VOA标准英语2012--Debate Over US Flag Designer Continues

 

Debate Over US Flag Designer Continues

It’s going to be a busy day at Betsy Ross’s house in Philadelphia on Thursday. She won’t be there, since she died in 1836, but hundreds of tourists will be going through her house.

You see, Thursday is Flag Day in the United States. The unofficial holiday commemorates¹ the adoption² of the stars-and-stripes design of the American flag by the Continental³ Congress 235 years ago, on June 14, 1777.

According to lore⁴, the Ross House is the birthplace of the nation’s flag. That’s open to debate, but it’s a story that schoolbooks still tell.

Betsy Ross was a seamstress, busy upholstering furniture in Philadelphia, which was the focal point of the American revolution against British rule.

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The Declaration of Independence by the colonists⁵ was signed there, and so was the new nation’s Constitution after independence was won.

Widowed when her husband, a member of the local militia⁶, was killed in a gunpowder⁷ explosion, Betsy Ross often mended the clothes of the rebels’ leader and future U.S. president, George Washington.

According to what some say is history and others a stretch of what really happened, Washington asked Ross to design and sew the new nation’s flag.

The story was promoted by Ross’s grandson, who wrote that Betsy Ross had “made with her hands the first flag.”

She became a role model for girls - a shining example of women’s contributions to the nation’s history.

Most research indicates that Ross did sew the first flag.

She’s credited with substituting artful five-point white stars for six-pointed ones in the upper-left blue field.

But many other accounts indicate George Washington brought the design to Ross and simply asked her to stitch it together.

In a letter, Washington wrote: “We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her. And the white stripes shall go down to posterity⁸ [as] representing liberty.”

That’s deeper thinking than a humble⁹ seamstress would have come up with, according to those who doubt that Betsy Ross created the first American flag from scratch.

1 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》

2 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

3 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。

4 lore   

n.传说；学问，经验，知识

参考例句：

• I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他，向他讨教他的渊博的学问。
• Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。

5 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

7 gunpowder   

n.火药

参考例句：

• Gunpowder was introduced into Europe during the first half of the 14th century.在14世纪上半叶，火药传入欧洲。
• This statement has a strong smell of gunpowder.这是一篇充满火药味的声明。

8 posterity   

n.后裔，子孙，后代

参考例句：

• Few of his works will go down to posterity.他的作品没有几件会流传到后世。
• The names of those who died are recorded for posterity on a tablet at the back of the church.死者姓名都刻在教堂后面的一块石匾上以便后人铭记。

9 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。