星期二的恐怖袭击不乏先例

Tuesday's Terror Attack Not First

Deborah Tate

Washington

11 Sep 2001 17:58 UTC

 

The attack on the World Trade Center Tuesday was not the first on the 110-story twin towers.

In February 1993, a truck bomb exploded there, killing¹ six people, and 1)displacing business in the complex for six months. Six Islamic militants³ were 2)convicted in the bombing, and sentenced to life in prison. The attack was meant to pressure the United States to stay out of the Middle East and curb⁵ its support of Israel.

Until Tuesday's attack, the most serious case of terrorism in the United States occurred in April of 1995, when a truck bomb exploded at a federal government office building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. Timothy McVeigh was convicted of federal murder charges and 3)executed in June.

In a more recent terrorist incident, the USS Cole was refueling in Yemen's port of Aden in October of last year when a small boat pulled alongside it and 4)detonated explosives, killing 17 U.S. servicemen. U.S. authorities suspect Saudi exile Osama bin⁴ Laden⁶ was responsible for the incident.

In August 1998, bombings at the U.S. 5)embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people. Osama bin Laden is again blamed.

In another terrorist incident on African soil, Congo-based Rwandan rebels killed two Americans along with six other foreign tourists in Uganda in an attack in March 1999.

In one of the worst cases of terrorism in the air, 270 people were killed when Pan Am flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, on a flight from London to New York in December 1988.

Meanwhile, the Middle East has seen its share of terrorist activity directed against Americans.

In Saudi Arabia in June 1996, an attack on the U.S. military 6)complex at Khobar Towers in Dhahran killed 19 Americans. Members of a Saudi militant² group were 7)indicted for the attack. Seven months earlier, a car bomb detonated at U.S. military headquarters in Riyadh, killing five American service 8)personnel.

In June 1985, Shiite Muslim gunmen seized a TWA passenger jet, forcing it to Beirut. They demanded the release of 700 Arabs held by Israel. A U.S. navy diver was killed and 39 Americans were held until their release a month later after Syrian 9)mediation.

In October of that year, a 10)disabled American Jewish man, Leon Klinghoffer, was killed by Palestinian militants were had seized the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro.

One year earlier, in September 1984, a car bomb at U.S. embassy 11)annex in east Beirut, killed 16 and injured the ambassador.

In December 1983, Shiite 12)extremists set off car bombs in front of the U.S. and French embassies in Kuwait City, killing five people and wounding 86.

In October of that year, Shiite suicide bombers⁷ blew up the French military headquarters and a U.S. 13)marine 14)barracks in Beirut, killing 241 marines and 58 French 15)paratroopers.

In April 1983, suicide bombers blew up the U.S. embassy in Beirut, killing 17 Americans.

And in November 1979, Islamic students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran, holding 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

 

 

(1)      displace[dIs5pleIs]vt.移置, 转移, 取代, 置换v.转移

(2)      convict[5kRnvIkt]vt.证明...有罪, 宣告...有罪n.罪犯

(3)      execute[5eksIkju:t]vt.执行, 实行, 完成, 处死

(4)      detonate[`detEneIt]v.引爆

(5)      embassy[5embEsI]n.大使及其随员, 大使的派遣, 大使馆,

(6)      complex[5kRmpleks]adj.复杂的,综合的n.联合体

(7)      indict[In5daIt]vt.起诉, 控告, 指控, 告发

(8)      personnel[p:sE5nel]n.人员, 职员

(9)      mediation[9mi:dI`eIFLn]n.仲裁, 调停, 调解

(10)      disabled[dIs5eIb(E)ld]adj.伤残的v.丧失能力

(11)      annex[A5neks]n.附件vt.并吞, 附加

(12)      extremist[Ik5stri:mIst]n.极端主义者, 过激分子adj.极端主义(者)

(13)      marine[mE5ri:n]n.舰队, 水兵adj.海的, 海产的, 航海的

(14)      barracks n.兵营, 许多人居住的简陋房舍

(15)      paratrooper[5pArEtru:pE(r)]n.伞兵

 

 

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

3 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

4 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。

5 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

6 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。

7 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》