20091109 THE FALL OF THE WALL TURNS 20 (1)

The Fall of the Wall Turns 20

At midnight on Nov. 9, 1989, people poured through the gates of the Berlin Wall.　Crowds of East and West Germans then climbed to the top of the wall and began to destroy it. Now, two decades after that historic night, how will Germany mark the event?

Twentieth anniversary celebration
From Nov. 7th to 9th, people will gather at the Brandenburg Gate to celebrate. The　climax will come on the last day when a huge series of domino blocks will fall. This stands for the chain of events that led to the fall of the wall two decades ago.

Changes since the fall
Berlin, home again to the German government since 1999, has renewed itself. Many old historic buildings have been restored. Upscale shops once again line the famous avenue Unter den Linden.　The DDR Museum educates visitors about life in former East Berlin. The city continues to move forward, but some tension still remains between　the "Westerners" and "Easterners." The past will never be forgotten, but the future looks bright for Berlin.


mark n. 記號
mark v. 紀念
=> recognize
eg: Jason marked his 30th birthday with a trip to Europe.
eg: The monument marks the sacrifice of brave soldiers during the Vietnam War.

mark v. 象徵
eg: The death of the king marked the end of his empire.

climax n. 頂點/最高點
=> the highest point, the peak
eg: The climax of the story was very exciting.

re- 再一次
renew v. 重建/重新修復
=> make it new again, redo
eg: After they talked about the problem, their relationship was renewed.
eg: The city government decided to renew the historical building next year.

renew v. 更新/更換
eg: I need to renew my driver's license. It expired recently.

tension n. 緊張局勢/緊張狀況
=> a situation/anger between two people or two group
eg: The tension between the husband and wife was gone when the man apologized for hurting her.

upscale adj. 高檔的/針對高消費群的
=> expensive, a high quality
eg: Many upscale furniture stores closed last year due to the economic recession.
eg: She lives in on upscale area of the city.

domino n. 骨牌



//== Chat Room ==//

stand for something 代表/象徵
=> represent something
eg: USA stands for the United States of America.

stand for 支持/擁護(為某一個理想或是主義奮戰)
=> in favor of something
eg: The United States is a country that stand for democracy

stand up for someone 擁護某人

stand someone up 放人家鴿子
=> fail to keep a date with someone
eg: He stood me up last night.
eg: I got stood up last night.


//== Grammar on the Go ==//

This stands for the chain of events that led to the fall of the wall two decades ago.
eg: This represents the chain of events that led to the fall of the wall two decades ago.

stand
=> on one's feet

stand for
=> represent or mean something

eg: The five rings in the Olympic symbol stand for the continents of this world.
eg: ASAP stands for "as soon as possible."

//== Did you know ==//

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, more than 1,000 dominoes will be set up. The dominoes will cover the two kilometers between the　Brandenburg Gate and Potsdamer Platz. The dominoes will then be knocked down to　symbolize the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. The wall of dominoes will take about half in hour to fall.