高中英语 voa常速听力2012年09月合辑文本us-congressional-gold-medal-program-has-long-history素材.docVIP

高中英语 VOA常速听力2012年09月合辑（文本）US-Congressional-Gold-Medal-Program-Has-Long-History素材 Burma’s opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, will receive the Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony in the U.S. Capitol Wednesday. Members of Congress have bestowed the honor on hundreds of individuals over the course of American history. Aung San Suu Kyi is the latest recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal, the nations highest civilian award. Congress bestows the honor on an individual for a distinguished contribution or a lifetime of service. Donald Ritchie is Historian of the U.S. Senate. The Congressional Gold Medal is awarded by Congress, and it is a way to signify some great achievement, he said. It can be to an American citizen, it can be to a non-citizen - someone whom Americans admire. First presented to General George Washington in 1776, the Congressional Gold Medal has been awarded to individuals from all walks of life. They include - aeronautical pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright, actor John Wayne, and composer Aaron Copland, whose Fanfare for the Common Man has become one of the most recognizable pieces in American classical music. Other recipients include U.S Presidents Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, inventor Thomas Edison, singer Frank Sinatra, painter Andrew Wyeth, athletes Jesse Owens and Jackie Robinson, poet Robert Frost, Generals George Marshall and Douglas MacArthur, composer George Gershwin and film producer and animator Walt Disney. Recipients who are non-U.S. citizens include two British prime ministers - Winston Churchill and Tony Blair, former South African President Nelson Mandela, the late Pope John Paul II, Holocaust survivor and political activist Elie Wiesel and Mother Teresa. Congressional legislation is required to make each medal. Once the legislation is passed, Congress commissions the U.S. Mint to design and create the medal, although it was not always that way. The first medals, back in the 18th century, were struck in Paris rather th