历史上的今天-Today in History 2013-05-30

 May 30th, 2002In New York, the end of the agonizing¹ clean up at Ground Zero, eight and a half months after the September 11th terrorist attacks. Retired² firefighter Tom Steffens says he can hardly believe what he sees where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center once stood. It's scary. It's just atomizing  two giant beautiful buildings were here and, now it's gone. It's that what’s like a baseball field, just flatten³, just nothing there, is this… it’s a discard ranching1431,In France, Joan of Arc is burned at the stake, condemned⁴ as a heretic. Today, she is France's national heroine and a Catholic saint.

1982 ,I’ve always been someone that just grudges⁵ out and tries to do the best I can, take one day of the timeCal Ripken, Junior of the Baltimore Orioles plays the first of what becomes a record 2,632 consecutive⁶ games in major league baseball.

And 1909,Benny Goodman, the jazz clarinetist and bandleader known as the “King of Swing”, is born in Chicago.

Today in History, May 30th, Ross Simpson, the Associated Press.

1 agonizing   

adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式)

参考例句：

• I spent days agonizing over whether to take the job or not. 我用了好些天苦苦思考是否接受这个工作。
• his father's agonizing death 他父亲极度痛苦的死

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 flatten   

v.把．．．弄平，使倒伏；使(漆等)失去光泽

参考例句：

• We can flatten out a piece of metal by hammering it.我们可以用锤子把一块金属敲平。
• The wrinkled silk will flatten out if you iron it.发皱的丝绸可以用熨斗烫平。

4 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

5 grudges   

不满，怨恨，妒忌( grudge的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He never grudges money. 他从不吝惜金钱。
• They bear grudges against each other. 他俩有过节儿。

6 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。