万花筒 2009-05-12&05-13 自由女神重新开放参观

If you were watching the Today Show this morning, then you saw the most dramatic opening segment we can remember in quite a while. There they all are, our friends from the Today Show family in the Crown of Lady Liberty to announce some big news concerning that statue. Our report tonight from NBC’s Mike Taibbi.

Our gift from France was always one of those vertical¹ man-made wonders, like the Washington Monument, the Eiffel Tower that entice² kids to say, ‘can we clime to the top?’, and parents to say, ‘I guess, if you really want to.’ Well maybe some grownups still like the idea.

I would walk every single stair to see the top.

I think it’s awesome³. It’s about time.

But the Today Show’s Matt Lauer got the scoop⁴ from Interior Secretary Ken⁵ Salazar this morning. The treks⁶ to the top suspended since 911 are on again. 

Today we are announcing that on the Fourth of July, we will open up the Crown of the Statue of Liberty here in New York and New Jersey⁷ to the entire people of America. 

If you ever do get up there as I did in 1984 when Lady Liberty got a face-lift for her centennial party, you will never forget it. 

Not everybody who wants to, who takes the boat out to Liberty Island, will get to visit the crown. There will be a lottery⁸, a maximum of 30 people at a time. 

These Brooklyn six graders were so excited they didn’t notice my crown was all wrong.

How many would want to climb all the way up to the top?

The statue was so huge. It arrived from France in 350 individual pieces, in 214 crates⁹, and took four months to assemble. And your climb to the crown will be 250 feet up, and 346 winding¹⁰ steps. Also be aware that the statue is designed to bend in a brisk wind several inches, meaning you can feel it moving.

I probably feel woozy, because it sways back and forth¹¹.

But the point is as of July Fourth, if you want, you can’t feel it moving even as it moves you.

Mike Taibbi, NBC News, New York.
 

1 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

2 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。

3 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

4 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

5 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

6 treks   

n.远距离行走 ( trek的名词复数 )；长途跋涉，艰难的旅程（尤指在山区）v.艰苦跋涉，徒步旅行( trek的第三人称单数 )；（尤指在山中）远足，徒步旅行，游山玩水

参考例句：

• And visiting companies and completing job treks are becoming much more important in the job search. 参观公司、进行实地考察在找工作中变得重要得多。 来自互联网
• These range from treks around Mont an ascent of North Africa's highest mountain, Mount Toubkal. 参与者是徒步绕勃朗峰，然后攀登北非最高峰托布卡尔山。 来自互联网

7 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• 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。

8 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

9 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。

10 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

11 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• 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。