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  1. Read and translate the text Statue of Liberty

Before you read

  1. From the heading, what is the text about?

  2. What do you know about this monument?

  3. Where is it situated?

  4. Have you ever seen this monument? What impressed you most?

The Statue of Liberty (French: Statue de la Liberté), or, more formally, Liberty Enlightening the World, was presented to the United States by the people of France in 1886. The French people donated about $250,000 for the construction of the statue, and the people of the United States gave about $280,000 for the pedestal. Standing on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, it welcomes visitors, immigrants, and returning Americans traveling by ship. The copper-clad statue, dedicated on October 28, 1886, commemorates the centennial of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence and was given to the United States to represent the friendship established during the American Revolution. Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi sculpted the statue. Maurice Koechlin - chief engineer of Gustave Eiffel's engineering company and designer of the Eiffel Tower - engineered the internal structure.

Description. The statue represents a proud woman, dressed in a loose robe that falls in graceful folds to the top of the pedestal on which the statue stands. The right arm holds a great torch raised high in the air. The left arm grasps a tablet bearing the date of the Declaration of Independence. A crown with huge spikes, like sun rays, rests on the head. At the feet is a broken shackle; which people seldom notice, symbolizing the overthrow of tyranny.

This statue is one of the most celebrated examples of repousse work, which is a process of hammering metal over a mold in order to shape it. The statue is made of more than 300 thin sheets of copper, with a total weight of about 100 tons. The statue stands 151 feet high and weighs 450,000 pounds. The torch rises 305 feet above the base of the pedestal. It gleams at night with powerful incandescent lights as a symbol of liberty shedding light upon the world. Floodlights from the base shine upon the statue throughout the night.

An elevator carries visitors up the pedestal to the foot of the statue. At this point, an observation balcony affords a magnificent view of the harbor and the city. Visitors may climb a steep, narrow, spiral staircase from the pedestal as high as the crown on the statue's head. A ladder inside the arm leads to the torch but this is too narrow and steep for public use.

The floodlights at the base were added in 1916. The statue became a national monument in 1924. It was repaired and strengthened throughout in 1937. Congress changed the island's name to liberty Island in 1956. The National Park Service maintains the Statue of Liberty National Monument.

Source: English Learner’s Digest.

Questions

Where does a model of the Statue of Liberty stand?

What does the statue symbolize?

What metal is the statue made of?

What does a broken shackle symbolize?

Who was the statue designed by?

What country was it designed in?

What did people of France do?

When was the statue unveiled?

When did the statue become a national monument?

When did the Congress change the island’s name?