VOA · As It Is
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed5:312025-02-20public domain
As It Is is VOA Learning English's daily news magazine. Each report covers a current story in clear, learner-speed English with a controlled vocabulary — the closest thing to real news broadcasts that intermediate learners can fully digest, and ideal raw material for dictation.
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01The Statue of Liberty has served as the guardian of New York Harbor for nearly 150 years.
02The statue might be one of the most photographed works of art in the world.
03A French sculptor, Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, designed it in the late 1800s.
04Today, the monument remains a beautiful sight on the New York skyline.
05The materials required for building the Statue of Liberty were almost lost at sea.
06In 1885, the ship carrying those materials nearly sank in stormy seas.
07Luckily, the ship survived.
08It arrived in June of that year.
09Its full name is Liberty Enlightening the World.
10The United States and France have been friends and allies since the American Revolution.
11France helped the American colonial armies defeat British forces.
12The war officially ended in 1783.
13A few years later, the French rebelled against their king.
14France had wanted to give the statue to the United States on the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1876.
15But technical problems and lack of money delayed the project.
16France finally, officially presented the statue to the United States in Paris in 1884.
17A pedestal to hold the 200 tons of weight was finished later.
18French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel created the necessary technology.
19Later, he designed the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
20Eiffel and others worked in Paris to produce a strong support system for the statue.
21The design also had to have the ability to move a little in strong winds.
22In France, workers separated the statue into 350 pieces, put them on a ship, and sent them across the ocean.
23After surviving the rough seas, the statue arrived in New York in more than 200 wooden boxes.
24It took workers four months to build the statue on the pedestal.
25On October 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland accepted the statue in a ceremony.
26He said, We will not forget that Liberty has here made her home, nor shall her chosen altar be neglected.
27Throughout history, the idea of liberty has often been represented by images of a woman.
28Historians say the statue's face was created to look like Bartholde's mother.
29Her right arm holds a torch high in the air.
30Her left arm holds a tablet with the date of America's Declaration of Independence.
31July 4, 1776.
32On her head, the Statue of Liberty wears a crown with seven points.
33Each point is meant to represent the light of freedom as it shines on the seven seas and seven continents of the world.
34The 25 windows in the crown represent gemstones found on Earth.
35A chain that represents oppression lies broken at her feet.
36Lady Liberty was officially named a national monument in 1924.
37Liberty Island and Fort Wood have been overseen by the U.S.
38National Park Service since 1933.
39The Statue of Liberty has survived damage caused by time, visits by millions of people, and the weather.
40It stood firm during a destructive storm, Hurricane Sandy, which struck the East Coast in October of 2012.
41But Liberty Island suffered damage, requiring major repairs.
42I'm Ana Mateo.
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