(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Today, we tell about the first term in office of President George W. Bush. Mister Bush dealt with the most deadly terrorist attack against the United States in history. George W. Bush became the nation's forty-third president on January twentieth, two thousand one. He and his vice president, Dick Cheney, were sworn in on the steps of the Capitol building. George Bush's father, George Herbert Walker Bush, had served as the forty-first president. The inauguration marked only the second time in American history that the son of a former president also became president. More than two hundred years ago, John Adams was elected the second president of the United States. His son, John Quincy Adams, later served as the sixth president. George W. Bush had been in office for fewer than eight months when the most important event of his first term took place on September eleventh, two thousand one. Americans call the event Nine-Eleven. On that morning, nineteen Islamic extremists hijacked four American passenger airplanes. The planes were flying from the East Coast to California. The hijackers were from Middle Eastern countries. Each group included a trained pilot. American Airlines Flight Eleven had left Boston, Massachusetts, when three terrorists seized control of the plane.
Shortly before nine o'clock in the morning, they crashed the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Another group seized United Airlines Flight One Seventy-Five and crashed it into the World Trade Center's South Tower a few minutes later. The two giant skyscrapers stood in the heart of America's financial center. The planes exploded in fireballs that sent clouds of smoke pouring from the skyscrapers. Wreckage and ashes flew into the air. On that morning, each tower held between five thousand and seven thousand people. Thousands of people were able to escape from the buildings. The South Tower of the World Trade Center fell shortly before ten o'clock. The North Tower collapsed about thirty minutes later. Within an hour the ruins of the two buildings were being called Ground Zero. Other hijackers on United Airlines Flight Seventy-Seven crashed the plane into the Pentagon, the Department of Defense headquarters near Washington, D.C. The plane exploded against a wall of the huge five-sided building where more than twenty thousand people worked. The hijackers also seized United Airlines Flight Ninety-Three.
Some passengers found out about the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington through cell phone calls to their families. Several passengers and crew members tried to retake control of the plane. It crashed near the small town of Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Investigators later said the hijackers probably planned to attack the Capitol building or the White House in Washington. The terrorist attacks on Nine-Eleven were the most deadly in American history. Almost three thousand people died. Most of the victims worked in the World Trade Center. They included many citizens of other countries. The victims also included three hundred forty-three New York City firefighters and twenty-three city police officers. They died trying to save others. Search and rescue operations began immediately. Hundreds of rescue workers recovered people and bodies from the wreckage. Aid was organized for victims and their families. President Bush stood in the wreckage of the World Trade Center and promised that the attacks would be answered. It took workers eight months to complete the cleanup of Ground Zero. Every day, thousands of people visited the area to see where the attack took place and to honor those who died there.
Near Washington, D.C., people left flowers and messages near the heavily damaged wall of the Defense Department headquarters. One hundred eighty-four military service members and civilians died there. New York City changed forever on that day. The attack destroyed a major part of the financial center of the city. It had a huge economic effect on the United States and world markets. The New York Stock Exchange was closed until September seventeenth. When it reopened, American stocks lost more than one trillion dollars in value for the week. For days after the attacks, most planes stopped flying. When normal flights began again, many people were too afraid to travel by air. The airline and travel industries suffered. Thousands of hotel workers and others lost their jobs. Many other businesses suffered as well. When people started flying again, they found it much more difficult because of increased security at airports. People across America experienced great shock, fear, sadness and loss. They could not understand why anyone would attack innocent Americans.
They also felt a renewed love for their country. They put American flags on their houses, cars and businesses. President Bush said Osama bin Laden and terrorists linked to his al-Qaida group plotted and carried out the attacks on Nine-Eleven. On September twentieth, the president declared a War on Terror. The goals were to find and punish Osama bin Laden and to use economic and military actions to prevent the spread of terrorism. PRESIDENT BUSH: "Our war on terror begins with al-Qaida, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated."American officials said the Taleban administration in Afghanistan was sheltering Osama bin Laden. They said al-Qaida terrorists operated a training camp in Afghanistan under Taleban protection. President Bush demanded that the Taleban close the training camp and surrender Osama bin Laden. The Taleban refused. American and British airplanes launched attacks against the Taleban in Afghanistan on October seventh.
The goals were to oust the Taleban, capture Osama bin Laden and destroy al-Qaida. The bombers struck in and around the Afghan capital, Kabul. Ethnic tribal groups of the Afghan Northern Alliance then led a ground attack. By November the Taleban began to collapse in several provinces. Taleban forces fled Kabul and the city of Kandahar. The military offensive defeated the Taleban and ousted them from power. It also captured a number of Taleban fighters and al-Qaida terrorists. But the war in Afghanistan was not over. And the leader of al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden, had not been captured. Some enemy fighters seized in Afghanistan were sent to a United States Navy detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The United States government did not identify them as prisoners of war. Instead, the detainees were called "unlawful enemy combatants." As such, they lacked some of the rights provided by an international treaty on conditions for war prisoners. The United States government also detained hundreds of foreign citizens.
Most of these people had violated immigration laws. No terrorism charges were brought against them. Human rights activists and some legal experts protested the treatment of the prisoners. The activists said holding people in secret without trial violated the United States Constitution. In October, Congress passed the U.S.A. Patriot Act. It provided the government with more power to get information about suspected terrorists in this country. Critics said the legislation invaded citizens' rights to privacy. Civil liberties groups charged that it gave law enforcement and other agencies too much power. After Nine-Eleven, government agencies were criticized for not cooperating to gather intelligence that might have prevented the terrorist attacks. In two thousand two, a new Department of Homeland Security was created to strengthen defenses against terrorism. Twenty-two agencies were combined into a new department of about two hundred thousand employees. The Department of Homeland Security was one of the major changes brought about by the attacks of Nine Eleven. Many Americans believed the attacks had changed their lives, their country, and the world, forever.
重点解析
1.terrorism恐怖主义；恐怖行动
The world people preach down terrorism and violence.
世界人民公开谴责恐怖主义和暴力。
2.World Trade Center 世界贸易中心
Could you take me to the World Trade Center?
您能送我到世界贸易中心吗？
3.Department of Homeland Security 国土安全部
We looked at the Department of Homeland Security, the operations center.
我们查看了国土安全部&行动控制中心。
4.law enforcement法律的实施
The new center will have no law enforcement function.
因此该新中心将不具有法律执行功能。
5.wreckage（失事船或飞机等的）残骸；（船只等的）失事
Wreckage filled the channel.
沉船残骸堵塞了航道。
参考译文
今天，我们为您讲述乔治·w·布什总统的第一届任期。布什处理了美国历史上最致命的恐怖袭击事件。2001年1月20日，乔治·w·布什成为美国第43任总统。他和副总统迪克·切尼在国会大厦的台阶上宣誓就职。乔治·布什的父亲乔治·赫伯特·沃克·布什曾担任美国第41任总统。就职典礼标志着美国历史上第二次前总统之子也成为总统。两百多年前，约翰·亚当斯被选为美国第二任总统。他的儿子约翰·昆西·亚当斯后来成为美国第六任总统。2001年9月11日，乔治·w·布什上任还不到8个月，大事发生了。美国人称之为911事件。那天早上，19名伊斯兰极端分子劫持了4架美国客机。飞机从东海岸飞往加利福尼亚。劫机者来自中东国家，每一组包括一名训练有素的飞行员。美国航空公司11号航班离开马萨诸塞州波士顿时，3名恐怖分子控制了飞机。早上将近9点，他们将飞机撞向纽约市世贸中心北塔。几分钟后，另一组织劫持了联合航空公司75号航班，并撞向世贸中心南塔。这两座摩天大楼矗立在美国金融中心。飞机在火球中爆炸，摩天大楼冒出滚滚浓烟，空中弥漫着残骸和灰烬。那天早上，每座大楼有五千到七千人，成千上万的人得以逃离。10点前，世贸中心南塔楼倒塌了，大约30分钟后，北塔楼倒塌了。
不到一个小时，两座世贸大厦沦为废墟。联合航空77号航班上的其他劫机者将飞机撞向华盛顿特区附近的国防部五角大楼飞机撞上巨大的五边形建筑物的一堵墙上爆炸了，两万多人在那里工作。劫机者还劫持了联合航空公司93号航班。一些乘客通过给家人打电话的方式得知了纽约和华盛顿的恐怖袭击事件。几名乘客和机组人员试图重新控制飞机。事故发生在宾夕法尼亚州尚克斯维尔镇附近。调查人员后来表示，劫机者可能计划袭击华盛顿的国会大厦或白宫。911袭击是美国历史上最致命的一次恐怖事件。将近3000人死亡，受害者大多数为世贸中心的工作人员。包括许多其他国家的公民。受害者还包括343名纽约市消防员和23名纽约市警察。他们舍生取义。搜救行动立即展开。数百名救援人员从废墟中找到了人员尸体，组织救援受害者及其家属。布什总统站在世贸中心的废墟中，承诺会对袭击做出回应。工人们花了8个月的时间完成了世贸遗址的清理工作。每天都有成千上万的人来到这个地区，观看袭击地点，并向那里的死难者表示敬意。在美国华盛顿特区，人们在国防部总部遭到严重破坏的围墙附近放下鲜花，留言。184名军人和平民丧生。那一天，纽约市永远地改变了。本次袭击摧毁了城市金融中心的大部分建筑。
对美国和世界市场产生了巨大的经济影响。纽约证券交易所一直关闭到9月17日。股市重新开盘时，美国股市一周损失了1万亿美元。几天后，大多数飞机停止飞行。正常飞行开始时，许多人害怕乘飞机旅行。航空业和旅游业遭受重创，成千上万的酒店员工和其他人失去了工作。许多其他企业也遭受了损失。当人们重新开始飞行时，他们发现由于机场加强了安全措施，飞行变得更加困难。美国人民经历着巨大的震惊、恐惧、悲伤和损失。他们不明白为什么会有人攻击无辜的美国人。他们重新爱上了自己的国家。他们把美国国旗挂在房子、汽车和企业上。总统布什表示，奥萨马·本·拉登和与他的基地组织有关的恐怖分子策划并实施了9 - 11恐怖袭击。9月20日，总统宣布向恐怖主义宣战。目标是找到并惩罚奥萨马·本·拉登，并采取经济和军事行动来防止恐怖主义蔓延。“我们的反恐战争始于基地组织，但并没有就此结束。在全球范围内的每一个恐怖组织被发现、阻止和击败之前，这一切都不会结束。”美国官员表示，阿富汗塔利班政府正在庇护奥萨马·本·拉登。他们说，基地恐怖分子在塔利班的保护下在阿富汗经营一个训练营。布什总统要求塔利班关闭训练营并交出本拉登。塔利班拒绝了。10月7日，美国和英国的飞机在阿富汗对塔利班发动攻击。其目标是驱逐塔利班，抓获奥萨马·本·拉登并摧毁基地组织。爆炸发生在阿富汗首都喀布尔及其周边地区。随后，阿富汗北方联盟的少数民族部落组织发动了地面袭击。
到了11月，塔利班在几个省份开始瓦解。塔利班部队逃离喀布尔和坎大哈市。塔利班落败，被赶下了台。它还抓获了一些塔利班战士和基地组织恐怖分子。但阿富汗战争还没有结束。基地组织的头目奥萨马·本·拉登还没有被抓获。在阿富汗被抓获的敌方士兵被送往古巴关塔那摩湾的美国海军拘留中心。美国政府没有将他们列为战俘。而被拘留者称为“非法敌方战斗人员”。因此，他们缺少一项关于战俘条件的国际条约所规定的一些权利。美国政府还拘留了数百名外国公民，其中大多数人违反了移民法。他们没有遭到恐怖主义指控。人权活动人士和一些法律专家抗议对囚犯的处分。这些活动人士表示，未经审判就秘密关押人违反了美国宪法。10月，国会通过了《美国爱国者法案》。该法案赋予了政府更多的权力来获取恐怖分子嫌疑人的信息。批评人士表示，这项立法侵犯了公民的隐私权。公民自由组织指责它给予执法机构和其他机构太多的权力。911事件之后，政府机构被批评不合作收集情报，这些情报本可以帮助阻止恐怖袭击。2002年，新的国土安全部成立，以加强对恐怖主义的防御。22家机构合并成一个大约有20万雇员的新部门。国土安全部是911恐怖袭击带来的重大变化之一。许多美国人认为，恐怖袭击永远地改变了他们的生活、国家和世界。
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