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  3. Sep. 11 delivered both a shock and a surprise—the attack, and our response t

Sep. 11 delivered both a shock and a surprise—the attack, and our response t

游客2023-12-12  12
问题     Sep. 11 delivered both a shock and a surprise—the attack, and our response to it—and we can argue forever over which mattered more. There has been so much talk of the goodness that erupted that day that we forget how unprepared we were for it. We did not expect much from a generation that had spent its middle age examining all the ways it failed to measure up to the one that had come before—all fat, no muscle, less a beacon to the world than a bully, drunk on blessings taken for granted.
    It was tempting to say that Sept. 11 changed all that, just as it is tempting to say that every hero needs a villain, and goodness needs evil as its grinding stone. But try looking a widow in the eye and talking about all the good that has come of this. It may not be a coincidence, but neither is it a partnership: good does not need evil, we owe no debt to demons, and the attack did not make us better. It was an occasion to discover what we already were. "Maybe the purpose of all this," New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said at a funeral for a friend, "is to find Out if America today is as strong as when we fought for our independence or when we fought for ourselves as a Union to end slavery or as strong as our fathers and grandfathers who fought to rid the world of Nazism". The terrorists, he argues, were counting on our cowardice. They’ve learned a lot about us since then. And so have we.
    For leading that lesson, for having more faith in us than we had in ourselves, for being brave when required and rude where appropriate and tender without being trite, for not sleeping and not quitting and not shrinking from the pain all around him, Rudy Giuliani, Mayor of the World, is TIME’s 2001 Person of the Year.
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答案     “9?11”事件既令人感到震惊，也令人感到意外。震惊的是攻击事件本身，意外的是我们对事件的反应。至于说这两者哪个更为重要，人们也许永远会争论下去。对于当天一下子涌现出来的可歌可泣的事迹，我们已经谈得不少了。在一片谈论声中，我们居然忘了，面对这些令人敬佩的行为我们当时是多么意外。因为我们本来就没有对这代美国人抱有多大期望。他们的中年是在自叹不如的心境中度过的，他们和上一代美国人比来比去，总感到自己望尘莫及。他们虚浮有余，坚实不足，根本谈不上是世界的灯塔，倒却是横行的恶霸，沉醉于福荫之中，总觉得受之无愧。
    我们也许会脱口而出地说，是“9?11”事件改变了这一切，正如我们会脱口而出地说，英雄需要有恶棍来陪衬，善良需要有邪恶来砥砺。但当你望着“9?11”死难者遗孀的双眼时，你难道还能侃侃而谈“9?11”事件所引发的好处吗? 不错，善恶并存也许确非巧合，但它们也绝非相互依存的伙伴：善用不着恶陪伴左右，我们并不亏欠魔鬼，“9?11”事件也没有把我们变成更好的人。它只是一次机会，我们不过借此发现了自己的本色。纽约市市长朱利安尼在朋友的葬礼中说得好：“也许这一切的目的就是要考验一下，看看今日的美国是否仍像当年为争取独立而战时那样坚强，是否仍像当年为结束奴隶制而团结奋战时那样坚强，是否仍像当年我们的父辈为消灭纳粹而战时那样坚强。”他认为，恐怖主义者就指望我们会胆怯。但自“9?11”事件以来，他们想必对我们已有所了解。当然我们对自己也有了不少认识。
    由于朱利安尼在这次考验中堪称表率，由于他对我们的信心远胜于我们对自己的信心，由于他该勇敢时就勇敢，该鲁莽时就鲁莽，他温情流露，但绝非应景之俗套，由于他不分昼夜，不停工作，虽被痛苦包围，却能勇敢面对，因此这位“天下第一市长”当选为2001年《时代周刊》的年度风云人物。
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