VOA标准英语2011--History Comes to Life in LA Cemetery

History Comes to Life in LA Cemetery¹

Each year, history comes to life at a Los Angeles cemetery where residents of the West Adams district explore their city’s past. The Living History tour connects people in one neighborhood with interesting, and interred², residents from earlier years.
Many Hollywood notables are buried at the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery, including Hattie McDaniel. She was a pioneering black actress who lived in the neighborhood and won an Oscar for her role in the 1939 film "Gone with the Wind."
Each year, thanks to locals who take on their personas, visitors to the cemetery hear about lesser³ known residents buried here. They have stories that are just as compelling.
One is William T. Glassell. He came from Virginia and was a captain in the Confederate navy during the U.S. Civil War.
He’s played by local resident Matthew Kravitz:
“And I was actually the one to first command a naval⁴ submarine in an attack against the Union Fleet," said Karvitz, speaking in character.
Glassell survived the war and co-founded the California city of Orange, southeast of LA.
Elsewhere in the cemetery, Craig Weber tells the story of Portus Baxter Weare. He and his associates helped spark the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897. “We formed the North American Transportation and Trading Company, whose job was to displace people from their Midwestern lives and bring them to the Yukon in northwestern Canada with the promise of finding gold beyond measure," he said.
Magicians, musicians, writers and other outsized personalities⁵ are also buried here.
Michelle Youssefzadeh plays Nina Vitagliano Torre, an early race car driver who embellished⁶ her life story. “She motor-carred in Europe and said that she was from royalty⁷, which wasn’t the case at all. She was actually born here in California," she said.
Torre died in a racing⁸ accident in 1918.
Harvey O’Melveny was a lawyer and judge who helped bring trans-continental rail service to Los Angeles. Chris Taylor jumped at the chance to portray⁹ him. “I’m fascinated by 19th century history, and especially Los Angeles and California history, and like a lot of us, we love dressing¹⁰ up," said Taylor.
Gena Yuvette Davis plays Miriam Matthews. She was a pioneering black librarian. “It’s really fun. It’s very inspiring to learn about someone and the impact that they made," she said.
The cemetery tour draws several hundred visitors a year.
On this day, Frank Piontek was one of them. “There are so many people of interest that you don’t realize that are buried here and other people you’ve never heard of. The history is just wonderful," he said.
The annual Living History program is sponsored by the West Adams Heritage Association.
They'll bring a new batch¹¹ of personalities back to life in this cemetery next year.

1 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。

2 interred   

v.埋，葬( inter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Marie Curie's remains were exhumed and interred in the Pantheon. 玛丽·居里的遗体被移出葬在先贤祠中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The body was interred at the cemetery. 遗体埋葬在公墓里。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

4 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

5 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

6 embellished   

v.美化( embellish的过去式和过去分词 )；装饰；修饰；润色

参考例句：

• The door of the old church was embellished with decorations. 老教堂的门是用雕饰美化的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The stern was embellished with carvings in red and blue. 船尾饰有红色和蓝色的雕刻图案。 来自辞典例句

7 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

8 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

9 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

10 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

11 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。