2006年VOA标准英语-Solemn Observances Mark Fifth Anniversary of 9/

By Robert Raffaele and Carolyn Weaver 
Washington, DC
12 September 2006
 
Watch Sept 11 Anniversary

Friends, relatives of victims of September 11, 2001 attacks gather during playing of national anthem¹ at Ground Zero, in New York, Monday, September 11, 2006   
  
Americans and others around the world marked the fifth anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks in ceremonies and readings.  Nearly 3,000 people died in the airliner² attacks in New York, at the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., and in Pennsylvania, where one of the hijacked³ planes crashed.

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Five years later, the terrorist attacks were remembered in both sorrow and anger. At the former site of the World Trade Center, bagpipes⁴ played as firefighters remembered the fallen, and carried the American flag that flew there that day. 343 firefighters and paramedics sent to rescue the trapped were among those killed on 9/11 when the World Trade Center towers collapsed⁶.

Throughout the morning, family members read aloud the names of the more than 2700 people who perished at "Ground Zero."  Some also shared personal remembrances of those they lost.

James Smith is the widower⁷ of New York City police officer, Moira Smith, who died in the collapse⁵ of the South Tower. "She'd be still protecting the people of the city she loved, defending the nation she loved, keeping it from harm," said her husband. "And she would be raising the child she loved more than anything on earth. But most importantly, Moira would be about the business of living. She would be making us smile when we wanted to frown and laugh when we wanted to cry."

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was widely praised for his leadership on 9/11, when he rushed to the World Trade Center site to take command. He remembered the victims with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

"To leave the world a better place, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed⁸ social condition. To know that even one life has breathed easier, because you lived -- this is to have succeeded." 

President Bush and wife, Laura, lay memorial wreath in pool of water at Ground Zero  
  
President and Mrs. Bush began the day by observing a moment of silence at a New York City firehouse whose firefighters were among the first to respond to the scene.  Later in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, President Bush laid a wreath at a memorial honoring the 40 passengers and crewmembers of United Flight 93 -- the one hijacked plane that did not reach its target. 

The president also visited the Pentagon, where 184 people died. "On this day," said the president, "we remember the innocent who lost their lives and we pay tribute to those who gave their lives so that others might live."

President Bush did not speak on the anniversary until an evening televised address.

"America did not ask for this war, and every American wishes it were over.  So do I," he said from the Oval Office. "But the war is not over -- and it will not be over until either we or the extremists emerge victorious⁹."

Critics say the president has used 9/11 for political purposes and failed to secure the nation. The co-chairmen of the 9/11 Commission, Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, said Monday their recommendations for increasing national security have not all been implemented¹⁰.

"And we are enormously concerned that, five years later, some of the ones that seemed most elementary and most fundamental, haven't been done," said Mr. Kean.

"And our view is a simple one," added Mr. Hamilton. "It is that there is nothing, nothing, NOTHING, more important on the agenda of any policymaker than to make the people of this country more secure."

Memorials in other parts of the world including Britain and Japan also marked the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. 

1 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

2 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

3 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。

4 bagpipes   

n.风笛；风笛( bagpipe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Yes, and I'm also learning to play the bagpipes. 是的，我也想学习吹风笛。 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Mr. Vinegar took the bagpipes and the piper led the cow away. 于是醋溜先生拿过了风笛，风笛手牵走了奶牛。 来自互联网

5 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

6 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

7 widower   

n.鳏夫

参考例句：

• George was a widower with six young children.乔治是个带著六个小孩子的鳏夫。
• Having been a widower for many years,he finally decided to marry again.丧偶多年后，他终于决定二婚了。

8 redeemed   

adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She has redeemed her pawned jewellery. 她赎回了当掉的珠宝。
• He redeemed his watch from the pawnbroker's. 他从当铺赎回手表。

9 victorious   

adj.胜利的，得胜的

参考例句：

• We are certain to be victorious.我们定会胜利。
• The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。

10 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句