2006年VOA标准英语-New York Marks Anniversary of World Trade Cente

By Barbara Schoetzau
New York
11 September 2006

Family of Emilio 'Pete' Ortiz embrace after his name is read as families gather at the site of the World Trade Center Monday, September 11, 2006 in New York   
  
Americans across the nation paused to mark the fifth anniversary of the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks. In New York, where nearly 3,000 people were killed at the World Trade Center Towers, victims' families participated in a solemn ceremony at Ground Zero.

----

Every year since the attacks, families of the victims have gathered at Ground Zero to remember their loss and read the names of the victims. In the past, parents, grandparents and children have read the names. This year New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg introduced the reading by spouses¹ and partners.

"Five years have come and gone and we still stand together as one," he said. "We come back to this place to remember the heartbreaking anniversary and each person who died here. This year we have asked their spouses, partners and significant others to lead the ceremonies, not in the first flush of despair, but with the saving grace of memory."

One hundred pairs of spouses and partners read the names of the victims as a background of flutes² and violins underscored the somber³ nature of the occasion.

"Thomas F. McGinnes Junior. Patrick McGuire. Thomas M. McHale. Keith McHeffney. Ann M. McHugh. And my precious husband, firefighter Joseph Mascali, FDNY, Rescue Five, forever my Joey," a wife said.

As in previous years, church bells rang throughout the city to introduce four moments of silence to mark the exact times when the hijacked⁴ airplanes hit the towers and the moments when the towers collapsed⁵.

 
Mourners toss flowers into a reflecting pool during a ceremony Monday, September 11, 2006 at the World Trade Center in New York
  
"I am the husband of New York City police officer Moira Smith, who five years ago ran into the South Tower because she believed that a life lived in the service of others is a life worth living. And that is how she would want our daughter Patricia to remember her. I am honored to have been her husband and grateful to have our child to raise, helping⁶ her to understand that her mother was, and still is, the pride of New York City," said Smith.

Throughout the ceremony family members placed flowers in the reflecting pools at the site.

Sunday, President and Mrs. Bush placed a wreathe at the site and attended one of the many memorial services around the city. They observed the first moment of silence Monday at a nearby firehouse. The President's itinerary⁷ included wreathe laying ceremonies at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania where a fourth airplane crashed into a field after passengers wrested⁸ control from the hijackers.

Ground Zero is currently a construction site, but unlike at past memorials, buildings have now begun to rise. New tenants⁹ already occupy the first completed building, World Trade Center Number Seven.

1 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

2 flutes   

长笛( flute的名词复数 )； 细长香槟杯（形似长笛）

参考例句：

• The melody is then taken up by the flutes. 接着由长笛奏主旋律。
• These flutes have 6open holes and a lovely bright sound. 笛子有6个吹气孔，奏出的声音响亮清脆。

3 somber   

adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• He had a somber expression on his face.他面容忧郁。
• His coat was a somber brown.他的衣服是暗棕色的。

4 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。

5 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。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 itinerary   

n.行程表，旅行路线；旅行计划

参考例句：

• The two sides have agreed on the itinerary of the visit.双方商定了访问日程。
• The next place on our itinerary was Silistra.我们行程的下一站是锡利斯特拉。

8 wrested   

（用力）拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 )； 费力取得； （从…）攫取； （ 从… ） 强行取去…

参考例句：

• The usurper wrested the power from the king. 篡位者从国王手里夺取了权力。
• But now it was all wrested from him. 可是现在，他却被剥夺了这一切。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

9 tenants   

n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。