奥巴马每周电视讲话：总统呼吁继承9.11曾经失去的财富（01）

Fifteen years ago, a September day that began like any other became one of the darkest in our nation's history.

十五年前九月的一天，如同平常的日子却成为我们国家历史上最黑暗的一天。

The Twin Towers were reduced to rubble¹.

双子塔变成了瓦砾堆，

The Pentagon was in flames.

五角大楼燃起了大火。

A Pennsylvania field burned with the wreckage² of an airplane.

一架飞机的残骸在宾夕法尼亚田野里燃烧。

And nearly 3,000 innocent lives were lost. Sons and daughters, husbands and wives, neighbors and colleagues and friends.

近3000 无辜生命被夺去。有儿子、女儿、丈夫和妻子、邻居、同事和朋友。

They were from all walks of life, all races and religions, all colors and creeds³, from across America and around the world.

他们来自各行各业，各个民族和各种宗教，肤色不同和信仰各异，来自美国和世界各地。

This weekend, we honor their memory once more.

这个周末，我们再次纪念他们。

We stand with the survivors⁴ who still bear the scars of that day.

我们和那天遭受创伤的幸存者们站在一起。

We thank the first responders who risked everything to save others.

我们感谢急救队员冒着生命危险救助他人。

And we salute⁵ a generation of Americans

我们向这一代美国人致敬，

our men and women in uniform, diplomats⁶ and our intelligence, homeland security and law enforcement professionals

我们的男女军人、外交官和情报人员、国土安全和执法人员。

who serve, and in some cases have given their lives, to help keep us safe.

他们的职责是冒着生命危险保卫我们的安全。

A lot has changed over these past 15 years.

在过去的15 年里发生了很多变化。

We've delivered devastating⁷ blows to the al Qaeda leaders that attacked us on 9/11.

我们对9.11 袭击我们的基地组织头目进行了毁灭性的打击。

We delivered justice to Osama bin⁸ Laden⁹.

我们将奥萨马·本·拉登绳之以法。

We've strengthened our homeland security.

我们强化了国土安全，

We've prevented attacks. We've saved lives.

破获防范了一些恐袭，拯救了众多生命。

 

1 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

2 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

3 creeds   

（尤指宗教）信条，教条( creed的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• people of all races, colours and creeds 各种种族、肤色和宗教信仰的人
• Catholics are agnostic to the Protestant creeds. 天主教徒对于新教教义来说，是不可知论者。

4 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

5 salute   

vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮

参考例句：

• Merchant ships salute each other by dipping the flag.商船互相点旗致敬。
• The Japanese women salute the people with formal bows in welcome.这些日本妇女以正式的鞠躬向人们施礼以示欢迎。

6 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

8 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

9 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。