249.In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks these questions have never seemed more pressing.

英语四级译文:
在9·11袭击之后，这些问题好像更加急迫了。

四级词汇讲解:
本句的主干是questions have never seemed more pressing; In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks为状语，have never seemed more pressing通过否定比较级来表示最高级概念。

in the wake of的意思是“随...之后到来”。如:
Outbreaks of diseases occurred in the wake of the flood.洪水过后疾病丛生。

英语四级考点归纳:
否定式+比较级可表示最高级概念:

※ 名词短语否定式+比较级表示最高级。如:
Nobody else in the class is talaer than John. = John is the tallest in the class.班里没人比约翰更高。
Nobody works harder than Steven does. = Steven works hardest.没人比史蒂文更努力。

※ 动词短语否定式+比较级表示最高级。如:
The food in that restaurant couldn't taste worse.=The food in that restaurant tastes the worst.那家餐馆里的食物不能再糟糕了。
I couldn't have spent more time writing this book.=I spent a lot of time writing this book.我没法花再多的时间来写这本书了。