美国国家公共电台 NPR Honoring The Other Fallen Of Sept. 11: Sickened Ground Zero Volunteers

Honoring The Other Fallen Of Sept. 11: Sickened Ground Zero Volunteers 

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0003:59repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser¹ to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: 

Fifteen years ago, 8,000 pounds of steel crushed John Feal's foot as he worked, digging through the rubble² of the World Trade Center. Feal considers himself blessed to have been in the hospital for months while other 9/11 responders inhaled³ toxic⁴ dust on the job. He now devotes himself to keeping up what's thought to be the only memorial for those who died of illnesses tied to work at Ground Zero. Cassandra Basler of member station WSHU has his story.

CASSANDRA BASLER, BYLINE⁵: A stack of folders⁶ with the names of construction workers, police and firefighters and volunteers rests at John Feal's feet. Feal checks their spelling before he can send names to the engraver⁷, who'll put them on his memorial wall.

JOHN FEAL: So now I'm working on the fatalities⁸ list of those who are going on the wall.

BASLER: Feal vets⁹ responders in his tidy home office in Nesconset, Long Island, for 10 hours a day. He reads obituaries¹⁰ and talks to families of those who died.

FEAL: It's like walking on glass barefoot. For not getting a salary and not getting paid, my job sucks (laughter), you know, because I've got some tough questions to ask.

BASLER: Questions like, can the family prove that the responder died of a disease linked to 9/11?

FEAL: I'm not the Baseball Hall of Fame. We're not trying to keep people out. We only care that they were at Ground Zero, they were being treated for a 9/11-related illness that was certified¹¹ and that they had a VCF claim.

BASLER: Federal claims help responders treat nearly 70 cancers linked to exposure to Ground Zero. The World Trade Center Health Program has diagnosed 40,000 so far. Feal says getting injured at the site early on may have saved him.

FEAL: If I never got hurt, I would work the whole 10 months down there. And who knows? Maybe I would have got sick. I'm lucky. I'm blessed. I pale in comparison. I am so minute and so small to these men and women, hence why I do what I do.

BASLER: He feels a duty to care for the 9/11 community when federal programs fall short. So Feal helps organize golf fundraisers to support families left to cover medical bills, funerals and the loss of livelihood¹².

FEAL: Thank you for coming. Play golf. Have fun.

BASLER: Before tee-off at a recent fundraiser, Feal meets with his friend, Michael Barasch. Barasch's law office represents more than 2,500 sick responders with their claims.

MICHAEL BARASCH: This is a real epidemic¹³ now. It's heartbreaking to hear stories of people who have passed away - friends of mine.

BASLER: Barasch and Feal fought Congress for more federal funding when the Victims Compensation Fund couldn't accept any more applications. The VCF paid 9,000 people in the first group and is processing about 5,000 applications for the second.

BARASCH: Our frustration¹⁴ is based on seeing people get sicker and die waiting for the help that was supposed to come from the federal government.

BASLER: Jennifer McNamara is still waiting for a wrongful-death claim on behalf of her husband, who worked for the New York Fire Department. He died seven years ago of colon¹⁵ cancer before the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund was started. McNamara and others like her find some closure at the 9/11 Responders Remembered Memorial Park in Nesconset, Long Island. At a busy intersection¹⁶, rows of shrubs¹⁷ and American flags separate a sushi restaurant from the memorial. Three polished granite¹⁸ walls named courage, honor and sacrifice stand engraved¹⁹ with the names of more than 700 responders. She visits the name of her late husband, John McNamara.

JENNIFER MCNAMARA: When you look at this wall, and you look at the - unfortunately, the ever-growing number of names - you realize how much you're not alone.

BASLER: She says this memorial brings together a larger 9/11 community.

MCNAMARA: You realize that we've all fought this battle.

BASLER: John Feal says the 9/11 community will continue helping²⁰ Jennifer McNamara and the families of other responders who died, long after their names appear on the memorial. For NPR News, I'm Cassandra Basler.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 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。

3 inhaled   

v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. 她合上双眼，深深吸了一口气。
• Janet inhaled sharply when she saw him. 珍妮特看到他时猛地吸了口气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 folders   

n.文件夹( folder的名词复数 )；纸夹；（某些计算机系统中的）文件夹；页面叠

参考例句：

• Encrypt and compress individual files and folders. The program is compact, efficient and user friendly. 加密和压缩的个人档案和folders.the计划是紧凑，高效和用户友好。 来自互联网
• By insertion of photocopies,all folders can be maintained complete with little extra effort. 插入它的复制本，不费多大力量就能使所有文件夹保持完整。 来自辞典例句

7 engraver   

n.雕刻师，雕工

参考例句：

• He was a sketcher and a copper-plate engraver. 他也是杰出的素描家和铜版画家。 来自辞典例句
• He was once an engraver in a printing factory. 他以前是印刷厂的一名刻工。 来自互联网

8 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 vets   

abbr.veterans （复数）老手，退伍军人；veterinaries （复数）兽医n.兽医( vet的名词复数 )；老兵；退伍军人；兽医诊所v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的第三人称单数 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• I helped train many young vets and veterinary nurses too. 我还帮助培训了许多年青的兽医和护士。 来自互联网
• In fact, we've expanded mental health counseling and services for our vets. 实际上，我们已经扩大了退伍军人的心理健康咨询和服务。 来自互联网

10 obituaries   

讣告，讣闻( obituary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Next time I read about him, I want it in the obituaries. 希望下次读到他的消息的时候，是在仆告里。
• People's obituaries are written while they're still alive? 人们在世的时候就有人给他们写讣告？

11 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

12 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

13 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

14 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

15 colon   

n.冒号，结肠，直肠

参考例句：

• Here,too,the colon must be followed by a dash.这里也是一样，应当在冒号后加破折号。
• The colon is the locus of a large concentration of bacteria.结肠是大浓度的细菌所在地。

16 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。

17 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

18 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

19 engraved   

v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中）

参考例句：

• The silver cup was engraved with his name. 银杯上刻有他的名字。
• It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back. 此件雕刻精美，背面有花饰图案。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。