VOA标准英语2009年-Germany Marks 20th Anniversary of Collapse

By Sonja Pace
Berlin
09 November 2009

 
Visitors gather at Potsdamer Platz
The German capital will commemorate¹ on Monday the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago - on November 9, 1989. More than 100,000 visitors are expected to converge² on the city and world leaders have begun arriving in Berlin for festivities that include a variety of open air events. The anniversary provides an opportunity for high level political meetings.

It is being called "the festival of freedom" as the city commemorates³ the day 20 years ago that the Wall fell.

The Wall stood for nearly three decades, dividing the city and Germany into East and West. It was the most tangible⁴ symbol of the Cold War.

But in the end, protests and peaceful revolutions in the region brought it down, leading to the re-unification of Germany, the end of the Cold War and geopolitical shifts in Europe and beyond.

To represent that chain of events, a long line of oversized, brightly painted dominoes has been set up running for one-and-a-half kilometers in an area where the Wall once stood. 

Berlin's mayor, Klaus Wowereit, unveiled the exhibit. "The dominoes were painted mostly by youngsters in Germany but also from elsewhere in the world," he said. Wowereit added that the project is meant to teach them about that time in history and to encourage them to break down walls and barriers wherever they may be.

On this anniversary, festivities include open air concerts, speeches and a grand fireworks finale on Monday night.

But with political leaders and dignitaries coming from far and wide, it is also a chance for bilateral⁵ meetings, talks and speeches.

 
Remnants of the original Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in town for the events and spoke⁶ on Sunday evening at an awards dinner of the Atlantic Council. She urged that the momentum⁷ for freedom continue. "We owe it to ourselves and to those who yearn⁸ for the same freedoms that are enjoyed and even taken for granted in Berlin today. And we need to form an even stronger partnership⁹ to bring down the walls of the 21st century," she said.

This anniversary is about remembering the past. And as the dominoes run in a line from Potsdamer Platz, past Brandenburg Gate to the nearby parliament, they once again divide the city, even if only briefly¹⁰. But at each end, they will get a nudge to tumble down - much like the Wall did two decades ago.

Organizers of the events say they want the festivities to connect with ordinary people - to show that it was people power, with the help of reform minded political leaders, that brought down the Wall and changed the course of history.

1 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

2 converge   

vi.会合；聚集，集中；(思想、观点等)趋近

参考例句：

• The results converge towards this truth.其结果趋近于这个真理。
• Parallel lines converge at infinity.平行线永不相交。

3 commemorates   

n.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的名词复数 )v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A tombstone is erected in memory of whoever it commemorates. 墓碑是为纪念它所纪念的人而建的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A tablet commemorates his patriotic activities. 碑文铭记他的爱国行动。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 tangible   

adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的

参考例句：

• The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
• There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。

5 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

8 yearn   

v.想念；怀念；渴望

参考例句：

• We yearn to surrender our entire being.我们渴望着放纵我们整个的生命。
• Many people living in big cities yearn for an idyllic country life.现在的很多都市人向往那种田园化的生活。

9 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

10 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。