Memorial day in the usa егэ

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The last Monday in May is Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a patriotic holiday in the United States.  It is also called Decoration Day.  It is a legal holiday in most states.

Northern states celebrate it on May 30th.  Southern states celebrate it on different dates, April 26th, May 10th, or June 3rd. Memorial Day is a sad holiday.  The country remembers men and women in the Armed Forces who died or were disabled in war or in the service of their country. Many people visit cemeteries on Memorial Day.  They place flowers, artificial poppies and flags on the graves of servicemen and service-women.

There are ceremonies at Gettysburg National Military Park and at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.  Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C., is the nation’s largest.  Many veterans and distinguished Americans, including President John F. Kennedy, have been buried there.

On Memorial Day, the President or Vice President of the United States lays a wreath on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  The soldiers buried in this special grave represent all those who gave their lives in the modern wars.

Tiny ships filled with flowers are placed on the Delaware River.  Wreaths are set afloat at Pearl Harbor, near the wreck of the battleship “Arizona”.

Many organizations take part in parades and special programs. Some of these groups are Veterans organizations, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and fraternal groups.  The programs often include a reading of Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address”.

For many Americans, Memorial Day is also a day of personal reflection.  It is a day of remembrance of the brutality and horror of war.  Many family members and friends of those who died in the Vietnam War visit the “Wall”, the monument dedicated to these veterans, located in Washington, D.C.

Memorial Day is a three-day weekend for most Americans.  Some people don’t think about the dead on Memorial Day. They think about summer vacations.  They go on picnics and enjoy the warm weather. But Memorial Day is a day to remember deceased friends, relatives, and veterans.

Background

Memorial Day began during the American Civil War to honor the soldiers who died during the war.  Some southern women chose May 30th to decorate the graves of the soldiers with flowers.  It is also believed that Cassandra Oliver Moncure, a woman of French origin from Virginia, chose this date because it is the “Day of Ashes” in France.  (This French Memorial Day marks the return of General Napoleon Bonaparte’s remains to France from St.  Helena).

In 1868, General John A.  Logan designated the day to honor the soldiers who died in the war by decorating their graves.  People called this day Decoration Day.  Then the name was changed from  Decoration Day to Memorial Day.  In 1971, Memorial Day became a national holiday on the last Monday in May.

Since the end of World War I, Memorial Day has been known as Poppy Day.  The poppy has become the symbol of the tragedy of World War I and of the renewal of life because many of the battlefields of France bloomed with poppies.  Little red paper poppies are sold to the public for the benefit of disabled and needy veterans.  The money collected is used for medical and educational services.  A tag on each poppy says:  “Honor the dead by helping the living.”

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Memorial Day in the USA

Memorial Day is a US holiday celebrated every year on the last Monday in May in honor of soldiers who died in service to their country. We explain everything about the origin and traditions of the American day of remembrance.

The origin of Memorial Day

Memorial Day originated in the years following the American Civil War. The war from 1861 to 1865 was the bloodiest one in US history. Some 620,000 Americans lost their lives on the battlefield – more than in World War II. As a result, the first national cemeteries were established after the Civil War to provide proper burials for fallen soldiers.

At first, Memorial Day was known as «Decoration Day.» The name was introduced by General John A. Logan, who led a veterans’ organization called the Grand Army of the Republic. In 1868, Logan called for a national Memorial Day to be created on May 30th for soldiers who died in the Civil War. On Decoration Day, the graves of the fallen were to be decorated with flowers.

The first Decoration Day was held at Arlington National Cemetery on May 30th, 1948. Future US President James Abram Garfield, who had served as a Union major general in the Civil War and was then a congressman from Ohio, delivered an address. It was followed by an audience of 5,000 who afterwards decorated the graves of 20,000 soldiers with flowers.

Memorial Day events across the country

In subsequent years, the annual commemoration became a custom. Starting in 1882, the US government allowed its employees a day off to give them a three-day weekend. For everyone else, Memorial Day was not yet a national holiday at first but was only recognized in individual US states.

In the Northern states of the USA, for example, Waterloo and New York City observed a commemoration day to remember the fallen soldiers. In 1873, New York became the first state to officially recognize the holiday. By 1890, all northern states had accepted Memorial Day as an official holiday.

The Southern states, however, still refused to recognize the holiday at that time and continued to honor the Confederacy’s fallen soldiers on different days. That changed after World War I. From then on, all American war victims were honored on Memorial Day, and the holiday was no longer limited to the Civil War.

In 1968, the US Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which declared Memorial Day a nationwide holiday to be held on the last Monday in May. In 2000, President Bill Clinton signed the National Moment of Remembrance Act. Since then, a moment of silence is to be observed at 3 pm local time throughout America as a sign of respect.

Memorial Day traditions

Americans commemorate Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries and memorials. To honor the deceased, soldiers, in particular, decorate the graves of their fallen comrades with flowers, wreaths, and US flags. Since the 1950s, for example, about 1,200 US military personnel have been putting small flags on each of the approximately 250,000 graves at Arlington National Cemetery on the Thursday before Memorial Day. Then, over the weekend, they patrol 24 hours a day to make sure each flag remains standing.

Many Americans wear red poppies in memory of those who died in the war or place these flowers on crosses and headstones near graves. The tradition began with the World War I poem «In Flanders Field.» The poppy, which bloomed on the battlefields in Belgium and France at that time, has become a symbol of remembrance.

Furthermore, cities and towns hold parades each year, often attended by military personnel and members of veterans’ organizations. Some of the largest parades are held in Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C.

Memorial Day is also the unofficial start of summer in America. Many people organize barbecues and picnics in the park, go swimming at the public pool, visit family or friends, and take trips or short vacations over the long weekend.

Interesting facts about Memorial Day

Did you know these interesting facts about America’s Memorial Day?

• Some 50 million Americans have served in the military since 1776.
• On Memorial Day, the USA remembers the soldiers who sacrificed their lives in defense of the country. On Veterans Day in November, on the other hand, all soldiers who have served the USA are honored.
• The decision to celebrate Memorial Day in May was made because this is the time when the flowers used to decorate the graves are in full bloom.
• In 1966, the US government declared the town of Waterloo in New York State the official birthplace of Memorial Day.
• On Memorial Day, the American flag is flown at half-mast until noon and then flown until sunset.
• Memorial Day is the most popular day to eat beef every year. July 4th and Labor Day share second place.
• On Memorial Day weekend, the state of Indiana always hosts the «Indianapolis 500» car race.

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Laughing and evolution

• 1. whether laughing emerged earlier on than humans did
• 2. to create the evolutionary tree linking humans and apes
• 3. that laughter is a uniquely human trait
• 4. that humans were closest to chimps and bonobos
• 5. that laughing comes from a common primate ancestor
• 6. while their caretakers tickled them
• 7. to trace the origin of laughter back

The first hoots of laughter from an ancient ancestor of humans could be heard at least 10 million years ago, according to the results of a new study. Researchers used recordings of apes and babies being tickled A ___ to the last common ancestor that humans shared with the modern great apes, which include chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans.

The finding challenges the opinion В ___ , suggesting instead that it emerged long before humans split from the evolutionary path that led to our primate cousins, between 10m and 16m years ago. «In humans, laughing can be the strongest way of expressing how much we are enjoying ourselves, but it can also be used in other contexts, like making fun of someone,» said Marina Davila Ross, a psychologist at Portsmouth University.

«I was interested in С ___ . Davila Ross travelled to seven zoos around Europe and visited a wildlife reserve in Sabah, Borneo, to record baby and juvenile apes D ___ . Great apes are known to make noises that are similar to laughter when they are excited and while they are playing with each other.

Davila Ross collected recordings of laughter from 21 chimps, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos and added recordings of three babies that were tickled to make them laugh. To analyze the recordings, the team put them into a computer program. «Our evolutionary tree based on these acoustic recordings alone showed E ___ , but furthest from orangutans, with gorillas somewhere in the middle.» said Davila Ross. «What this shows is strong evidence to suggest F ___ .

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Scarcely had we settled into the Strawberry-pink Villa before my mother decided that I was running wild, and that it was necessary for me to have some sort of education. As usual when a problem arose, the entire family flung itself with enthusiasm into the task of solving it. Each member had his or her own idea of what was best for me.

Sitting under the open window in the twilight, I had listened with interest, not unmixed with indignation, to the family discussion of my fate. Finally my mother decided that George would be a good teacher for me. Now it was settled, I wondered vaguely who George was, and why it was so necessary for me to have lessons. But the dusk was thick with flower-scents, and the olive-groves were dark, mysterious, and fascinating. I forgot about the imminent danger of being educated, and went off with Roger to hunt for glow-worms in the sprawling brambles.

Later I discovered that George was my brother’s friend and he had come to Corfu to write. There was nothing very unusual about this, for all Larry’s acquaintances in those days were either authors, poets, or painters.

My new teacher came over to the villa to discuss my education with Mother, and we were introduced. We regarded each other with suspicion. George was a very tall and extremely thin man with a brown beard and a pair of large spectacles. He had a deep, melancholy voice, a dry and sarcastic sense of humor. However, he was not upset by the fact that there were no school-books available on the island; he simply looked through his own library and appeared on the appointed day armed with his own selection of books. He patiently taught me Geography from the maps in the back of an ancient copy of Pears Encyclopedia, English from books that ranged from Wilde to Gibbon, French from the book called «Le Petit Larousse», and mathematics from memory. From my point of view the most important thing was that we devoted some of our time to natural history, and George carefully taught me how to observe and how to note down observations in a diary. At once my enthusiastic interest in nature became focused, for I found that by writing things down I could learn and remember much more. The only morning that I was ever on time for my lessons were those which were given up to natural history.

Every morning at nine George would come into the little dining-room of the villa, sit at the table methodically arranging the books. He would droop over the exercise- book pensively, pulling at his beard. Then in his large, clear writing he would set the task for me to solve.

«If it took two caterpillars a week to eat eight leaves, how long would four caterpillars take to eat the same number? Now, apply yourself to that».

While I was struggling with the apparently insoluble problem of the caterpillar appetites, George was practicing some dancing moves in the hall as at that time he was engaged in learning some of the local dances, for which he had a passion. Through all this I would be watching him, fascinated, the exercise-book lying forgotten in front of me. Mathematics was not one of our successful subjects.

In geography we made better progress, for George was able to give a more zoological tinge to the lesson. We drew giant maps and then filled in the various places of interest, together with drawings of the most exciting animals and birds to be found there.