旅遊英語：Arlington Nationa'l Cemetery介紹大綱

導語：阿靈頓國家公墓(Arlington National Cemetery)坐落於美國弗吉尼亞州阿靈頓郡。它是阿靈頓這個美國第四小郡境內爲數不多的大型建築之一。阿靈頓與華盛頓特區隔波多馬克河相望，是華盛頓的社區，河上跨5座橋連接兩地。阿靈頓郡最初稱亞歷山大郡，1789年，弗吉尼亞州將它讓給了聯邦政府，成爲哥倫比亞區的一部分;1846年，聯邦政府又將它歸還給弗吉尼亞州。

介紹：

On the surface， Chinatown is prosperous a "model slum，" some have called it with the lowest crime rate， highest employment and least juvenile delinquency of any city district. Walk through its crowded streets at any time of day， and every shop is doing a brisk and businesslike trade： restaurant after restaurant is booming; there are storefront displays of shiny squids， clawing crabs and clambering lobster; and street markets offer overflowing piles of exotic green vegetables， garlic and ginger root. Chinatown has the feel of a land of plenty， and the reason why lies with the Chinese themselves： even here， in the very core of downtown Manhattan， they have been careful to preserve their own way of dealing with things， preferring to keep affairs close to the bond of the family and allowing few intrusions into a still-insular culture. There have been several concessions to Westerners storefront signs now offer English translations， and Haagen Dazs and Baskin Robbins ice-cream stores have opened on lower Mott Street but they can't help but seem incongruous. The one time of the year when Chinatown bursts open is during the Chinese New Year festival， held each year on the first full moon after January 19， when a giant dragon runs down Mott Street to the accompaniment of firecrackers， and the gutters run with ceremonial dyes.

Arlington Nationa'l Cemetery

Beneath the neighborhood's blithely prosperous facade， however， there is a darker underbelly. Sharp practices continue to flourish， with traditional extortion and protection rackets still in business. Non-union sweatshops their assembly lines grinding from early morning to late into the evening are still visited by the US Department of Labor， who come to investigate workers' testimonies of being paid below minimum wage for seventy-plus-hour work weeks. Living conditions are abysmal for the poorer Chinese mostly recent immigrants and the elderly who reside in small rooms in overcrowded tenements ill-kept by landlords. Yet， because the community has been cloistered for so long and has only just begun to seek help from city officials for its internal problems， you won't detect any hint of difficulties unless you reside in Chinatown for a considerable length of time.
 

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Memorial Day is a national holiday observed in theUnited States on the last Monday in May. It is theday when Americans honor the women and men whohave served in the military.

The Memorial Day holiday was first observed in 1868.The holiday was called Decoration Day. Theobservance was at what was then known as theNational Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, across thePotomac River from Washington, D.C.

It is now known as Arlington National Cemetery.

More than four million people visit the cemetery every year.

It is the most famous national burial place in the United States. It includes about 250 hectaresof rolling hills, and trees that were planted hundreds of years ago. There are more than 8,000trees of 300 species in the cemetery. Up and down the hills are lines of simple whiteheadstones marking the graves. About 400 of the markers have gold letters on them. Theseare the burial places of those who have been awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highestmilitary honor.

Among those buried at the cemetery are military and political leaders, cabinet officers andSupreme Court justices. Astronauts, explorers and athletes are also buried there. So arechaplains, nurses, slaves and even war correspondents.

Arlington is on the land that once belonged to George Washington Parke Custis, a step-grandson of George Washington. The cemetery holds the graves of soldiers who died in everywar in American history. Some who fought and died in the Revolutionary War in the 1700s weremoved there from a nearby cemetery.

The first military burial was on May 13, 1864 for Private William Christman, who died in theCivil War. On May 15, 1864, two unknown Union Soldiers were buried at Arlington. They werethe first of almost 5,000 unknowns who are now buried at the cemetery. On March 4, 1921,Congress approved the burial of an unidentified American soldier from World War I. It is nowthe site of the famed Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Nearly 4,000 former slaves are buried at Arlington National Cemetery. One of them is JamesParks. He dug the first graves in the cemetery. And he is the only person buried there who wasalso born on the property.

Two American presidents are buried at Arlington National Cemetery. William Howard Taft waspresident in the early 1900s. John F. Kennedy was president in the 1960s. More people havevisited his grave than any other in the United States.

Other famous people buried at the cemetery include Joe Louis. He was an Army sergeant inWorld War II. He was a world champion boxer. Robert E. Peary discovered the North Pole. Dr.Anita Newcomb McGee founded the Army Nurse Corps. And the remains of the sevenastronauts who died when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded are buried in Section 46.

Sixty-five foreigners are also buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Britain has the most, with26. South Vietnam has 10, including nine unknown soldiers.

Not everyone who gave military service to the United States may be buried at the cemetery.Those who can be buried there include anyone who died while serving on active duty or whoretired from military. Also eligible are those who received high military awards, including theMedal of Honor, those who were injured in combat and former prisoners of war. Some federalgovernment officials and the spouse and children of those buried at Arlington may also beeligible. There is no cost for the burial or funeral service.

Cemetery officials are worried that they will soon run out of space. So they have added an areawhere the ashes of people who chose to be cremated rather than buried can be placed. Thereare tens of thousands of spaces in the building, which is called a columbarium. The cemetery isalso expanding by almost 11 hectares. This will add almost 30,000 burial places.

Since 1948, on the Thursday before Memorial Day, soldiers from the 3rd US Infantry, The OldGuard, have placed small American flags in front of every headstone in the cemetery. This year,more than a thousand Old Guard soldiers placed more than 220,000 flags in front of eachgrave marker "to honor every individual buried at Arlington National Cemetery."

Some of the Old Guard soldiers placed flags in front of the graves of soldiers they knew, inSection 60. Some have called it "the saddest place in America." It is where some of the soldierswho died in America's latest wars -- in Iraq and Afghanistan -- are buried.