《英语流行话题阅读:语境识词3500》Unit86:93次航班上发生了什么

　　Unit 86
What Happened on Flight 93?
Sunday, September 9, 2001, was a good day for the three of us. Emmy was just 11 weeks. She was starting to sleep through the night and I was feeling better physically¹. My husband Jeremy, who was thinking of changing jobs, had gone for two interviews and felt they went well. Since it was rainy, we just lay around our house in northern New Jersey².
The next day, September 10, was busy. Jeremy would be catching³ a flight to San Francisco. I would take Emmy up to my parents' house in the Catskills Mountains in New York State, and he could meet us there when he returned. For some reason he particularly wanted to take care of Emmy that morning. He fed the baby milk and bathed and dressed her. He put Emmy in her car seat and kissed her. Then he stood in the street in front of our house, waving, as we drove⁴ off.
The drive to the Catskills was uncomfortable. It was hot. Emmy cried a lot. When I got to the Catskills, Jeremy called to say his flight to San Francisco had been cancelled due⁵ to a fire at New York Airport. "I'm going home and get a good night's sleep, and get up early tomorrow." He said. He would grab⁶ the first flight out of New York airport. United⁷ Flight 93.
I woke up on Tuesday morning hearing my father say something about the World Trade Center. I looked at the TV and saw the fire and black holes in the tower. The phone rang, I grabbed⁹ the phone. It was Jeremy. "Listen," he said, "three Iranian guys took over the plane. They had a bomb. I love you," he said. "I love you," I said.
After we'd said "I love you" for four or five times, I was in a different place. Jeremy continued, "I don't think I'm going to make it out of here. I don't want to die." He cursed¹⁰. "You've got to promise me you're going to be happy," he said, "For Emmy to know how much I love her. And that whatever decisions you make in your life, I'll support you."
Just then I saw something on TV about a plane crashing into the Pentagon, and I thought, Thank God it isn't Jeremy's plane. When I told him about this new attack, Jeremy saw his fate¹¹ and that of other passengers was in their own hands. "There're three other passengers as big as me and we're thinking of attacking the guy with the bomb. What do you think?"
I handed the phone to my dad, ran into the toilet and throw up into the sink. When my father put the phone to his ear, he heard nothing for tow⁸ or three minutes. Then he heard screams in the background. He thought, they're doing it. Ten minutes later, an operator¹² broke in to say that the FBI wanted my father to stay on line because it was the only remaining connection to the plane. Dad took the phone to the yard, where he stood for two hours. Then he brought the phone back and hung up. he was crying.
It was raining on September 19, the day we arrived at the crash site, a countryside 130 kilometers from Pittsburg. The plane had come down at a steep¹³ angle¹⁴, hitting the ground at the speed of sound. Most of the plane turned into small, hot pieces. There was no wreckage¹⁵. There was nothing to say. I hungered to know what had happened on Flight 93 and why Jeremy died.
Now I don't want know what happened. It's just that I'm sure I will never really make sense of September 11. Did they declare war on us for a principle? Because they were jealous¹⁶? To show how tough they were? The world Jeremy and I knew was never beyond the rooms we lived in, a few places we walked, a few friends we loved. Now it's gone. Nobody could ever really make sense of why.

1 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

2 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

3 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

4 drove   

vbl.驾驶，drive的过去式；n.畜群

参考例句：

• He drove at a speed of sixty miles per hour.他以每小时60英里的速度开车。
• They drove foreign goods out of the market.他们把外国货驱逐出市场。

5 due   

n.应得物；adj.预定的，应付的，到期的，应有的

参考例句：

• I received nothing except what was due to me.除了我应得的东西，我并未接受任何东西。
• The rocket is due to lift off at noon on Friday.火箭定于星期五中午发射。

6 grab   

vt./n.攫取，抓取；vi.攫取，抓住(at)

参考例句：

• It is rude to grab a seat.抢占座位是不礼貌的。
• The thief made a grab at my bag but I pushed him away.贼想抢我的手提包，但被我推开了。

7 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

8 tow   

n.拖，拉，牵引

参考例句：

• The broken-down car was taken in tow by a lorry.那辆坏了的车由一辆货车拖着。
• Mrs Hayes went to the supermarket with her four little children in tow.海斯太太带着她的4个小孩到超市去了。

9 grabbed   

v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。

10 cursed   

a.可憎的，可恶的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• The necklace was cursed. 这条项链上附有会给人带来灾难的符咒。
• She cursed at one of her servants this morning. 今天早晨她大骂了一个仆人。

11 fate   

n.命运；结局，结果；将来，前景

参考例句：

• The Titanic met her fate by crashing into a huge iceberg.泰坦尼克号客轮因撞上一个大冰山而沉没。
• Your future is bound up with the fate of your motherland.你的前途同祖国的命运紧密相联。

12 operator   

n.（机器、设备等的）操作员；电话接线员

参考例句：

• He is a computer operator.他是个电脑操作员。
• The telephone operator connected us.话务员给我们接通了电话。

13 steep   

adj.陡峭的，险峻的，急剧升降的，不合理的；n.悬崖，峭壁，浸渍，浸渍液；v.浸，泡，沉浸

参考例句：

• The slope is too steep for us to climb.这斜坡太陡，我们爬不上去。
• There was a steep climb on the road out of town.市外公路上有一处很陡的上坡路。

14 angle   

n.角，角度，立场，观点

参考例句：

• The high jumper took off at a bad angle.跳高运动员的起跳角度不好。
• The old house leans to the right at a dangerous angle.那所老宅向右斜得很危险。

15 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

16 jealous   

adj.妒忌的，猜忌的；精心守护的

参考例句：

• He was jealous when he discovered that she loved someone else.当他发现她爱别人的时候，他吃醋了。
• An honorable Chinese citizen should be jealous of his own rights.一名光荣的中国公民应当珍惜自己的公民权利。