VOA常速英语2019--华盛顿纪念碑修缮后重新开放（在线收听）

Washington Monument Reopens After Repairs, Upgrades

This iconic landmark in the nation’s capital has been closed for most of the past eight years after a five point eight magnitude earthquake in 2011 left a hundred fifty cracks in the stones. The Washington Monument briefly opened in 2016 but closed again after a series of elevator malfunctions.We totally rehabbed and rebuilt the elevator system, so that’s new cabling, new programming that goes with it, refurbished the motor,that’s part of it and then also incorporated security screening requirements.First Lady Melania Trump took a ceremonial first ride to the top with local students as the first public visitors.Named after the first President of the United States the Washington Monument is the most dramatic feature on the city skyline and one of the most popular tourist attractions on the National Mall averaging 500,000 visitors a year.And now tourists are very excited to be able to go back on top of the monument to see a most dramatic spectacular view of the city. People lined up in the early morning to get tickets. This couple from Shanghai who do not speak English asked for spare tickets by showing a handwritten sign.That said their ancestors donated one of the commemorative stone tablets in the Monument. They were very persistent, they were... they really wanted to get up there and I had two extra tickets.

这座位于国家首都的标志性建筑在过去8年的大部分时间里一直处于关闭状态，2011年的5.8级地震给这座纪念碑留下了150处裂痕。华盛顿纪念碑在2016年暂时开放，但在一系列电梯故障后再次关闭。我们彻底修缮和重建了电梯系统，所以电梯系统有新的电缆，新的程序，我们整修了发动机，那是部分工作，然后还增加了安全检查要求。第一夫人梅拉尼娅·特朗普在剪彩仪式上和当地学生作为第一批公众游客到达纪念碑顶端。华盛顿纪念碑以美国第一任总统的名字命名，它是城市天际线上最引人注目的景观，也是国家广场上最受欢迎的旅游景点之一，平均每年有50万游客前来参观。现在游客们非常兴奋能够重返纪念碑的顶部，看到这座城市最壮观的景色。人们一大早排队买票。这对来自上海夫妇不会说英语，他们通过展示一张手写标记牌来寻求别人多余的票。那上面说他们的祖先捐赠了纪念碑中的一块纪念石碑。他们非常执着，他们……他们真的很想去那里，我有两张多余的票。

There are 193 commemorative stone tablets set into the interior walls of the Monument. According to the National Park Service’s one of them was donated by the American mission in Ningbo China whom the Zhang’s claim as their ancestors. We are very happy.We are very thank.All the tickets are sold out and we’ll fly back to China tomorrow. Construction began in 1848 and took nearly forty years to complete due to the Civil War and lack of funding.This time the Monument’s repair was funded not only with taxpayers money but also with millions of dollars in private donations.

纪念碑的室内墙上镶嵌着193块纪念石碑。据国家公园管理局介绍，其中一块纪念石碑是由美国驻中国宁波代表团捐赠的，这对张姓夫妇称那是他们的祖先。我们非常开心。非常感谢。所有的票都卖完了，我们明天就要乘飞机回中国了。华盛顿纪念碑于1848年开始建设，由于内战和缺乏资金，花了近40年才建完。这次修缮华盛顿纪念碑的资金不仅来自纳税人，还有数百万美元的私人捐赠。