大学英语六级词汇Unit12Part2

　　As a bewildered public endeavored to assimilate

　　this overwhelming event,

　　at 9∶03 a.m., a second hijacked jet

　　crashed into Two W.T.C.

　　Millions of people around the world,

　　having been alerted to the incident

　　and now watching the terror

　　unfold on their televisions,

　　watched in shock as the second plane,

　　in the blink of an eye,

　　entered the south tower

　　at approximately the seventy-second floor

　　and partially exited the opposite wall.

　　Fire and police departments

　　were mobilized immediately.

　　Rapid evacuation of the buildings was crucial.

　　Many workers on upper floors,

　　knowing there was no escape,

　　committed suicide by hurling themselves

　　out of windows to their deaths.

　　Then, 62 minutes after it had been crashed into,

　　the south tower crumbled into the streets

　　in a gigantic cloud of dust and debris.

　　Hundreds of police and firefighters

　　intent on their rescue mission

　　lost their lives as Two W.T.C. collapsed.

　　Drivers and attendants of emergency vehicles,

　　unable to abandon their posts,

　　died where they had stopped

　　to give aid and assistance.

　　Employees from the two towers,

　　rushing to escape the raging fires,

　　were caught in the wreckage.

　　Pedestrians, uncertain of which way to turn,

　　and not convinced of the need for urgency,

　　found themselves trapped

　　in an avalanche of concrete.

　　Members of the media,

　　on their way to

　　cover the breaking news of the disaster,

　　became victims of it.

　　Hundreds of commuters,

　　on their way to work via subway,

　　were trapped below ground with no escape possible.

　　Hospital emergency departments,

　　having been notified of the explosions,

　　quickly prepared for the arrival of casualties.

　　When the expected influx failed to materialize,

　　it could only mean that there were few survivors.

　　One W.T.C. collapsed at 10∶30 a.m.,

　　105 minutes after being hit,

　　adding to the mass confusion in the streets.

　　Seven W.T.C.,

　　a later addition to the complex,

　　was damaged,caught fire,

　　and collapsed later that afternoon.

　　Not one of the adjoining structures was left intact.

　　In the aftermath of this incredible misfortune,

　　the pieces of the puzzle

　　began to be put in place.

　　Shortly before 8∶00 a.m. on September 11, 2001,

　　three commercial airliners were hijacked

　　from Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts.

　　All were transcontinental flights

　　with passengers destined for California

　　and their full fuel tanks

　　provided the ammunition critical

　　to the mission of the hijackers.

　　Authorities speculate that

　　the pilots were assassinated

　　and their places taken by the terrorists

　　who had had flight training.

　　In all, there were 157 passengers

　　and crew on the two planes.

　　The third plane crashed in Pennsylvania

　　killing 45 passengers and crew.

　　A number of the hostages managed to

　　use their cellular telephones to

　　call their families to say goodbye.

　　Everything occurred

　　in such a short period of time that,

　　other than alerting a handful of people

　　that there were some hijackings,

　　no one had any idea why.

　　The dilemma was that there were no warnings,

　　no demands for ransom,

　　and no hints that this bright,

　　sunny September morning was about

　　to become a day that will live forever

　　in the minds of those

　　who witnessed the tragedy.

　　It will be years

　　before the final toll of damage

　　will be known.

　　To consolidate information,

　　compute the financial losses,

　　designate a monetary value for loss of life,

　　fill the void left on the terrain,

　　to make sense of this misfortune

　　intended to undermine the foundation of America

　　is a formidable assignment.

　　We do know that

　　destruction of the World Trade Center

　　cost the lives of more than

　　three thousand innocent people

　　in the buildings, in the hijacked airplanes,

　　and in the surrounding streets.

　　Who can erase the mental images of those planes

　　smashing into the twin towers?

　　Who is unable to visualize the spectacle

　　of terrified men and women

　　jumping to their doom?

　　How can those of us

　　who observed the collapse

　　of the buildings fail to dwell

　　on the loss of life caused by men,cowards,

　　who lacked the fortitud

　　to proclaim war on their alleged enemy?

　　Today, October 22, 2001,

　　nine more corpses were

　　discovered in the rubbl,

　　the first such discovery in several weeks.

　　This may seem trivial when one considers

　　the multitude of people who died.

　　However, the fatalities

　　arent the only victims

　　of this tragic event.

　　Their families, friends,

　　and colleagues need closure.

　　They need to know with certainty

　　that their loved ones are dead

　　and they need to bury the remains.

　　Unfortunately,most of the casualties

　　will probably never be found

　　because the heat produced

　　by the ignition of jet fuel

　　and the damage incurred by the impact

　　would have instantaneously vaporized everything

　　and everyone in the immediate vicinity.

　　Others, in the buildings

　　or on the streets as the towers collapsed

　　are under so much debris

　　that their bodies may

　　not be found for months.

　　The list of buildings collapsed

　　and damaged includes all seven buildings

　　of the W.T.C.complex comprising W.T.C.6,

　　the U.S. Customs House to the north;

　　W.T.C.3, the 22 story Marriott World Trade Center Hotel

　　just west of Tower Two;

　　W.T.C.4 and 5, the Plaza Buildings,

　　and One Liberty Plaza, a 54 story,

　　743 foot high building to the east.

　　Firefighters and recovery workers

　　remain on the scene.

　　The fires still smolder beneath the ruins.

　　The American spirit has been bruised

　　and the land has been scarred.

　　The citizens of this powerful nation

　　now realize just how fragile

　　and vulnerable their country is.

　　Nevertheless,they are defiant.

　　They do not consider themselves

　　easy prey for terrorists.

　　They are still optimistic

　　about their place in todays world.

　　They assert that the nightmare

　　visited upon them will be visited

　　upon the perpetrators of this cowardly act.

　　The World Trade Center is no more.

　　The dream of an international axis of business,

　　once a reality,will be revised.

　　Maybe having one place

　　that is so prominent will also be rethought.

　　Whatever the outcome,

　　this massacre has served

　　to strengthen the resolve of a mighty nation.

　　The dream and dreamers will survive.