“9·11”15年 美国人恐袭阴影犹在

AS IT IS 2016-09-11 15 Years After 9/11 Attacks, Americans Remember “9·11”15年 美国人恐袭阴影犹在

Fifteen years ago, two hijacked¹ passenger airplanes brought down the World Trade Center towers in New York City.

Another hijacked plane hit the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Defense² Department. A fourth plane crashed in a field in the state of Pennsylvania.

The areas where the September 11 attacks took place have been repaired and rebuilt, but the ground — and the lives of many Americans -- were forever changed.

The Pentagon is a large, five-sided building in Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

Reporter Jamie McIntyre was following the U.S. military for CNN television on September 11, 2001. He spoke³ with VOA near the place where American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon.

"You know, I always feel like this is sacred ground... I stood here on September 11…."

And McIntyre reported what he saw – smoke rising from the building. He reported information that, at the time, seemed hard to believe.

"Which would indicate that the entire plane crashed into the side of the Pentagon…"

The events of that day are now known as the 9/11 terrorist attacks.The attacks were carried out by Islamic extremists. Fifteen years later, McIntyre cannot forget that day. He calls it “a defining moment in your life.”

"And to see this building, which is such an iconic structure, and almost looks like a fortress⁴, to see part of it just crumble⁵ down into rubble⁶ and realize the number of people who died in the building and on the plane, it was one of those days when you could feel the world changing."

In all, 184 people were killed at the Pentagon that day. One hundred twenty-five were in the building. Fifty-nine others were on the plane.

James Laychak’s world changed that day, too. He lost a brother. Now he is president of the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Fund. The fund was set up to raise money to build a memorial near the place where the plane came down.

"My brother Dave, my younger brother, was killed in the Pentagon on 9/11. I do this to honor my brother's memory and to honor all the people who died here so we never forget them and remind people about what happened that day...”

World Trade Center Towers Targeted

In New York City, the look of lower Manhattan changed when the two World Trade Center towers were brought down on 9-11.

Now, One World Trade Center stands close to where those twin towers once stood. The new structure is taller, and serves as an example of the city’s strength, and ability to come back from such a tragic⁷ event.

Alice Greenwald is director of New York’s 9/11 Memorial Museum. She says there is progress at “ground zero”— the name given to the area where the towers once stood. It is the place where almost 3,000 people lost their lives.

"You have magnificent new towers that are standing⁸. You have tower three rising, you have the new transportation hub and you have this magnificent memorial in the center of it. So it is a place now of commemoration and of life..."

People who were there that day will never forget what happened.

Flora⁹ Mazzariello was a school teacher.

"There were people who were involved and working in that area and they came to school to pick up their kids, they were full of plaster."

Many New Yorkers who survived the attack can still agree on one thing: there is no place they would rather be.

A Field in Pennsylvania: They Fought Back

The fourth attack on 9/11 gets less attention than the ones in New York and the Pentagon.

The Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, remembers the 40 passengers and crew who died there. The huge 757 plane crashed into a grassy¹⁰ field, killing¹¹ everyone on board.

Terrorists had taken control of the plane. It was decided¹² later that they were on a suicide operation to Washington.

The passengers knew about the other attacks that had taken place a short time earlier. They understood what was probably going to happen to them, and decided to fight back.

The plane then crashed into the ground.

The U.S. National Park Service operates the national memorial in Shanksville. It has recordings¹³ of messages some passengers left on loved ones' voicemails.

“Tuesday, 9:47 a.m. Hi Baby. Baby, you have to listen to me carefully. I’m on a plane that’s been hijacked, I’m on the plane, I’m calling from the plane. I want to tell you I love you. Please tell my children that I love them very much..”

CeeCee Lyles was a flight attendant on the plane. She tells her husband three men had hijacked the plane and that she was trying to stay calm. Then, just before the plane crashed, she ends her heart-breaking message this way:

“I hope to be able to see your face again baby, I love you. Goodbye...”

At the Shanksville memorial, CeeCee Lyle’s name is on a wall in her memory, along with the other people who lost their lives in the Pennsylvania field on 9/11, 2001.

Words in This Story

iconic – adj. widely known

fortress – n. a place that is protected from attack

crumble – v. to break something into small pieces, fall apart

rubble – n. broken pieces of stone, brick, etc. from walls that have fallen

skyline – n. the outline of buildings against the sky

twin – n. one of two exactly the same

magnificent – adj. very grand

commemoration – n. something that honors an important event or person in the past

plaster - n. a web substance that hardens when it becomes dry and that is used to make smooth surfaces

1 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。

2 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。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

5 crumble   

vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁

参考例句：

• Opposition more or less crumbled away.反对势力差不多都瓦解了。
• Even if the seas go dry and rocks crumble,my will will remain firm.纵然海枯石烂，意志永不动摇。

6 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。

7 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。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 flora   

n.(某一地区的)植物群

参考例句：

• The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
• All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。

10 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

11 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐