評(píng)論
打印
Part 1 The History of Memorial Day 陣亡將士紀(jì)念日的歷史
Memorial Day, perhaps more than any other holiday, was born of human necessity. Deep inside all of us lies a fundamental desire to make sense of life and our place in it and the world. What we have been given, what we will do with it and what we will pass to the next generation is all part of an unfolding history, a continuum that links one soul to another.
Abraham Lincoln pondered these thoughts in the late fall of 1863. His darkest fear was that he might well be the last president of the United States, a nation embroiled in the self-destruction of what he described as "a great civil war..testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure." He began his remarks with those words as he stood on the battlefield near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on November 19th of that year.
The minute's speech that became known as Lincoln's Gettysburg Address turned into what might be called the first observance of Memorial Day. Lincoln's purpose that day was to dedicate a portion of the battlefield as a cemetery for the thousands of men, both living and dead, who consecrated that soil in the sacrifice of battle. Said Abraham Lincoln: "That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause which they gave the last full measure of devotion...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom..."
About that same time in 1865, a druggist in Waterloo, New York, Henry C. Welles, began promoting the idea of decorating the graves of Civil War veterans. He gained the support of the Seneca County Clerk, General John B. Murray, and they formed a committee to make wreaths, crosses and bouquets for each veteran's grave. On May 5, 1866, war veterans marching to martial music led processions to each of three cemeteries, where the graves were decorated and speeches were made by General Murray and local clergymen. The village itself was also decorated with flags at half-mast, evergreen boughs and mourning black streamers.
Also, as the Civil War was coming to a close in the spring of 1865, Women's Auxiliaries of the North and South moved from providing relief to the families and soldiers on their own sides to joining in efforts to preserve and decorate the graves of both sides. A woman of French extraction and leader of the Virginia women's movement, Cassandra Oliver Moncure, took responsibility of coordinating the activities of several groups into a combined ceremony on May 30. It is said that she picked that day because it corresponded to the Day of Ashes in France, a solemn day that commemorates the return of the remains of Napoleon Bonaparte to France from St. Helena.
In 1868, General John A. Logan, first commander of the Grand Army of the Republic issued a General Order establishing May 30 as an official memorial day to pay respect to all those who had died, in war or peace. On May 5, 1868, Logan declared in General Order No. 11 that: The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.
During the first celebration of Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery. As already mentioned this 1868 celebration was inspired by local observances of the day in several towns throughout America that had taken place in the three years since the Civil War. In fact, several Northern and Southern cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, including Columbus, Mississippi; Macon, Georgia; Richmond, Virginia; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; and Carbondale, Illinois.
In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon Johnson, declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. They chose Waterloo --- which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866 --- because the town had made Memorial Day an annual, community-wide event during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.
By the late 1800s, many communities across the country had begun to celebrate Memorial Day and, after World War I, observances also began to honor those who had died in all of America's wars.
In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May. (Veterans Day, a day set aside to honor all veterans, living and dead, is celebrated each year on November 11.)
Today, Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave. Also, it is customary for the president or vice-president to give a speech honoring the contributions of the dead and lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. About 5,000 people attend the ceremony annually.
Perhaps General Logan's proclamation was simply the making official of what the nation yearned for and spontaneously began to form after the near total destruction of the Civil War. It is that sharing of loss, honoring the sacrifices of those who made possible the lives we enjoy today, and family connections across the generations that keep Memorial Day in our hearts...and always will.
其實(shí)，很多國家都有自己的“陣亡將士紀(jì)念日”或類似的紀(jì)念日。大多數(shù)這樣的紀(jì)念日，是以國家遭到襲擊，或是歷史上軍隊(duì)為保衛(wèi)和平而戰(zhàn)的日子來安排的。例如美國將每年5月份的最后一個(gè)星期一定為“陣亡將士紀(jì)念日”，每到這一天，美國現(xiàn)役軍人和老戰(zhàn)士便前往墓地，鳴槍向陣亡將士致意，吹響軍中熄燈號(hào)讓死難將士安息。
那么這個(gè)“陣亡將士紀(jì)念日”是怎么來的呢？在十九世紀(jì)的美國南北戰(zhàn)爭中，很多將士戰(zhàn)死沙場。戰(zhàn)后，很多南方婦女會(huì)在春天到陣亡戰(zhàn)士的墓前獻(xiàn)花，由于她們獻(xiàn)花的對(duì)象不分南方人和北方人，這種舉動(dòng)感動(dòng)了全國上下，到了1868年的時(shí)候，就正式確定了5月30日為美國的“陣亡將士紀(jì)念日”，紀(jì)念所有內(nèi)戰(zhàn)中陣亡的將士。
第一次世界大戰(zhàn)以后，許多陣亡戰(zhàn)士的家庭和曾經(jīng)參與過戰(zhàn)爭的人，也會(huì)利用這一天，到戰(zhàn)友或者陣亡的親友墓前獻(xiàn)花致敬。這個(gè)日子后來成為紀(jì)念所有為國捐軀的美國將士的日子。1971年，陣亡將士紀(jì)念日改為5月最后一周的星期一，并被定為國家法定假日。
其實(shí)現(xiàn)在美國很多年輕人都搞不清楚陣亡將士紀(jì)念日的由來，一般來說，會(huì)去墓園緬懷陣亡將士的，都是上了年紀(jì)的老兵。而大部分人，則會(huì)利用這連續(xù)三天的假期，邀請(qǐng)親朋好友烤肉野餐。
Part 2 A Grill Party 烤肉派對(duì)
Dialogue Script 1 對(duì)話原文 1
Mark: The weekend's finally here!
Ann: And it's a long one. I have Monday off. It's Memorial Day or something like that.
Mark: Yep. It's the kickoff of the barbecue season. We're invited to a grill party in the park tomorrow.
Ann: Sounds good. What do we need to bring?
Mark: We need to buy some buns for the hotdogs and hamburgers, and I'm making potato salad.
Ann: I'll dig out the Frisbee and my kite from China.
講解：
1. 對(duì)話中，Mark和Ann的朋友們邀請(qǐng)他們倆參加一個(gè)烤肉的派對(duì)。工作了一周之后，Mark說，The weekend's finally here! 總算到周末了！Ann接著說，And it's a long one. I have Monday off. It's Memorial Day or something like that. 還是一個(gè)很長的周末呢。而且星期一還連著放假，因?yàn)橹芤皇敲绹摹瓣囃鰧⑹考o(jì)念日”，是法定假日，放假一天。
2. have...off，表示“ 休...天的假”。休假一天，可以說have a day off。如果你要告訴人家你某天休假，不用上班或者不用上課的時(shí)候，就把休假的天數(shù)套入這個(gè)have...off的句型當(dāng)中就可以了。比如說，---I'll have a day off tomorrow. Wanna go shopping with me? ---Sure. When shall we meet? ---我明天休假。想和我去逛街嗎？---當(dāng)然了。我們明天幾點(diǎn)見？
3. 那么人們?cè)谶@一天會(huì)做些什么呢？這一天通常代表著烤肉季節(jié)的開始，It's the kickoff of the barbecue season. kickoff在口語中表示“開始，序幕”，也可以表示“足球比賽的開球”。如果把kickoff 拆開，還有kick something off這個(gè)詞組，表示“開始會(huì)議等活動(dòng)”，I'll ask Tina to kick off . 我讓Tina開始。那么開始什么就隨情況而定了，比如我們可以說 I'll ask Tina to kick off the discussion. 我讓Tina開始討論。
4. 有人邀請(qǐng)Mark 和Ann去公園參加一個(gè)烤肉派對(duì)，也就是grill party，grill這個(gè)詞的意思是“烤肉用的架子或爐子”，所以grill這個(gè)詞就用來表示“烤肉”，而barbecue這個(gè)詞側(cè)重于表示“在篝火上烤肉的金屬烤架”，當(dāng)然也可以表示“吃烤肉等的野餐”。grill還可以做動(dòng)詞，表示“燒烤食物”，比如說，I'll grill you some fish. 我來給你烤些魚。
5. Ann覺得這個(gè)grill party聽起來挺好玩的。那么需要帶什么東西過去嗎？去參加人家的派對(duì)，什么東西都不帶是不禮貌的。Mark說要買一些做熱狗和漢堡用的圓面包，就是bun，一種小而圓的甜面包或點(diǎn)心。Mark還要做一個(gè)potato salad，土豆沙拉。那么Ann準(zhǔn)備帶什么去參加party呢？她要帶Frisbee，也就是在一種在美國非常流行的玩具，飛盤，一種飛碟狀的塑料圓盤，兩個(gè)人可以互相拋扔。Ann還準(zhǔn)備在那天放她從中國帶過來的風(fēng)箏。
