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FESTIVAL DE LOS CEREZOS EN FLOR. Interesante artículo sobre la celebración anual en Washington D.C. para conmemorar el regalo que en 1912 hiciera Japón de 3.000 cerezos. Estos árboles señalan la llegada de la primavera con una explosión de vida e intensos colores rosados en pleno parque West Potomac.
Como de costumbre, hemos intercalado un vocabulario bilingüe para facilitar tu comprensión y aprendizaje de vocabulario y expresiones.
Pulsa la palabra "AUDIO" para escuchar. Para descargar acerca la flecha del ratón a "AUDIO" y con
botón derecho selecciona la opción "Guardar Archivo (o Destino) Como" y guarda el archivo en tu móvil o computadora. |
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CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL |
AUDIO |
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From VOA Learning English,
welcome to "This is America". I’m Kelly Jean Kelly. And I’m Bob Doughty. |
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It is here at last: the Washington D.C. spring, when
America’s capital bursts into color. We can ride a bus, a bicycle, a Segway, a
horse-drawn carriage, a taxi or a pedicab around the historic city. But to see
some of the most important places, walking is best. Do not forget to wear your
walking shoes. |
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it is here at last: por fin llegó; spring: primavera; bursts into: estalla de; Segway: motocicleta; horse-drawn carriage: carruaje tirado por caballos; pedicab: velotaxi (triciclo público); around the historic city: alrededor del casco histórico; |
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The first things we notice are the people – crowds and crowds of people. These
visitors fill -- and sometimes overflow – the trains, buses and restaurants.
They increase traffic and sometimes block it.
But the District of Columbia – called D.C. – is pleased to welcome tourists,
especially at this time of year. City officials say more than one million people
visit Washington during the two-week period surrounding the Cherry Blossom
Festival. Hotels, tour guides and eating places all benefit from the guests. |
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crowds: multitudes; fill: llenan; overflow: desbordan; increase: aumentan; block it: lo bloquean; to welcome: recibir; all benefit from: todos se benefician con; |
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“Yeah, our
business today is okay. Weather is good, work is good. We’re selling
hot dogs, you know, like this is something is like
national food.” |
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business today: las ventas hoy; national food: comida nacional; |
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“This is Nini’s Soft Serve, located right here in DC. We serve
soft serve ice
cream, the vanilla, the chocolate, and the
twist.
So far
it’s been great, I mean
a lot of people from different places, we’ve met a lot of different people. So
tourism seems to be booming
right now.” |
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soft serve ice cream: mousse helada; twist: helado de 2 sabores entrelazados; so far: hasta ahora; it's been great: nos ha ido genial; seems to be booming: parece estar estallando; right now: en este preciso instante; |
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Many in the crowds in the city for the festivities are young people
on spring
vacations from school. Some come with groups from their schools,
wearing similar
T-shirts. That lets their teachers and guides
count heads, and
make sure nobody
gets lost.
Younger children are also touring with their parents and grandparents. |
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on spring vacaciones: en vacaciones de primavera; wearing: vistiendo; T-shirts: camisetas, sudaderas; that lets: eso les permite a; count heads: contar a los presentes; make sure nobody gets lost: asegurarse que nadie se pierda; touring: yendo de excursión; |
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The famous
cherry trees bloom around the waters of the
basin, which reflect
the
trees’ images. More cherry trees grow in East Potomac Park and around the
Washington Monument. |
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cherry trees bloom: cerezos florecen; basin: reservorio, lago artificial; the trees' images: las imágenes de los árboles; grow: crecen; |
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“Hi my name is Danielle, I’m from New York, and
I’m on my way to the Cherry
Blossom festival. I’m expecting that
it will be beautiful, because I’ve seen
them in person in Japan, so it’ll be interesting to see them here.” |
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I'm on my way to: voy a presenciar; I'm expecting that: espero que; |
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At the
Tidal Basin, visitors from all over the world are moving along the
sidewalk and between the
graceful trees. Their
branches appear
to reach out to
the people. Some of the trees were given to the United States by Japan and
planted as long ago as 1912. Others
developed much more recently.
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tidal basin: cuenca tidal, dique de marea; sidewalk: vereda; graceful: gráciles, elegantes; branches: ramas; to reach out to: alcanzar a, ponerse en contacto con; were given: fueron obsequiados; as long ago as: desde tan atrás como; developed: crecieron, se desarrollaron; |
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“My name is Amelia, I’m from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.
We’re having a sushi and like Matsuri sort of lunch type thing for the Cherry
Blossom Festival, which is another reason why we’re here.” |
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having a sushi: comiendo un plato japonés; and like Matsuri: y como ocurre durante el Matsuri (festival religioso japonés); another reason why: otro motivo por el cual; |
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“Hi my name is Ramir, and I’m with my family and my friends. We’re visiting from
New Jersey. We’re eating sandwiches with tomatoes, cucumbers, oranges,
watermelon.” |
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tomatoes: tomates; watermelon: sandía, melón de agua; |
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“My first name is Grant, and I’m having pretzels, a sandwich, and some Kool-Aid.” |
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pretzels: rosquillas; Kool-Aid: polvo con sabor a fruta para mezclar con agua; |
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The waters of the Tidal Basin reflect the Jefferson Memorial, the huge white
monument celebrating America’s third president, Thomas Jefferson. His statue stands inside a stone memorial. Some of his most important words line the walls.
Among them: “The God who gave us life gave us liberty".
Some people in the cherry-blossom crowd are going to the Jefferson Memorial to
read those words. |
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huge: enorme; stands: se levanta; among them: entre otras; |
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Higher up against the skies are colorful kites.
Some have colorful designs or pictures of animals. A few seem to be on their way to low hanging clouds. Men, women and even young children raise their cellphones
and cameras and take pictures. |
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higher up: bien en lo alto; colorful kites: coloridas cometas, barriletes; designs: diseños; a few seem: algunos parecen; to low hanging clouds: hacia las nubes bajas; raise: elevan; take pictures: toman fotos; |
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One of the most memorable musical events took place here in 1938. At that time,
the great American contralto Marian Anderson sang to a huge crowd from the
Lincoln Memorial steps. She appeared there after being denied permission to
perform in the Daughters of the American Revolution Hall because she was
African-American.
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events: eventos, acontecimientos; took place: tuvo lugar; contralto: la voz femenina más grave; sang to a huge crowd: cantó ante una verdadera multitud; steps: escalinatas; after being denied permission to perform: después que se le había negado la autorización para actuar; African-American: afroamericana; |
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Years later, Martin Luther King Junior gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech
at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963.
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years later: años más tarde; speech: discurso; |
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“…that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the
sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of
brotherhood. I have a dream…” |
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the sons of former slaves: los hijos de antiguos esclavos; the sons of former slave owners: los hijos de antiguos amos de esclavos; will be able to sit down together: podrán sentarse juntos; at the table of brotherhood: a la mesa de la hermandad; |
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His struggle for civil rights changed the lives of millions of Americans. |
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struggle: lucha; changed the lives: cambió las vidas; |
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Not far away, Martin Luther King is remembered in a memorial whose centerpiece
is a nine-meter white statue. It is the latest addition to Washington’s major
monuments. It is the only one that honors a non-president. The sculpture is
called the “Stone of Hope”. It shows Dr. King seeming to look out into a future
that his life and work continue to help build. |
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not far away: no muy lejos; memorial: monumento conmemorativo; whose: cuyo; centerpiece: elemento central; nine-meter: de 9 metros de alto; the latest: la más reciente; major: principales; Stone of Hope: Piedra de la Esperanza; seeming to look out into: pareciendo mirar hacia; |
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There are many more things to see in Washington, D.C. –- in the spring, or at
any time. We have visited just a few. But we have walked a long way now, and the
time for our visit is over.
Please come back! |
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at any time: en otro momento; just a few: sólo algunas; a long way: un largo trecho; is over: ha terminado; come back: regresa; |
