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As a bewildered public endeavored to assimilate this overwhelming event, at 9:03 a. m., a second hijacked jet crashed into Two W. T. C.
正当大家力图搞清这个巨大事故到底是怎么回事的时候，上午9点3分，第二架被劫持的喷气机向世贸中心2号楼撞去。
Millions of people around the world, having been alerted to the incident and now watching the terror unfold on their televisions, watched in shock as the second plane, in the blink of an eye, entered the south tower at approximately the seventy-second floor and partially exited the opposite wall.
全球受到震惊的数百万人在电视上收看这次恐怖事件，他们又惊恐地看着第二架飞机眨眼之间就从大约72楼进入南塔，并有一部分机身从另一面墙穿出。
Fire and police departments were mobilized immediately. Rapid evacuation of the buildings was crucial.
消防和警察部门立即动员起来。最重要的是让人们迅速撤离大楼。
Many workers on upper floors, knowing there was no escape, committed suicide by hurling themselves out of windows to their deaths.
在上面楼层的许多工作人员，知道没有逃路，自己冲出窗外自杀身亡。
Then, 62 minutes after it had been crashed into, the south tower crumbled into the streets in a gigantic cloud of dust and debris.
接下来，在遭撞击62分后，南塔楼倒塌在大街上，尘土和碎片形成巨大的浓烟。
Hundreds of police and firefighters intent on their rescue mission lost their lives as Two W. T. C. collapsed.
数百名肩负营救使命的警察和消防队员在世贸中心2号塔楼倒塌时失去了生命。
Drivers and attendants of emergency vehicles, unable to abandon their posts, died where they had stopped to give aid and assistance.
没有放弃职责的救援车辆的驾驶员和服务员牺牲在他们停下来实施帮助和救援的地方。
Employees from the two towers, rushing to escape the raging fires, were caught in the wreckage.
刚从两个大楼里冲出来、逃出火海的职员，也被埋进了残骸中。
Pedestrians, uncertain of which way to turn, and not convinced of the need for urgency, found themselves trapped in an avalanche of concrete.
街上不知道往哪里逃、还不知道情况紧急的行人，发现自己也陷入了雪崩一样的混凝土块之中。
Members of the media, on their way to cover the breaking news of the disaster, became victims of it.
一些媒体的记者，在去采访这场灾难的路上，也成了牺牲者。
Hundreds of commuters, on their way to work via subway, were trapped below ground with no escape possible.
数百名通勤者在他们乘坐地铁去上班的路上，也被陷在地下，没有办法逃生。
Hospital emergency departments, having been notified of the explosions, quickly prepared for the arrival of casualties.
医院急诊部，在接到爆炸事件的通知后，迅速作好了接收伤员的准备。
When the expected influx failed to materialize, it could only mean that there were few survivors.
当预想的人流没有出现时，那可能已经意味着没有多少幸存者。
One W. T. C. collapsed at 10:30 a. m., 105 minutes after being hit, adding to the mass confusion in the streets.
世贸中心1号楼在被撞击105分后，即10点30分倒塌，加重了街上已经非常混乱的状况。
Seven W. T. C., a later addition to the complex, was damaged, caught fire, and collapsed later that afternoon. Not one of the adjoining structures was left intact.
世贸中心7号楼，一座后来加进来的大楼，受到破坏并起火，在那天下午晚些时候倒塌连接在一起的建筑全部受到损坏。
In the aftermath of this incredible misfortune, the pieces of the puzzle began to be put in place.
在这次令人难以置信的灾难之后，几个疑团开始出现了。
Shortly before 8:00 a. m. on September 11, 2001, three commercial airliners were hijacked from Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts.
在2001年9月11日上午8点之前不久，三架从马萨诸塞州波士顿的洛根机场起飞的商用飞机被劫持。
All were transcontinental flights with passengers destined for California and their full fuel tanks provided the ammunition critical to the mission of the hijackers.
它们都是横跨大陆载着乘客飞往加利福尼亚的，机上盛满的油箱为这伙劫持者提供了致命的武器。
Authorities speculate that the pilots were assassinated and their places taken by the terrorists who had had flight training.
专家们推测飞行员们已经被害，他们的位置被受过训练的恐怖分子所取代。
In all, there were 157 passengers and crew on the two planes. The third plane crashed in Pennsylvania killing 45 passengers and crew.
这两架飞机上共有157名乘客和机组成员。第三架飞机坠毁在宾夕法尼亚州，45名乘客和机组成员遇难。
A number of the hostages managed to use their cellular telephones to call their families to say goodbye.
几个人质设法用手机与他们的家人通电话道别。
Everything occurred in such a short period of time that, other than alerting a handful of people that there were some hijackings, no one had any idea why.
一切都在如此之短的时间里发生，除了发出信号说这里有一伙人在劫持飞机外，没有人能想到为什么。
The dilemma was that there were no warnings, no demands for ransom, and no hints that this bright, sunny September morning was about to become a day that will live forever in the minds of those who witnessed the tragedy.
使人进退两难的是，没有警告，也没有勒索要求，没有线索预示9月的这个阳光明媚的上午将会变成怎样的一天，这一天将永远留在那些亲眼目睹了这场灾难的人们的心中。
It will be years before the final toll of damage will be known.
好几年以后才能知道这次破坏所带来的损失。
To consolidate information, compute the financial losses, designate a monetary value for loss of life, fill the void left on the terrain, to make sense of this misfortune intended to undermine the foundation of America is a formidable assignment.
整理资料、计算财政损失、把生命的损失折算成货币价值，填补地上留下来的空间，搞清楚这次旨在破坏美国根基的事件的原因是一项艰巨的任务。
We do know that destruction of the World Trade Center cost the lives of more than three thousand innocent people in the buildings, in the hijacked airplanes, and in the surrounding streets.
我们知道世界贸易中心的毁灭夺走了大楼里、被劫持的飞机上和周围的街道上的3000多无辜人员的生命。
Who can erase the mental images of those planes smashing into the twin towers?
谁能抹去飞机撞进双子塔楼时留在人们心灵上的阴影？
Who is unable to visualize the spectacle of terrified men and women jumping to their doom?
我们很难想象出那些恐惧的男人和女人们走向死亡时的情景。
How can those of us who observed the collapse of the buildings fail to dwell on the loss of life caused by men, cowards, who lacked the fortitude to proclaim war on their alleged enemy?
我们中的那些看到大楼倒塌的人，怎么能够不怀念被那些懦夫、那些没有胆量向他们所谓的敌人宣战的家伙们所伤害的无辜生命呢？
Today, October 22, 2001, nine more corpses were discovered in the rubble, the first such discovery in several weeks.
今天，2001年10月22日，在瓦砾中又发现了九具尸体，这是几个星期来的第一次这样的发现。
This may seem trivial when one considers the multitude of people who died.
想到有那么多人遇难，这似乎是微不足道的。
However, the fatalities aren't the only victims of this tragic event. Their families, friends, and colleagues need closure.
然而，不幸的人并不只有这次悲剧事件的牺牲者。他们的家人、朋友和同事需要一个结果。
They need to know with certainty that their loved ones are dead and they need to bury the remains.
他们需要确切地知道他们所爱的人的死，他们需要掩埋遗体。
Unfortunately, most of the casualties will probably never be found because the heat produced by the ignition of jet fuel and the damage incurred by the impact would have instantaneously vaporized everything and everyone in the immediate vicinity.
不幸的是，大多数遇难者也许将永远也找不到了，因为航空燃油燃烧产生的热量和撞击产生的损害马上就把附近的每件东西和人员瞬间化为灰烬。
Others, in the buildings or on the streets as the towers collapsed are under so much debris that their bodies may not be found for months.
在塔楼倒塌时，在大楼和街上的其他遇难者被埋在如此之多的残骸之下，好几个月都找不出他们的尸体。
The list of buildings collapsed and damaged includes all seven buildings of the W. T. C. complex comprising W. T. C. 6, the U. S. Customs House to the north;
在倒塌和损坏的建筑物名单上包括世贸中心建筑群的所有七幢大楼，它们是世贸中心6号楼，北边的美国海关；
W. T. C. 3, the 22 story Marriott World Trade Center Hotel just west of Tower Two; W. T. C. 4 and 5, the Plaza Buildings, and One Liberty Plaza, a 54 story, 743 foot high building to the east.
世贸中心3号楼，2号塔楼正西的22层的马利亚特世贸中心饭店；世贸中心4号和5号楼，购物中心大楼以及东面54层的743英尺高的大楼。
Firefighters and recovery workers remain on the scene. The fires still smolder beneath the ruins.
消防人员以及援救人员仍在现场。火仍然在废墟下面燃烧着。
The American spirit has been bruised and the land has been scarred.
美国心灵遇到了挫折，这片土地遭受了创伤。
The citizens of this powerful nation now realize just how fragile and vulnerable their country is. Nevertheless, they are defiant.
这个伟大国家的人民现在才认识到他们的国家是多么脆弱和容易受到攻击。然而，他们是不会屈服的。
They do not consider themselves easy prey for terrorists. They are still optimistic about their place in today's world.
他们认为自己不是恐怖分子容易捕获的猎物。他们对他们在现今世界上的地位依然乐观。
They assert that the nightmare visited upon them will be visited upon the perpetrators of this cowardly act.
他们声称降临到他们的噩梦将降落到这场胆怯行动的凶手们身上。
The World Trade Center is no more. The dream of an international axis of business, once a reality, will be revised.
世贸中心已不复存在。曾经变为现实的国际商业枢纽的梦想，需要重新考虑。
Maybe having one place that is so prominent will also be rethought.
也许，还会重新考虑一个同样著名的地方。
Whatever the outcome, this massacre has served to strengthen the resolve of a mighty nation. The dream and dreamers will survive.
不论结果如何，这场悲剧更加坚定了巩固一个强大国家的决心。梦想与梦想者永存。
