VOA慢速英语2015 你可能不知道的7月4号

Things You (Probably) Don’t Know About the 4th of July 你可能不知道的7月4号

This day will be remembered in American history, wrote John Adams in 1776. People will honor it with fireworks and celebrations.

He was talking about the second of July.

That is the day the Continental¹ Congress voted in favor of independence from the British. But the date written on the Declaration² of Independence is July 4. So, since 1776, Americans have honored July 4 as the country’s Independence Day.

And July 2? Not so much.

Patriotic³ to the end

Several early U.S. presidents died on July 4. They include John Adams, who became the second U.S. president, even though he made a mistake about ?the country’s most important national holiday. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the country’s third president, both died on the country’s 50th anniversary of Independence Day.

James Monroe, the country’s fifth president, died on July 4, 1831.

And the country’s 30th president, Calvin Coolidge, was born on July 4.

Amazing? Or disgusting?

Most Americans celebrate Independence Day with barbecues, parades and, yes, fireworks. But a few celebrate by eating all the hot dogs they can.

Since the early 1970s, a restaurant called Nathan’s Famous has hosted a competition to see who can eat the most hot dogs in a short time. The event is now shown on major sports channels. It includes a women’s contest and a men’s contest. Both are held in New York City, in a part of town called Coney Island.

For the last eight years, a man named Joey Chestnut⁴ has won the men’s contest. In 2014, he ate 61 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

The 2014 women’s winner, Miki Sudo, ate 34 hot dogs.

Where do those fireworks come from?

Let’s go back to those fireworks, probably the most common image related to Independence Day. Americans really, really love fireworks. The America n Pyrotechnic Association – “pyrotechnic” is another word for “fireworks” – reported that Americans spent $675 million on fireworks last year.

Most ordinary people buy about $100 worth. Cities and towns spend between $5,000 and $30,000 to put on a public show.

The biggest fireworks show is in New York City. It costs about $2 million.

Where do many of our fireworks come from? China.

By the way, we also import most of our American flags from China, too.

Happy Independence Day!

Words in This Story

disgusting – adj. so unpleasant that you feel slightly sick

barbecues – n. outdoor meals or parties at which food is cooked on a barbecue

hot dog – n. a small cooked sausage

1 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

2 declaration   

n.宣布，宣告，宣言，声明（书），申报

参考例句：

• We read the declaration posted on the bulletin board.我们读了贴在布告板上的声明。
• At the recent convention a declaration was adopted.在最近举行的大会上通过了一项宣言。

3 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

4 chestnut   

n.栗树，栗子

参考例句：

• We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
• In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。