mercredi 10 septembre 2008

On 11 September 2001, terrorists hijacked four planes that were flying above the US.
Two of them were flown into the World Trade Center in New York and another into a top military building in Washington, called the Pentagon.
The fourth plane crashed into a field, 80 miles from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The World Trade center towers completely collapsed soon after the planes hit the buildings, killing about 3,000 people.

Reconstruction has now begun : the twin towers of the World Trade Center are going to be replaced by a memorial and five new towers.
All the rubble has been cleared from the site and since the attacks, the location has been called Ground Zero.

THE MEMORIAL :
The two footprints that mark the place where the WTC used to stand are going to become a memorial called : "Reflecting Absence". There will be pools of water that reflect the light and the spaces around these will be planted with trees and engraved with the names of the people who died in the attacks.

THE NEW TOWERS :
The highest of the new towers is going to be called the "Freedom Tower". It will be the tallest building in the US at 1,776 feet (= 540 m). It will have four diamond shapes on top that will light up part of New York at night.
The four other towers will form a semi-circle around the memorial in the centre.
Building has started and it should be completed in 2012.

1 commentaire:

Anonyme a dit…

Every year, we remember the events of that tragic day. I was in school teaching. At quarter to 10 am, the principal came on the PA and asked us to turn on the TV to watch the news. At first, we saw the Pentagon smoking and then we realized that the twin towers had been hit by two planes. As we were watching the images, the towers collapsed. I could not believe it! There was smoke, chaos, people trying to escape from the tall buildings by jumping out of windows unto a certain death.
Many students left early that day. Many of my students had parents or relatives working at the Pentagon and were unsure whether they had been victims of the terror attack. The father of one of my students did not make it. He died in the explosion.
It was a day of mourning and shock. After 7 years, when I think about it, I relive that terrible morning that changed forever the American psyche.
We all hope that nothing like it will ever happen again!