an easy thing to do. More than three hundred fifty steps lead to Lady Liberty's crown. The National Park Service says it will limit the number of climbers to about two hundred a day.

12. No more than ten people will be able to go up at one time. At that rate, officials estimate that more than one hundred thousand people will be able to climb to the top each year.

13. But if you want to visit the newly opened Statue of Liberty, you must do it within the next two years. That is because the National Park Service plans to close it again for more repairs. Officials say theimprovements could take as long as two years. But they say the work will make it possible to safely double the number of visitors permitted inside.

14. The Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island is one of America's national parks. It includes both Liberty Island, where the statue stands, and nearby Ellis Island, the former federal immigration processing center.

15. Officials at the center examined many of the immigrants who arrived by ship before they were permitted to enter the United States. The main building was restored and opened as a museum in nineteen ninety. The museum includes pictures, videos, interactive displays and recordings of immigrants who went through Ellis Island until it was closed in nineteen fifty-four.

16. One popular exhibit is the Immigrant Wall of Honor outside the main building. It honors all immigrants to the United States no matter where they entered the country. It now lists the names of more than seven hundred thousand people. A new area of wall is being prepared for more names to be added.

17. An immigration history center on the island contains the ship records of passengers who entered through New York from eighteen ninety-two through nineteen twenty-four. Those were the years of the greatwave of European immigration, before the United States passed restrictive immigration laws.

18. One recent visitor said the Ellis Island immigration hall feels alive with the stories of people who left their native lands long ago to start a new life in a new country.

This program was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Barbara Klein. And I'm Steve Ember. You can find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.  

Vocabulary

1. about = aproximadamente
2. alive = vivo
3. ancestor = antepassado
4. at one time = de uma vez
5. At that rate = Nesse ritmo
6. became = tornou-se
7. being built = sendo construído
8. brought = trouxeram
9. building = prédio
10. carat = quilates
11. chosen = escolhido
12. climb = subir, escalar
13. climbers = aqueles que escalam
14. could = podiam
15. crown = coroa
16. delayed = atrasou
17. displays = exibições
18. efforts = esforços
19. exhibit = exposição
20. following = em seguida a
21. former = antigo, ex
22. had been given = tinha sido dado
23. hall = salão
24. honors = homenageia
25. hope = esperança
26. hundredth = centésimo
27. improvements = melhoramentos
28. lack of = falta de
29. lead = liderou
30. left = deixaram
31. long ago = muito tempo atrás
32. main = principal
33. must = deve

34. newly opened = recém aberta
35. no matter = não importa
36. nor shall = tampouco deve
37. Not enough = insuficiente
38. on nearby = nas proximidades
39. once again = uma vez mais
40. passed = aprovou (leis)
41. presented = apresentou
42. private = particular, privado
43. publisher = editor
44. put = colocaram
45. put together = reunir
46. raised = levantou
47. recordings = registros
48. remained = permaneceu
49. repair = consertar, reparar
50. rescue = resgate
51. restored = restaurado(a)
52. safely = seguramente
53. seem = parecer
54. ship = navio
55. steps = degraus
56. Still = ainda assim
57. take = levar
58. through = através
59. trip = viagem
60. until = até
61. urge = estimular
62. Wall of Honor = muro de honra
63. wave = onda
64. will make it possible = vai tornar possível
65. within = dentro de
66. wooden boxes = caixas de madeira