VOA慢速英语2018--Flight 93 Memorial Honors 9/11 Struggle, Courage

 

The events of September 11, 2001, in the United States are simply called 9/11.

On that bright, clear morning 17 years ago, Al-Qaeda terrorists¹ hijacked² four large passenger airplanes to use as missiles of war. All four planes were flying across the country to California with a full tank of fuel.

None of them made it.

Flight 11 was the first to take off. It did so in Boston, Massachusetts, at 7:59 in the morning.

Forty-seven minutes later, it crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.

Flight 175 also took off from Boston and crashed into the South Tower minutes after Flight 11.

In Washington D.C., Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon after takeoff.

Twenty-six minutes later, Flight 93 crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania.

By 10:03 that morning, the Al-Qaeda planes operation had caused severe destruction. All airline traffic had stopped in the United States. By the end of the day, 2,996 people lost their lives.

The crash sites are memorialized in New York and Washington, D.C. The Flight 93 Memorial in the rural hills near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, is a national park. It was used to mine surface coal until 1995.

The Flight 93 Memorial Visitor Center tells the story of the events on Flight 93.

The plane took off with 37 passengers -- including the four hijackers -- as well as seven crew members. As it flew west toward Cleveland, Ohio, the hijackers broke into the cockpit and injured the pilot and first officer.

An air traffic controller in Cleveland heard the shouts.

The hijackers had gained control of the plane. They tried to announce to the passengers that there was a bomb on the plane and that they were returning to the airport. But they mistakenly made that announcement to the air traffic control center instead.

The plane then turned around in the skies over Cleveland. Investigators³ later found evidence that the plane was going toward Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

The passengers and crew members were forced to the back of the plane by the hijackers.

With in-flight and mobile phones, passengers began calling officials and family members. In all, 37 calls were made. Through those calls, the passengers and crew learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They understood that their plane was also on a suicide⁴ mission.

Crew member CeeCee Lyles called her husband with a message.

Hi, baby. I’m, baby, you have to listen to me carefully. I’m on a plane that’s been hijacked. I just want to tell you I love you. Please tell my children that I love them very much. There’s three guys, they’ve hijacked the plane. I’m trying to be calm, we’re turned around and I heard that there’s planes that’s been flown into the World Trade Center. I hope to be able to see your face again, baby. I love you, bye.

In the back of the plane, the passengers and crew members discussed the situation. They took a vote and decided⁵ to act.

They decided to fight back.

They ran into the cockpit to stop the hijackers. The plane went off its path over rural Pennsylvania. It rocked back and forth⁶ and rolled over.

Moments later, at 906 kilometers an hour, it crashed into an open field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The force of the crash created a huge crater⁷ about 4 and a half meters deep and nine meters across.

If the plane had kept its speed and flight path, it would have arrived in Washington, D.C. in less than 20 minutes.

Next to the Visitor Center, the memorial has a walking path. The path is built to look like Flight 93’s own unplanned flight path. The path lets visitors look down into the crash site.

It is a quiet and reflective place. Here, visitors learn that about 1,000 people from more than 70 agencies worked day and night to collect and examine evidence and personal belongings⁸.

After the evidence was gathered, the soil was returned to the land. Grass and wildflowers were planted in what is now sacred ground.

Visitors walk through tree groves¹⁰ on the way to the Memorial Plaza¹¹. There are 40 groves of 40 hemlock¹² trees. The number 40 is meaningful. It represents the number of passengers and crew members on Flight 93.

On the far end of the plaza is the Wall of Names. It is a simple white wall that contains 40 pieces of marble. Each marble has the name of a passenger or crew member.

The memorial was finally completed on Sunday with the opening of the Tower of Voices. It is a 28-meter-tall musical instrument of 40 wind chimes. Each chime produces an individual sound. The music it creates is a reminder¹³ of the struggle and bravery of the 40 people who brought down Flight 93 in an empty, rural field. Their actions helped save many lives.

I’m Dorothy Gundy.

Words in This Story

bright - adj. filled with light

surface – n. the upper layer of an area of land or water

cockpit – n. the area in an airplane where the pilot sits

rocked – v. to move something back and forth or from side to side

crater – n. a large round hole in the ground made by something falling from the sky

reflective – adj. thinking carefully about something

sacred – adj. highly valued and important: deserving great respect

grove⁹ - n. a small group of trees

marble – n. a stone that is often polished and used in buildings and statues

wind chimes – n. a collection of objects made from metal, glass, etc. that hang together from strings and touch each other to make a musical sound when they are blown by the wind

1 terrorists   

n.恐怖主义者，恐怖分子( terrorist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The terrorists have halted their bloody campaign of violence. 恐怖分子已经停止了他们凶残的暴力活动。
• They were finally forced to capitulate to the terrorists' demands. 他们最后被迫屈从恐怖分子的要求。

2 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。

3 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 suicide   

n.自杀，自毁，自杀性行为

参考例句：

• The number of suicide has increased.自杀案件的数量增加了。
• The death was adjudged a suicide by sleeping pills.该死亡事件被判定为服用安眠药自杀。

5 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。

6 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

7 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

8 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

9 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

10 groves   

树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The early sun shone serenely on embrowned groves and still green fields. 朝阳宁静地照耀着已经发黄的树丛和还是一片绿色的田地。
• The trees grew more and more in groves and dotted with old yews. 那里的树木越来越多地长成了一簇簇的小丛林，还点缀着几棵老紫杉树。

11 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。

12 hemlock   

n.毒胡萝卜，铁杉

参考例句：

• He was condemned to drink a cup of hemlock.判处他喝一杯毒汁。
• Here is a beech by the side of a hemlock,with three pines at hand.这儿有株山毛榉和一株铁杉长在一起，旁边还有三株松树。

13 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。