2006年VOA标准英语-Construction Starts on World Trade Center Memor

By Amanda Cassandra
New York
31 August 2006

Construction on a memorial and museum at the site of the World Trade Center is under way in New York, as the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks approaches.

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World Trade Center Memorial and Museum (architectural drawing)   
  
The World Trade Center Memorial and Museum is being built on three hectares of the original 6.5 hectare Ground Zero site. The centerpiece will be a memorial called Reflecting Absence. In the place where the massive Twin Towers once stood, water will cascade¹ down the sides of two voids in the ground, with reflecting pools 8 meters below ground. The names of the victims will be inscribed² around the pools.

Alice Greenwald, the director of the Memorial and Museum, says the design is meant to represent the loss of life and the loss of buildings.

"We expect that the visual dialog will be a kind of creative tension between an awareness³ of the enormity of scale architecturally of this space, recognition of the physical absence of the buildings that stood here and the fact that this place memorializes individual human lives," said Alice Greenwald.

Surrounding these voids will be the Memorial Plaza⁴, filled with oak trees to provide a serene⁵ and contemplative space for visitors.

The Memorial Museum features objects and artifacts retrieved⁶ from Ground Zero. The majority of the items are coming from a variety of archival, cultural and historical institutions around New York state. Greenwald these institutions acted cooperatively to save items from the site after the attacks.

"They said 'we must document this material before it gets taken away, we must collect the evidence of this event," she said. "This is our responsibility as custodians⁷ of history and of material culture' and they worked together to do this. They also made a commitment, mutually, that has reaffirmed again and again that when there would be a museum, an interpretative center, dedicated⁸ to telling the story of the site, every one of these institutions has pledged to make their materials available to us."

Greenwald says the museum will focus on the events of 9/11 and it's impact on New Yorkers and the world.

"On 9/11, for Americans as well as people in nations around the world, a sense of America's invulnerability was shattered by an event's whose order of magnitude challenged our collective imagination," explained Alice Greenwald. "As a museum of memory, at a site of atrocity⁹, in the midst of a vital urban center of commerce and culture, how do you address this? We have a few guiding assumptions. The specificity of what happened here must be our primary story, not just the horrific events of the day, but the response of the community, the uniformed rescue personnel, New Yorkers, Americans from every state, the world community. And ultimately, the story must be about the people affected¹⁰ by this event."

The memorial and museum will also commemorate¹¹ the victims of the February 26, 1993, attack on the World Trade Center.

The non-profit World Trade Center Memorial Foundation is overseeing fundraising efforts for the Museum and Memorial. But the project has been delayed several times by disputes over design, budgets and the content of the museum.

Greenwald says the foundation hopes the museum will not only make people remember the attacks, but also think about the future and start a dialogue that continues after their museum experience.

"Ultimately, by focusing on the human story, it is our hope that this museum will become a moral platform attesting¹² to the indefensibility of terrorism - to the absolute unacceptability of indiscriminate mass murder as a response to grievance," she said.

World Trade Center Memorial and Museum construction  
  
Construction on the museum began August 17. It is slated¹³ for a partial opening in 2009. Other components¹⁴ of the museum are scheduled to open at a later date because of ongoing¹⁵ building around the site.

Meanwhile, the WTC Memorial Foundation is sponsoring photography exhibits around Ground Zero to help visitors to the site.

1 cascade   

n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下

参考例句：

• She watched the magnificent waterfall cascade down the mountainside.她看着壮观的瀑布从山坡上倾泻而下。
• Her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of curls.她的卷发像瀑布一样垂在肩上。

2 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》

3 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

4 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

5 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

6 retrieved   

v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Yesterday I retrieved the bag I left in the train. 昨天我取回了遗留在火车上的包。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He reached over and retrieved his jacket from the back seat. 他伸手从后座上取回了自己的夹克。 来自辞典例句

7 custodians   

n.看守人，保管人( custodian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If we aren't good custodians for our planet, what right do we have to be here? 如果我们作为自己星球的管理者不称职我们还有什么理由留在这里？ 来自电影对白
• Custodians primarily responsible for the inspection of vehicles, access, custody. 保管员主要负责车辆的验收、出入、保管。 来自互联网

8 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。

9 atrocity   

n.残暴，暴行

参考例句：

• These people are guilty of acts of great atrocity.这些人犯有令人发指的暴行。
• I am shocked by the atrocity of this man's crimes.这个人行凶手段残忍狠毒使我震惊。

10 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

11 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

12 attesting   

v.证明( attest的现在分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓

参考例句：

• Thus, a word of God, giving his own authoritative promise of redemption, must be self-attesting. 因此，上帝的话-将祂自己权威性的救赎应许赐给了人-必须是自证的。 来自互联网
• There might be a letter in your file attesting to your energetic and imaginative teaching. 可能我会写封信证明你生动而充满想象力的教学。 来自互联网

13 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。

14 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

15 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。