2004-8-15
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English. I'm Steve
Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Gwen Outen. Today we take a summer visit around the
nation's capital.
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VOICE ONE:
August is a month when a lot of people from the Washington, D.C.,
area go someplace else for a week or two. But August is also when a
lot of people from someplace else go to Washington. Such a trip
often starts this way:
A person who lives here -- we'll call her Suzy -- gets a call
from friends in another part of the country. They want to see the
city. They want to see everything. But they can only stay a day or
two.
Suzy knows that her friends cannot possibly see everything in
such a short time. Also, the weather may be very hot. There may be
security delays. But Suzy wants her visitors to leave with happy
memories.
VOICE TWO:
So she organizes a plan for her
friends. She decides they will do most of their travel in the city
by foot or on Metro trains and buses. Metro is the public
transportation system. That way they will not have to worry about
where to leave their car.
At night, they will visit open-air memorials. During the day, the
group will see museums; many are free of charge to enter. But,
without a lot of time, which ones should they see?
The visitors have two children. So Suzy decides that her friends
should begin at the National Museum of Natural History. This is part
of the Smithsonian Institution. The first thing the children want to
see is the area that shows what dinosaurs looked like millions of
years ago.
The Natural History Museum is along the grassy area in Washington
called the National Mall.
VOICE ONE:
Next Suzy leads her friends along
the Mall to the National Museum of American History. It contains all
sorts of objects. There are dresses worn by the wives of presidents.
There is a walking stick that Benjamin Franklin gave to George
Washington, America's first president. Franklin was a statesmen,
writer and inventor. The collections in the American History Museum
also include objects from popular culture of today.
The guests have walked a lot so far. They see a table, but they
cannot sit at it. This is the table where Thomas Jefferson wrote the
Declaration of Independence from Britain in seventeen seventy-six.
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VOICE TWO:
Next, the visitors walk over to the most popular museum in the
world. Each year as many as ten million people visit the National
Air and Space Museum. Suzy points out some of the most famous
things. One is the command vehicle from the Apollo Eleven
spacecraft. In nineteen-sixty-nine, Apollo Eleven carried the first
astronauts to land on the moon. The visitors all touch the moon rock
that is also on display in museum.
By now, everyone is hungry and a little tired. So they buy food
inside the Air and Space Museum. Then, as they walk out into the
sunlight, they look across the street. They see a building that
looks unlike any others around it, including the Capitol, where
Congress meets.
The shape is like waves of golden sand. This is the National
Museum of the American Indian. But it is not ready yet for the
public. Opening ceremonies are planned for September twenty-first.
VOICE ONE:
Suzy's friends decide they would like to see some art. But they
do not have the time or energy to see the National Gallery of Art.
Instead they walk over to a smaller museum, the Freer Gallery. It
has art collections from Asia and the United States.
Here the group inspects one of the rooms. Large golden birds with
shining tail feathers are painted on the walls. James McNeill
Whistler painted this. It is called the Peacock Room.
VOICE TWO:
Next the group walks to a Metro station. The next stop for them
is the International Spy Museum. It opened in two thousand two.
Visitors learn about the history of intelligence gathering. And they
see all kinds of devices used by spies.
But spying is not the only subject here. Currently there is a
collection called "The Enemy Within: Terror in America -- Seventeen
Seventy Six to Today." This collection includes pieces of the planes
flown into the World Trade Center in New York on September eleventh,
two thousand one.
By now, everyone in the group is ready for some quiet time and a
good meal. So Suzy takes them back to her home by Metro. Later, they
start out again. This time Suzy will drive her guests in her car to
see the memorials in Washington.
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VOICE ONE:
Now it is getting dark. The visitors will do some of their
sightseeing by moonlight, when the temperature is cooler.
They start at the F.D.R. Memorial. President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt led the nation from nineteen thirty three until his death
in nineteen forty five. He served longer than any other American
president. The memorial opened in nineteen ninety seven. It contains
four areas. Each represents one of his terms in office. Statues help
show what life was like. One sculpture shows men standing in line
waiting for bread during the Great Depression.
VOICE TWO:
After that, Suzy takes her guests to the Korean War Veterans
Memorial. The war lasted from nineteen fifty to nineteen fifty
three. The statues of soldiers look real. Moonlight shines on their
faces.
From there, the visitors walk to the Lincoln Memorial. Abraham
Lincoln was the sixteenth president. He led the nation through the
Civil War in the eighteen sixties. He was shot to death as he
watched a play in Washington. The memorial is a large white building
open all the around. At the center is a larger-than-life size statue
of the president. Lincoln is seated. He looks toward a body of water
called the Reflecting Pool.
VOICE ONE:
Next, the visitors walk to the
black wall that forms the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. On the wall are
the names of more than fifty eight thousand Americans who died in
the Vietnam War. Names are listed by year of death. The wall grows
taller and taller as the war reaches its height. Many visitors find
the names of loved ones and rub the letters onto paper. Many leave
flowers and notes at the foot of the wall.
Maya Lin designed this wall. In nineteen eighty, she entered a
national competition to design a Vietnam Veterans Memorial. She was
twenty one years old then, an architecture student at Yale
University.
VOICE TWO:
In April of this year, the first National World War Two Memorial
opened nearby. This memorial looks more traditional. It is made of
bronze and granite, with stone pillars all around. In the center, at
ground level, is a round pool of water with fountains in the middle.
The World War Two memorial honors the sixteen million who served
in the American armed forces. It includes a wall with four thousand
gold stars to honor the more than four hundred thousand who died.
VOICE ONE:
After all their walking, Suzy and her guests are glad to return
to the car. Now they will drive a short distance to see the memorial
to America's third president. A statue of Thomas Jefferson stands in
the middle of a white circular structure with columns all around. In
the moonlight, the visitors can see an image of the memorial in the
Tidal Basin, which collects water from the Potomac River.
Next the group drives past the Washington Monument. This honor to
George Washington is made of white stone. Its narrow form reaches
more than one hundred sixty nine meters toward the sky.
It is late now, and everyone decides they have seen enough for
one day.
VOICE TWO:
Next morning, they walk past the White House. Visitors can go
inside the president's home, but they must first get tickets through
a member of Congress.
Instead, Suzy's group stands in line to visit the United States
Capitol. They see where the House of Representatives and the Senate
meet. And they see the paintings and statues that are throughout the
Capitol.
VOICE ONE:
Later that day, the guests fly home. Suzy gets some time to rest
before she has to go back to work. But her friends are already
planning their next trip. They did not have time to see places like
the Holocaust Museum, the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court.
They want to see the American Indian museum, too.
Maybe next time they will have to stay longer. Suzy cannot wait
till next time.
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VOICE TWO:
Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty
Weaver. And our thanks to Suzy Karpel, whose real-life experience
with visitors to Washington helped guide our story. I'm Gwen Outen.
VOICE ONE:
And I'm Steve Ember. We invite you back again next week for THIS
IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English.