VOA慢速英语20060501c

THIS IS AMERICA - The Empire State Building Turns 75By Caty Weaver¹

Broadcast: Monday, May 01, 2006

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.


VOICE TWO:
And I'm Faith Lapidus. One of the best known buildings in the world is having a birthday. This famous building in New York City is seventy-five years old. And it is our subject this week.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The ground was broken on January twenty-second, nineteen thirty. Workers dug a hole about seventeen meters deep for the foundation². In March, work began on the steel structure. It grew taller and taller. By November, well ahead of plans, the stonework on the outside of the building was finished.


Empire State Building under construction

On May first, nineteen thirty-one, President Herbert Hoover pressed a button in Washington, D.C. On went the lights of, at that time, the world's tallest building.

The Empire State Building in Midtown Manhattan was open for business.

VOICE TWO:

The Empire State Building is just over four hundred forty-three meters tall. That includes the sixty-two meter tall lightening³ rod⁴ on top. There are one hundred three floors.

And if you want to reach them all on foot, just know there are more than one thousand eight hundred sixty stairs. Runners compete in a yearly⁵ race to the top. If even the thought of that makes you tired, then you might want to ride an elevator instead. The building has seventy-three of them.

The Empire State Building sits on more than seven thousand square meters of land.

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 foundation   

n.[pl.]地基；基础；基金会；建立，创办

参考例句：

• The foundation of the university took place 600 years ago.这所大学是600年前创办的。
• The Foundation gives money to help artists.那家基金会捐款帮助艺术家。

3 lightening   

n.发光v.使（某物）更明亮( lighten的现在分词 )；变得更光明

参考例句：

• The lightening splintered a tree. 闪电把一棵树劈开了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• I saw the lightening split the clouds and heard the thunders following. 我看到闪电撕开云层，听到随之而来的雷声。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）

4 rod   

n.钓竿，杆，棒

参考例句：

• Pass me a bamboo rod.递给我一根竹竿。
• He heated the iron rod and bent it into a right angle.他将铁棒烧热，将其弯成直角。

5 yearly   

adj.每年的，一年一度的；adv.一年一次地

参考例句：

• The flower show is a yearly event in our town.我们镇上的花展一年举行一次。
• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。