15篇文章贯通六级词汇Unit12-Part2

[00:00.00]As a bewildered public endeavored to assimilate

[00:03.71]this overwhelming event,

[00:05.78]at 9∶03 a.m., a second hijacked 1 jet

[00:09.94]crashed into Two W.T.C.

[00:13.01]Millions of people around the world,

[00:16.08]having been alerted to the incident

[00:18.92]and now watching the terror

[00:20.56]unfold on their televisions,

[00:21.87]watched in shock as the second plane,

[00:24.94]in the blink of an eye,

[00:26.58]entered the south tower

[00:28.43]at approximately the seventy-second floor

[00:31.50]and partially 2 exited the opposite wall.

[00:34.89]Fire and police departments

[00:38.06]were mobilized immediately.

[00:39.48]Rapid evacuation of the buildings was crucial.

[00:44.13]Many workers on upper floors,

[00:46.86]knowing there was no escape,

[00:49.49]committed suicide by hurling 4 themselves

[00:52.88]out of windows to their deaths.

[00:55.39]Then, 62 minutes after it had been crashed into,

[01:00.43]the south tower crumbled 5 into the streets

[01:03.27]in a gigantic cloud of dust and debris 6.

[01:06.44]Hundreds of police and firefighters

[01:10.06]intent on their rescue mission

[01:12.03]lost their lives as Two W.T.C. collapsed 8.

[01:15.85]Drivers and attendants of emergency vehicles,

[01:19.14]unable to abandon their posts,

[01:21.55]died where they had stopped

[01:23.30]to give aid and assistance.

[01:25.81]Employees from the two towers,

[01:28.99]rushing to escape the raging fires,

[01:31.94]were caught in the wreckage 9.

[01:33.91]Pedestrians, uncertain of which way to turn,

[01:37.30]and not convinced of the need for urgency,

[01:40.04]found themselves trapped

[01:42.01]in an avalanche 10 of concrete.

[01:44.08]Members of the media,

[01:46.27]on their way to

[01:47.58]cover the breaking news of the disaster,

[01:49.77]became victims of it.

[01:51.96]Hundreds of commuters,

[01:54.47]on their way to work via subway,

[01:57.10]were trapped below ground with no escape possible.

[02:01.15]Hospital emergency departments,

[02:05.08]having been notified of the explosions,

[02:08.04]quickly prepared for the arrival of casualties.

[02:11.65]When the expected influx 11 failed to materialize,

[02:16.14]it could only mean that there were few survivors 12.

[02:19.53]One W.T.C. collapsed at 10∶30 a.m.,

[02:25.11]105 minutes after being hit,

[02:28.50]adding to the mass confusion in the streets.

[02:31.67]Seven W.T.C.,

[02:34.25]a later addition to the complex,

[02:36.66]was damaged,caught fire,

[02:38.85]and collapsed later that afternoon.

[02:41.14]Not one of the adjoining structures was left intact.

[02:45.85]In the aftermath of this incredible misfortune,

[02:50.45]the pieces of the puzzle

[02:52.31]began to be put in place.

[02:54.27]Shortly before 8∶00 a.m. on September 11, 2001,

[02:59.67]three commercial airliners 13 were hijacked

[03:02.62]from Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts.

[03:06.45]All were transcontinental flights

[03:09.18]with passengers destined 14 for California

[03:12.02]and their full fuel tanks

[03:14.11]provided the ammunition 15 critical

[03:16.08]to the mission of the hijackers.

[03:18.59] Authorities speculate that

[03:21.43]the pilots were assassinated 16

[03:23.19]and their places taken by the terrorists

[03:26.03]who had had flight training.

[03:28.22]In all, there were 157 passengers

[03:32.70]and crew on the two planes.

[03:35.00]The third plane crashed in Pennsylvania

[03:38.28]killing 45 passengers and crew.

[03:41.13]A number of the hostages managed to

[03:44.96]use their cellular 17 telephones to

[03:47.25]call their families to say goodbye.

[03:49.44]Everything occurred

[03:51.52]in such a short period of time that,

[03:53.49]other than alerting a handful of people

[03:56.12]that there were some hijackings,

[03:58.30]no one had any idea why.

[04:00.60]The dilemma 18 was that there were no warnings,

[04:03.89]no demands for ransom 19,

[04:05.63]and no hints that this bright,

[04:07.93]sunny September morning was about

[04:10.66]to become a day that will live forever

[04:12.85]in the minds of those

[04:14.16]who witnessed the tragedy.

[04:15.70]It will be years

[04:18.54]before the final toll 20 of damage

[04:20.41]will be known.

[04:21.61]To consolidate 21 information,

[04:23.57]compute the financial losses,

[04:26.20]designate a monetary 22 value for loss of life,

[04:29.59]fill the void left on the terrain 23,

[04:32.11]to make sense of this misfortune

[04:34.51]intended to undermine the foundation of America

[04:37.69]is a formidable assignment.

[04:40.21]We do know that

[04:42.17]destruction of the World Trade Center

[04:44.36]cost the lives of more than

[04:45.90]three thousand innocent people

[04:47.64]in the buildings, in the hijacked airplanes,

[04:50.81] and in the surrounding streets.

[04:52.78]Who can erase 24 the mental images of those planes

[04:57.49]smashing into the twin towers?

[04:59.57]Who is unable to visualize 25 the spectacle

[05:02.85]of terrified men and women

[05:04.93]jumping to their doom 26?

[05:06.68]How can those of us

[05:08.76]who observed the collapse 7

[05:10.30]of the buildings fail to dwell

[05:12.04]on the loss of life caused by men,cowards,

[05:15.65]who lacked the fortitud

[05:17.73]to proclaim war on their alleged 27 enemy?

[05:20.25]Today, October 22, 2001,

[05:25.61]nine more corpses 28 were

[05:27.68]discovered in the rubbl,

[05:28.89]the first such discovery in several weeks.

[05:32.06]This may seem trivial when one considers

[05:35.45]the multitude of people who died.

[05:37.86]However, the fatalities 29

[05:40.71]aren't the only victims

[05:42.23]of this tragic 30 event.

[05:44.32]Their families, friends,

[05:46.72]and colleagues need closure.

[05:48.80]They need to know with certainty

[05:51.76]that their loved ones are dead

[05:54.16]and they need to bury the remains 31.

[05:56.68]Unfortunately,most of the casualties

[06:00.83]will probably never be found

[06:02.81]because the heat produced

[06:04.66]by the ignition of jet fuel

[06:06.74]and the damage incurred 32 by the impact

[06:09.37]would have instantaneously vaporized everything

[06:13.20]and everyone in the immediate 3 vicinity.

[06:16.37]Others, in the buildings

[06:18.67]or on the streets as the towers collapsed

[06:21.51]are under so much debris

[06:23.70]that their bodies may

[06:25.13]not be found for months.

[06:26.87]The list of buildings collapsed

[06:29.61]and damaged includes all seven buildings

[06:32.45]of the W.T.C.complex comprising W.T.C.6,

[06:37.48]the U.S. Customs House to the north;

[06:40.77] W.T.C.3, the 22 story Marriott World Trade Center Hotel

[06:47.01]just west of Tower Two;

[06:49.20]W.T.C.4 and 5, the Plaza 33 Buildings,

[06:54.33]and One Liberty Plaza, a 54 story,

[06:58.38]743 foot high building to the east.

[07:03.09] Firefighters and recovery workers

[07:06.48]remain on the scene.

[07:07.90]The fires still smolder 34 beneath the ruins.

[07:11.08]The American spirit has been bruised 35

[07:15.12]and the land has been scarred.

[07:17.09]The citizens of this powerful nation

[07:19.94]now realize just how fragile

[07:22.67]and vulnerable their country is.

[07:24.86]Nevertheless,they are defiant 36.

[07:28.36]They do not consider themselves

[07:31.20]easy prey 37 for terrorists.

[07:33.28]They are still optimistic

[07:35.47]about their place in today's world.

[07:37.85]They assert that the nightmare

[07:40.69]visited upon them will be visited

[07:43.32]upon the perpetrators of this cowardly act.

[07:46.60]The World Trade Center is no more.

[07:49.88]The dream of an international axis 38 of business,

[07:54.15]once a reality,will be revised.

[07:57.76]Maybe having one place

[08:00.13]that is so prominent will also be rethought.

[08:03.63]Whatever the outcome,

[08:06.80]this massacre 39 has served

[08:08.44]to strengthen the resolve of a mighty 40 nation.

[08:11.62]The dream and dreamers will survive.