2006年VOA标准英语-9/11 Conspirator Moussaoui Sentenced to Li

By Jim Malone
Washington
04 May 2006
 

Zacarias Moussaoui (file photo)   
  
Confessed al-Qaida conspirator¹ Zacarias Moussaoui was formally sentenced to life in prison Thursday for his role in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The sentencing by the judge in the case came one day after a federal jury spared him from the death penalty.

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Federal Judge Leonie Brinkema officially sentenced Moussaoui to life in prison without chance of parole. Under federal sentencing guidelines, the judge must impose the sentence recommended by the jury.

There were some dramatic exchanges on the final day of the trial.
 
 
This artist's rendering² shows Zacarias Moussaoui celebrating as he is taken from the courtroom, May 3, 2006
  
As Moussaoui came into court, he declared, "God save Osama bin³ Laden⁴. You will never get him!"

Judge Brinkema told Moussaoui, "You came here to be a martyr⁵ and to die in a great bang of glory. But to paraphrase⁶ the poet T.S. Eliot, instead you will die with a whimper."

Prior to sentencing Moussaoui, the judge allowed family members who lost loved ones in the September 11 attacks to speak to the defendant⁷ directly.

Three of them did, including Rosemary Dillard. She lost her husband in the attack on the Pentagon.

"I told him how he wrecked⁸ my life. He took the most important person from me, and that was my husband, Eddie Dillard," she said. "I think he will rot in jail and every day that he misses the sunlight and the freedom, as the judge said, will be another day that we win."

Many family members said they agreed with the jury's decision to spare Moussaoui from the death penalty.

But others were disappointed.

"I think he deserved the death penalty and I am sorry he didn't get it," said Margaret Pothier, who lost her brother-in-law in the September 11 attacks.

During the punishment phase of the trial, family members had to endure gruesome photographic evidence of the attacks as well as taunts⁹ from Moussaoui.

"Through it all, the victims have triumphed through the terrorists rants¹⁰ through their strength, their courage and their character," said Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, the prosecutor¹¹ who initially¹² brought the government's case against Moussaoui.

The sentencing was the last official act in a legal drama that began four years ago. Moussaoui was arrested three weeks before the 9/11 attacks after exhibiting bizarre behavior at a flight school in Minnesota. But he never told authorities what he knew about the plot.

He pled guilty to six terror conspiracy¹³ charges last year, saying he was supposed to be part of a second wave of al-Qaida attacks.

At least three members of the 12-member jury indicated that they thought Moussaoui was only a minor¹⁴ player in the 9/11 conspiracy. A death sentence requires a unanimous vote of the jury.

"It is obvious that they thought that his knowledge of 9/11, his role in 9/11 was not very great, and that played a significant role in the result that we had," said Gerald Zerkin, who was one of Moussaoui's lawyers.

Moussaoui is a French citizen of Moroccan descent and is the only person charged and convicted in connection with the September 11 attacks.

French authorities say they may ask that Moussaoui serve his prison time in France. But Judge Brinkema said Moussaoui will be sent to a maximum security federal prison in Colorado, where he will be in a jail cell by himself 23 hours of every day. She added, you will never be able to speak publicly again and that is an appropriate ending.

1 conspirator   

n.阴谋者，谋叛者

参考例句：

• We started abusing him,one conspirator after another adding his bitter words.我们这几个预谋者一个接一个地咒骂他，恶狠狠地骂个不停。
• A conspirator is not of the stuff to bear surprises.谋反者是经不起惊吓的。

2 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。

3 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

4 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

5 martyr   

n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲

参考例句：

• The martyr laid down his life for the cause of national independence.这位烈士是为了民族独立的事业而献身的。
• The newspaper carried the martyr's photo framed in black.报上登载了框有黑边的烈士遗像。

6 paraphrase   

vt.将…释义，改写；n.释义，意义

参考例句：

• You may read the prose paraphrase of this poem.你可以看一下这首诗的散文释义。
• Paraphrase the following sentences or parts of sentences using your own words.用你自己的话解释下面的句子或句子的一部分。

7 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

8 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

9 taunts   

嘲弄的言语，嘲笑，奚落( taunt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He had to endure the racist taunts of the crowd. 他不得不忍受那群人种族歧视的奚落。
• He had to endure the taunts of his successful rival. 他不得不忍受成功了的对手的讥笑。

10 rants   

n.夸夸其谈( rant的名词复数 )；大叫大嚷地以…说教；气愤地)大叫大嚷；不停地大声抱怨v.夸夸其谈( rant的第三人称单数 )；大叫大嚷地以…说教；气愤地)大叫大嚷；不停地大声抱怨

参考例句：

• This actor rants his lines. 这演员背台词拿腔拿调。 来自辞典例句
• Parents might also profit from eliminating the rants. 改掉大声叫骂的习惯，家长们也会受益。 来自互联网

11 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

12 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

13 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

14 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。