VOA常速英语2019--D日后75年，诺曼底的美国公墓是士兵牺牲的生动见证

From the sky, Omaha Beach is peaceful.It is hard to believe that 75 years ago, one of the boldest military operations in history took place here.Operation Overlord was the codename, best known as D-Day.Thousands of Allied¹ troops and military equipment arrived on French shores from the air and from the sea.It took years to plan it.There were probably thousands of maps thousands of decisions made.It was incredibly complicated.I’m not sure that we could repeat it today with all the technology that we have.We got to remember these men did this without GPS, without the internet.June 6, 1944 was a very costly² day to gain a foothold in Western Europe.

从天空俯视诺曼底，奥马哈海滩祥和寂静。让人很难相信75年前，历史上最大胆的一次军事行动就发生在这里。“霸王行动”是行动的代号，人们称之为D日。成千上万的盟军部队和军事装备通过海、空的方式抵达法国的海岸。这个行动筹划了好几年。可能画了成千上万的地图，做了成千上万个决策。这是极其复杂的。我不知道今天我们是否可以利用当今的技术再来一次。我们得知道，这些人进行这次行动的时候，没有GPS导航，没有互联网。1944年6月6日是西欧获得立足点的日子，代价高昂。

The battles here claimed 8,500 lives among Allied soldiers, including 2012 Americans killed in action.2,000 more GIs were wounded or never found.To honor this sacrifice in Normandy, land was given to the United States to establish the American Cemetery³ in Colleville-sur-Mer,French people are still thankful seventy-five years later.It is like yesterday.It is the story of my family, of my grandparents.And today I know the price for my freedom.Without these young men buried here, I do not know who I would be.

8500个盟军士兵在这场战斗中失去生命，其中包括2012个美国人。2000多个美国士兵受伤或失踪。为了纪念诺曼底登陆中这些牺牲的士兵，法国将Colleville-sur-Mer处的土地赠与美国以建立美军公墓。对美军的牺牲，法国人时隔75年后仍心怀感激。一切仿佛昨天发生的一样。这是我家人、我祖父母的故事。如今，我知道了自由的代价。没有埋葬在这的年轻人，我不知道我会在哪里。

About 1 million tourists from all around the world visit the memorial each year to pay tribute⁴ to the young generations who sacrifice their lives for others.That so many good men gave their lives for freedom means a lot to us,and to come here and to be able to take it in personally is just a very emotional experience.As Europe battles new divisions, president Donald Trump⁵ visited these grounds to memorize those who made the greatest sacrifice in the name of returning the continent to the free world.

每年世界各地有一百万游客到此参观，致敬这些舍身为人的年轻一代。这些士兵为了自由牺牲生命，对我们意义重大，亲自来这里纪念他们让人心生感触。随着欧洲战争和新的分裂，唐纳德·特朗普总统参观了墓地，纪念那些为了解放大陆而作出最大牺牲的人。

1 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

2 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

4 tribute   

n.颂词，称赞，(表示敬意的)礼物；贡品

参考例句：

• She accepted their tribute graciously.她慈祥地接受了他们的致意。
• Many conquered nations had to pay tribute to the rulers of ancient Rome.许多被征服的国家必须向古罗马的统治者朝贡。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。