2006年VOA标准英语-Groundbreaking Ceremony Marks Start of Work on

By Carolyn Weaver¹
Washington, DC
16 June 2006
 
watch Pentagon Memorial report 
 

Donald Rumsfeld unveiling the marker at the Pentagon Memorial  
  
Family members of 9/11 victims gathered with American officials at the Pentagon this week for a groundbreaking ceremony marking the beginning of construction on a 9/11 memorial. The memorial park will honor the 184 victims of the crash of American Airlines Flight 77 at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

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Fifty-nine passengers and crew aboard Flight 77 -- and 125 military and civilian² workers inside the Pentagon -- were killed when terrorists flew the plane into the building outside Washington, D.C. on September 11.  U.S. officials and family members of many of the dead gathered at the Pentagon to observe the formal start of work on a memorial. 

 
Lisa Dolan, widow of  Navy captain Robert Dolan, said she feels close to her husband at the site 
  
"It's a bittersweet day, but it is a wonderful day," said Lisa Dolan, who lost her husband, Navy Captain Robert Dolan. "We are finally beginning the memorial that will help us remember the 184 victims who were here at the Pentagon. It's not just for us, the family members, it's for the world," she said.  Memorial Fund president James J. Laychak, whose brother died in the attack, opened the ceremonies on the west side of the Pentagon a few meters from the crash site, saying, "Today is a day to cherish. Today is a positive outcome from a tragic³ day."

The Pentagon memorial park will have 184 steel benches projected over individual reflecting pools, sheltered by dozens of maple⁴ trees. Arranged in a timeline from the youngest victim to the oldest, each bench will be inscribed⁵ with the name of one of the dead. "It will not be long before a new monument stands on this side of the Potomac, a monument to the 184 who died so close to this spot," U.S. Defense⁶ Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said at the ceremony. "They had different lives and different dreams, and they shared a tragic destiny."

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon memorial architects Julie Beckman and Keith Kaseman marking the beginning of construction on the site  
  
Architects Julie Beckman and Keith Kaseman, designers of the park, helped Mr. Rumsfeld unveil a stone marker for the site. "We were looking to create a place beyond everyone's daily regime, a place like no other, because September 11 was an unimaginable day," Ms. Beckman said, "So, we wanted to create a place that although it is sorrowful, it invites interpretation⁷ and allows visitors to come here and contemplate⁸ the September 11 events and remember those who were lost here."

 
Tom Heidenberger, whose wife Michele died in the crash, says he will be a frequent visitor
  
Tom Heidenberger, who lost his wife Michele, a flight attendant on American Airlines 77, says he will be among those visitors to what the families of the dead consider hallowed ground.

"It will be a place not so much to remember and rehash the ugliness of that day," he said, "but a place to remember those that perished, reflect on their lives, and at the same time, do what a memorial does: it pays honor and tribute to an individual life."  Organizers say they have raised nearly half of the $22 million needed for construction of the memorial. It is slated⁹ for completion in September 2008.

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

4 maple   

n.槭树，枫树，槭木

参考例句：

• Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的。
• The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。

5 inscribed   

v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接

参考例句：

• His name was inscribed on the trophy. 他的名字刻在奖杯上。
• The names of the dead were inscribed on the wall. 死者的名字被刻在墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

8 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。

9 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。