Thestatueofliberty(改编).docVIP

The Statue of Liberty One of the most famous statues in the world stands on an island in New York Harbor. This statue is, of course, the Statue of Liberty. For Americans, it is the most important symbol of their culture, since it is seen as a tribute to the most significant event in history—US victory in the war of independence. The Statue of Liberty is a woman who holds a torch up high. Visitors can go inside the statue. The statue is so large that as many as twelve people can stand inside the torch. Many more people can stand in other parts of the statue. The statue weighs 225 tons and is 301 feet tall. The Statue of Liberty was put up in 1886. It was a gift to the United States from the people of France. Over the years France and the United States had a special relationship. In 1776 France helped the American colonies gain independence from England. The French wanted to do something special for the U.S. centennial, its 100th birthday. Laboulaye was a well-known Frenchman who admired the United States. One night at a dinner in his house, Laboulaye talked about the idea of a gift. Among Laboulaye’s guests was the French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. Bartholdi thought of a statue of liberty. He offered to design the statue. At the same time, he was in love with a woman whom he had met in Canada. His mother could not approve of her sons affection for a woman she had never met, but Bartholdi went ahead and married his love in 1876. That same year Bartholdi had assembled the statues right arm and torch, and displayed them in Philadelphia. It is said that he had used his wifes arm as the model, but felt her face was too beautiful for the statue. He needed someone whose face represented suffering yet strength, someone more severe than beautiful. He chose his mother. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on an island in Upper New York Bay in 1886. It had his mothers face and his wifes body, but Bartholdi called it my daughter, Liberty. Many people contribu