美国国家公共电台 NPR Sept. 11 Families Face 'Strange, Empty Void' Without Victims' Remains

Sept. 11 Families Face 'Strange, Empty Void' Without Victims' Remains¹ 

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Tomorrow marks 15 years since terrorists killed nearly 3,000 people in the U.S. Most of the victims died at the Twin Towers in New York City, and some 40 percent of those victims are still unidentified. Their families have never received their loved ones' remains. NPR's Hansi Lo Wang reports on the unidentified World Trade Center victims of 9/11.

HANSI LO WANG, BYLINE³: Scott Kopytko worked as a commodities broker⁴ in the south tower of the World Trade Center, but he quit that job by 9/11 to become a firefighter. He was rushing up the stairs of his old office building trying to save lives with his fellow firefighters before the towers fell.

RUSSELL MERCER: He went to work. He never came back.

WANG: Scott Kopytko's stepfather Russell Mercer and his mother now take turns almost every morning to visit the cemetery⁵ across from Scott's old high school. Here under a young oak tree next to fading tombstones, they water pink flowers behind a small square stone engraved⁶ for their son.

MERCER: It's a place where we can go, me and my family, to talk to Scott, but there's nothing there. We need some kind of DNA⁷, some human remains where we can go to say this is where Scott is.

WANG: The remains of more than 1,100 other World Trade Center victims are also still unidentified, including those of Sally Regenhard's son Christian⁸, another fallen firefighter.

SALLY REGENHARD: You feel that it's not real. Your mind can't accept the fact that this person died because there's no evidence of it.

WANG: Regenhard keeps a statue of St. Anthony, the patron saint of lost things, by the front door of her home. She remembers how search and rescue efforts at ground zero eventually shifted towards a recovery mission for body parts.

REGENHARD: It was like, you know, being in the rain, in the misty⁹ rain and then slowly, slowly as the time went by, you realized it was less and less likely your loved one would be identified.

WANG: New York City's chief medical examiner Barbara Sampson says many the remains were degraded by jet fuel from the hijacked¹⁰ planes and other chemicals released from the collapsed¹¹ buildings.

BARBARA SAMPSON: There was heat from the fires, water being poured upon them, rain, wind - the worst conditions that you can imagine for the preservation¹² of DNA.

WANG: But the city's chief medical examiner's office was determined¹³.

SAMPSON: We made a commitment to the families to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes.

WANG: That's involved pushing DNA technology to its limits with 10 scientists still dedicated¹⁴ to testing and retesting the remains 15 years after the attacks. Their last new identification was announced last year. But progress on other remains may be held back for years or more because the technology isn't there.

JAY ARONSON: The event itself can never really be put to rest because there will always be remains that can't be identified.

WANG: Jay Aronson is author of "Who Owns The Dead: The Science And Politics Of Death At Ground Zero."

ARONSON: And there's almost this sort of - a very American belief that technology will eventually solve all of our problems.

WANG: But Aronson says this DNA technology raises complicated questions like where should the unidentified remains be stored? For now, they're sealed in plastic bags inside a repository next to the National 9/11 Memorial Museum seven stories below ground. And there's the question of how long to wait for remains to be identified.

MERCER: We'll get him. He'll come back.

WANG: You're hopeful.

MERCER: You have to have it. Once you give up, it's all over.

WANG: Scott Kopytko's stepfather Russell Mercer turned 69 last month. He says if he can't attend a funeral for Scott's remains in his lifetime, then he hopes Scott's sister or even his 2-year-old niece will get the chance. Somebody, he says, will get something. Hansi Lo Wang, NPR News, New York.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 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。

3 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。

4 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

5 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

6 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》

7 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

8 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

9 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

10 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

11 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

12 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

13 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

14 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。