11-6 纽约（在线收听）

New York

Like all great cities, New York has an indefinable aura¹ all its own.

Rather than diminish that aura, the events of September 11, 2001, when terrorists crashed jetliners into the World Trade Center towers, only intensified the spotlight already trained on the city and gave the term “New Yorker” a truly global definition. In a sense, when the two towers collapsed, the city's borders collapsed with them, allowing a tide of worldwide affection to wash over New York, softening its image as a place inhabited by rude and ruthless people. Indeed, even in its darkest days the city lives up to² the slogan originally coined³ for the Plaza Hotel: “Nothing unimportant ever happens in New York.”

New York's history is a testament⁴ to this sentiment. This is, after all, the city that swore in the first U.S. President, George Washington, and witnessed the influx⁵ of millions of immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Known around the world as a major cultural and financial center, this is a hub of fashion, art, publishing, broadcasting, theater, and advertising. And, of course, the city is famous for New Yorkers for their panache⁶, persistence, diversity, and strength of character, all qualities that were consistently evident throughout the crisis that unfolded in fall 2001.

Today, New York remains as much a city of people, places, and things as it is a city of moments. For some visitors, their special “New York moment” comes when they spot a street or building made familiar by movies or television, like An Affair to Remember or Friends or Seinfeld.

In the mind's eye, Audrey Hepburn is eternally pairing diamonds and a doughnut⁷ as she strolls down Fifth Avenue to have breakfast at Tiffany's. And the miniature park on Sutton Place will always be where Woody Allen and Diane Keaton began their angst⁸ ridden Manhattan love affair, with the 59th Street Bridge gleaming beyond and Gershwin's music swelling in the background.

There's a moment of sudden magic when you experience one of those only? in New York experiences, like when a gum cracking waitress calls you “hon,” or when a cabbie risks life and limb to cross several lanes of traffic to pick you up. There's also the thrill of discovering one of New York's cities within the city: Mulberry Street in Little Italy; Mott Street in Chinatown; Park Avenue's enclave⁹ of wealth and privilege; SoHo and TriBeCa, with their artistic types dressed in black from head to toe; or Eighth Avenue in Chelsea, the nexus¹⁰ of one of the city's prominent lesbian and gay communities.

The first glimpse of a landmark could excite a visitor's infatuation¹¹, too: frenetic¹² Grand Central Terminal, bursting at the seams with commuters¹³; the concrete caverns of Wall Street, throbbing with power and ambition; the Empire State Building, its top 30 stories festively illuminated; or the Statue of Liberty, which neither cliché nor cheap souvenir can render common.

To this list of must see landmarks has been added a somber¹⁴ new entry: “ground zero,” the site of the World Trade Center. Many visitors make the pilgrimage here, to deposit flowers at makeshift shrines, view the site, or simply pay their respects.

注释：

1. aura [5C:rE] n. 气氛，氛围

2. live up to 遵守，符合，与……相配

3. coin [kCin] vt. 发明，创造，杜撰（新字等）

4. testament [5testEmEnt] n. 证明，证据

5. influx [5inflQks] n. 流入，涌进，汇集

6. panache [pE5nAF] n. 炫耀，夸示，神气十足

7. doughnut [5dEunQt] n. 炸面圈，多福饼，糖纳子

8. angst [B:Nst] [德] n. （尤指对时世的）忧虑，疑惧

9. enclave [5enkleiv] n. 存在于大团体中的独立小团体，孤立的小块地区

10. nexus [5neksEs] n. 交叉点，中心

11. infatuation [in7fAtju5eiFEn] n. 热恋，着迷，迷恋

12. frenetic [fri5netik] a. 极度激动的，狂热的

13. commuter [kE5mju:tE] n. （尤指市郊之间）乘公交车辆上下班者，月季票旅客

14. somber [5sRmbE(r)] a. [美]=sombre 阴沉的，忧郁的

纽约

纽约像其他大城市一样，有它自己难以形容的气氛。

　　2001年9月11日发生的恐怖分子劫持客机撞向世贸中心大厦的事件，非但没有冲淡这种气氛，反而使本来已经很受关注的这个城市引来更多的目光，同时也给了“纽约人”一个真正全球化的定义。从某种意义上来讲，随着双子塔的倒塌，纽约城的疆界也消失了，让全世界关爱的浪潮冲刷纽约，同时也淡化了纽约是一座粗野和无情的人居住的城市的形象。确实，即使在那段最黑暗的日子里，纽约也体现了那句本来为广场饭店打造的宣传口号——“纽约无小事”。

纽约的历史是这种情感的见证。毕竟，在这座城市里，美国第一任总统乔治·华盛顿宣誓就职；它目睹了19世纪末、20世纪初数百万人的移民潮。这里是世界闻名的重要文化、金融中心，也是时尚、艺术、出版、广播、戏剧、广告的中心。当然，这座城市也因为纽约人而闻名——他们外表神气，内心坚韧，形形色色，具有人格力量——这些品质在2001年秋天发生的那场悲剧中一直表现得十分明显。

　　而今，纽约依然是一座充满机遇的城市，它的人、景观和故事依然独具特色。对有些观光者来说，当他们看到因《金玉盟》、《老友记》、《宋飞正传》等电影或电视剧而熟悉的街道或建筑时，他们特别的“纽约一瞬”到来了。

　　在人们的想像中，奥黛丽·赫本永远会佩戴钻饰，手拿炸面圈，漫步在第五大道上，去蒂法尼饭店吃早餐；人们也不会忘记，伍迪·艾伦和黛安娜·基顿是在苏顿广场微缩景观公园里开始了他们充满了忧伤的曼哈顿之恋，第五十九街桥在远处隐现，格什温的背景音乐逐渐增强。

　　当你感受一次纽约特有的经历时，这将是魔术般的瞬间。譬如，嘴里嚼着口香糖的女招待叫你声“亲爱的”，或是出租车司机为了拉上你冒着生命危险横穿过几条繁忙的车道。发现纽约的“城中之城”也会让你非常激动，例如小意大利的桑树大街，唐人街上的莫特街，公园大街上的富人区，SoHo和TriBeCa街区——这里的艺术代表形象从上到下被装扮成黑色，还有切尔西内的第八大道——纽约一个著名的同性恋聚集区。

　　第一次看到纽约的标志性建筑也会令观光者着迷：繁忙的中央车站挤满了上下班的人；华尔街的钢筋水泥深处搏动着权力和野心；最高30层的帝国大厦节日般地灯火辉煌；还有那自由女神像，陈词滥调或廉价纪念品都不能减弱它的声名。

　　在必看的标志性景点名单上又增加了让人伤感的一处——“零地带”，即世贸中心遗址。许多游客来到这里，在临时灵坛上献花，参观遗址，或者只是表示敬意。