世界上最大的图书馆

 The World's Largest Library

　　You might think the largest library in the world would be in Europe．But it isn't．It's in Washington, D．C．It's called the Library of Congress（国会图书馆）．

　　如果你认为世界上最大的图书馆在欧洲，那你就错了。实际上，世界上最大的图书馆在美国哥伦比亚特区华盛顿，称为国会国书馆。

　　President John Adams started the library in 1800 for members of Congress．He wanted them to be able to read books about law．The first 740 books were bought in England．They were simply set up in the room where Congress met．Then Thomas Jefferson sold Congress many of his own books．He felt Congress should have books on all subjects, not just on law．This idea changed the library for good．

　　这座图书馆是约翰·亚当斯总统在1800年为国会议员们建立的。他想让议员们阅读到有关法律方面的书籍。首批740本藏书是从英国购进的，这些书被随便放在国会开会的地方。后来汤姆·杰斐逊把自己许多藏书卖给了国会，他认为国会应有各类书籍，不应该仅收藏一点法学书籍，这种观点给国会藏书带来永久性的变化。

　　The library grew and grew．Now it covers acres of land．It contains 20 million books as well as scores of picture, movies, globes and machines．Experts(专家) in every field work there．Hundreds of people call every day with all kinds of questions．Many of them get answers right over the phone．

　　国会图书馆越变越大，现在它已占地数英亩。收藏了2千多万册书。除此之外，还收藏了好多图片、影片、地球仪和机器。每一个学科的专家在这儿都有一席之地。每天有好几百人打电话查询各种各样的问题。他们中有许多从电话中得到了满意的答案。

　　The library is a huge storehouse．Thomas Edison's first movie and Houdini's magic books reside（居住） there．And it is the proud owner of the world's best collection of comic（喜剧的） books．

　　这座图书馆是一个巨大的收藏室。托马斯爱迪生发明的第一部电影和霍迪尼的魔术书都收藏在这里。值得骄傲的是：它还是世界上最大的喜剧书籍拥有者。