An Integrated English Course Book 2

1. An Integrated English Course Book 2 Unit Six

2. Learning Objectives • By the end of this unit, you are supposed to • understand the main idea, structure of the text and the author’s writing style • master the key language points and grammatical structures in the text • understand the “9.11” tragedy and appreciate the spirit of human help and sacrifice

3. Teaching Procedure Pre-reading Questions Text I. We’ve Been Hit ● Passage ● Structure analysis ● Main idea of the passage ● Language points ● sentence studies ● vocabulary studies Text II. Rethinking Skyscrapers

4. Pre-reading 1. Tell what you know about the 9.11 Attack. 2. Describe a disaster you have experienced or have heard of and how people involved reacted to it?

5. On Tuesday, September 11,2001, at 8:45 am New York local time, World Trade Center One, the north tower, was hit by a hijacked 767 commercial jet plane, loaded with fuel for a transcontinental flight. World Trade Center Two, the south tower, was hit by a similar hijacked jet 18 minutes later at 9:03 am. On separate but related attacks, the Pentagon building near Washington D.C. was hit by a hijacked 757 at 9:43 am, and at 10:10 am, a fourth hijacked jetliner crashed in Pennsylvania.

6. The south tower, WTC 2, which had been hit second, was the first to suffer a complete structural collapse at 10:05 am, 62 minutes after being hit. The north tower, WTC 1, then also collapsed at 10:29am, 104 minutes after being hit. WTC 7, a substantial 47 storey building in its own right, built in 1987, was damaged by the collapsing towers, caught fire, and later in the afternoon also totally collapsed.

7. The World Trade Center: The World Trade Center is more than its signature twin towers: it is a complex of 7 buildings on 17 acres of land, constructed and operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The towers rise at the heart of the complex, each climbing more than 100 feet higher than the silver mast of the Empire State Building.

10. Before Attack After Attack

12. Text I. We’ve Been Hit Adam Mayblum used to enjoy watching as storms lashed the windows of his office: You think that’s power? Mayblum would scoff. I’m on the 87th floor of the World Trade Center. That’s power. The drawstrings on his window shades would appear to sway slightly, but it was an illusion. Although it was 1040 feet in the sky, the WTC was quite steady. When Mayblum felt a devastating rumble on that September morning, he glanced at the drawstrings. They were careening wildly, three feet in either direction. Mayblum would be one of the thousands cast intoan extraordinary purgatorythat morning. While as many as 25,000 would find their way tosafety, 5,000 would not. For some, it was a matter of geography--- not just which tower they worked in or on which floor, but in which corner of the building. For some, the choices were as basic as which staircase to use. Others faced the ultimatemoraldilemma: save yourself, or save another. The confusion inside Adam Mayblum’s office at May Davis, a financial services firm, lasted just seconds. He knew he needed to get out.

13. He ripped his T-shirt into pieces, soaked the pieces in water and gave them to colleagues to cover their faces. Among them: Harry Ramos, head traderat May Davis. Mayblum had worked with Ramos off and onfor 14 years. Sparks bit at Mayblum’s ankles as he raced for the stairs. He bolted down two flights before realizing that his trading partner, Hong Zhu, had been left behind. He went back upstairs, the whole area now filled with smoke and burning jet fuel. There was no sign of Hong. Mayblum hurried down again and made it to the 78th floor, a transfer lobby where one set of elevators and stairs ended and another began. He saw a reassuring sight; Ramos had waded intothe pandemonium to help panicked workers into a stairwell. Mayblum continued his descent, the muscles in his calves contracting in spasms. One the 53rd floor, he came across a heavyset man whose legs just wouldn’t move anymore. “Do you want to come, or do you want us to send help?” Mayblum shouted. The man asked him to send help. Adam said he would.

14. In the noise, smoke and sparks, Mayblum didn’t realize that his friend Hong Zhu was behind him in the stairwell the whole time. When Hong got to the 53rd floor, he came across Harry Ramos. Ramos had stooped to help the heavyset man Mayblum had seen earlier. “I’ll give you a hand.” Hong said. Together, Ramos and Hong helped the man down one more flight to an elevator. “Don’t take it,” a porter Authority official screamed. Hong and Ramos tried to send a magazine down in the elevator to test its safety. But when they pressed the “down” button, the doors wouldn’t close. So Hong decided that he would be the guinea pig instead. He stepped inside, and the doors shut behind him. Hong took the elevator down to the 44th floor, the next transfer lobby. So far, so good, he pressed “52”, went back up and collected Ramos and the heavyset man. On 44 Hong and Ramos helped the man toward the last bank of elevators that would take them all the way down. Hong pressed the “down”button again. Nothing. They would have to take the stairs. Ramos and Hong tried to support the man. “One step at a time,” Hong said. They had been trying to get out for an hour and five minutes. They were on 36 when they felt the South Tower collapse.

15. “We really have to move,” Hong said. The rumbles of the collapsing tower next door seemed to snap the heavyset man of his last gasps of energy. “I can’t do it anymore”, he said, sitting down. Hong and Ramos tried to persuade him to continue. “You don’t have to move your legs!” Hong shouted. “Just move your butt. Let’s go!” But the man couldn’t go on. A fireman ran up to them. Hong expected that he would join in to get the heavy man to move. Instead, the fireman turned to Hong. “Who are you, screaming at him to get out?” the fireman shouted. “You get out!” Hong looked at Ramos, who was still standing with the heavyset man. “I’m coming down with you,” Ramos told the man. “I’m not going to leave.” “I left,” Hong says sorrowfully. “Alone.” The next day, Adam Mayblum sent an e-mail describing his experience to friends and relatives, who sent it to still others. The e-mail was read by someone in San Francisco who knew a woman in New York named Rebecca. Her husband, Victor, a heavyset man, was missing.

16. On Saturday, September 15, May Davis’s chairman had a gathering at his New Jersey home. Adam Mayblum was there. So was Hong Zhu. Rebecca was also there, learning how her husband, Victor, had been comforted in his last moments, how Harry Ramos had refused to leave him behind. Ramos’s wife, Micky, was there too. She kept asking Mayblum and Hong where her husband was, convinced that somehow, Harry --- the only May Davis employee still missing --- was alive. Piece by piece, she developed a picture of his escape: Harry was on 87 when the plane hit. He stopped to help on 78. He met up with Hong on 53. But as hard as she tried, as many questions as she asked, the picture began to fade on the 36th floor. 977words

17. Structural analysis • The text can be divided into 7 parts. • Part One: (Paragraphs 1) As an introduction, the first paragraph supplies beginning of the whole story.

18. Part Two: (Paragraphs 2-5) • The three paragraphs present a picture of what happened immediately after the hit.

19. Part Three: (Para. 6-9): After a few seconds of initial confusion, people began to try to find their way out. Such attempts are epitomized by the effort of the employees in May Davis.

20. Part four: (Para. 10-14): • These paragraphs depict the scene of Mayblum’s encounter with the heavyset man on the 53rd floor where Ramos and Hong offered timely help. • Part five: (Para. 15-22): • These two paragraphs tell us how the three people managed to get down to the 36th floor.

21. Part six: (Para. 23-30): • These paragraphs depict how, in the most dangerous moment when the heavyset man was completely exhausted, Ramos and Hong still insisted on helping him out of the building, how the fireman ordered Hong to leave, and how Ramos decided to stay behind with the heavyset man.

22. Part seven: (Para. 31-34): • These paragraphs relate the gathering of some of the survivors and victims’ family members in memory of the dead after the disaster.

23. Main Idea of the passage The text tells how Ramos and Hong tried to help a heavyset man during the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11th, however, only Hong survived; Ramos died because of his spirit to help the stranger, the heavyset man.

24. Language points • Sway • To move or swing from side to side • E.g. The dancer swayed to the music. • Devastating • Completely destructive • E.g. The U.S. then launched its most devastating attack of the entire war.

25. Glance at • To look quickly or briefly at • E.g. I saw them glance at each other as if they knew something I didn’t. • reassuring • comforting • e.g. a reassuring smile • v. reassure • e.g. He tried to reassure me that my mother would be okay. • reassurance n. • e.g. give/offer/provide reassurance

26. Panic • n./v. A sudden, overpowering terror, • E.g. The crowd was in a panic. • The fire caused a panic in the theater. • panic buying/selling • e.g. Don’t panic! We’ll soon get you out of there. • Panic-stricken • E.g. A few seconds after the explosion the street was full of panic-stricken people, fleeing in all directions.

27. Descend v. Descent n. • 1) To slope, extend, or incline downward: • E.g. A rough path descended like a steep stair into the plain. • 2) To come from an ancestor or ancestry: • E.g. She was descended from a pioneer family. • 3) To lower oneself; stoop: • E.g. She, the conqueror, had descended to the level of the conquered. • 4) To arrive or attack in a sudden or an overwhelming manner: • E.g. Summer tourists descending on the seashore village.

28. Transfer • A change from one place or job to another • E.g. the headquarters of many international companies have witnessed a transfer to Shanghai in recent years. • Collapse • To fall down or in suddenly • E.g. The bridge collapsed under the weight of the train.

29. Sap • To weaken slowly • E.g. They were travelling very slowly, and the heavy load they were carrying sapped their strength. • The constant tension was sapping my energy. • convince • Persuade • E.g. I tried to convince them of his innocence. • We convinced him to go by car. • Meet up (with) • To come across • E.g. Harry decided to call in at the bar to meet up with his pals, and have a few beers.

30. Fade vi. • 1) To lose brightness, loudness, or brilliance gradually; dim: • E.g. The lights and music faded as we set sail from the harbor. • 2) To lose freshness; wither: • E.g. summer flowers that had faded. • 3) To lose strength or vitality; wane: • youthful energy that had faded over the years. • 4) To disappear gradually; vanish: • a hope that faded. • Fade vt. • Time has faded her beauty.

31. Text II. Rethinking skyscrapersJerkily Watson Most of the world's tall buildings, called skyscrapers, are in the United States. However, the recent terrorist attacks have caused some Americans to worry about the safety of these extremely tall buildings. For almost thirty years, the World Trade Center stood more than four-hundred-ten meters above New York City's financial center. The two towers of the Center were the tallest buildings in the city. They had more than one-hundred levels. Then on the morning of September Eleventh, two hijacked airplanes struck the buildings. Many people died immediately in explosions and fires. Others ran down many levels of steps in an effort to escape the buildings. Others waited for help in their offices. Then, one after another, both buildings fell. The collapse of the towers killed thousands of people. It also wrecked or damaged surrounding buildings.

32. Engineers from the state of Illinois soon will investigate the collapse of the buildings for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Their early study, however, shows that the buildings held up well. One tower remained standing for about forty-seven minutes after the plane hit it. The other tower stayed up for about one hour and forty minutes after it was struck. The fact that the towers stayed up as long as they did permitted many people to escape. Several experts have said no building could have resisted the attacks. The terrorists meant to cause the largest explosions and the hottest fires possible. So they hijacked planes heavily loaded with fuel. The heat from the burning fuel weakened the steel structure of the towers. These fires burned far hotter than fires used to test building materials. They also burned longer. The intense heat caused the upper levels of the buildings to fall. Then the lower levels also fell. Some pieces of building wreckage caused destruction in the area. Mainly, however, the towers imploded – fell down in their own space. Several engineers praised the World Trade Center for this. Many more people would have died if the buildings had fallen to the side. Officials say the wreckage will take months to clear. After the attacks, broken glass and smoking metal lay twelve meters above the ground. The World Trade Center had contained two-hundred-thousand tons of steel. It also had forty-three-thousand windows.

33. About fifty-thousand people worked in the World Trade Center. Some estimates say as many as ninety-thousand people passed through it on some days. The towers represented business and trade in the biggest city in America. Many people throughout the world recognized pictures of the World Trade Center against the skies of New York. People in New York are discussing ways to remember the World Trade Center and the people who died in the attack. Several artists and building designers suggest a memorial called "Towers of Light." The arts group Creative Time proposes forming two towers of light in the shape of the fallen buildings. These lights would reach toward the sky. The artists currently are researching methods that could produce lighting with such power. Businessman Larry Silverstein currently controls use of the World Trade Center property. Mister Silverstein says he will rebuild the Center. However, it is unclear what the new Center will be like. Some architects have suggested creating four shorter buildings. These structures would have about fifty levels. A park between the buildings would contain a memorial to victims of the attack. Other New York citizens called for rebuilding the World Trade Center as it was. For example, former Mayor Ed Koch urged replacement of the two skyscrapers. He said this would show the terrorists that New York remained undefeated.

34. However, some city planners believe such extremely tall structures should not be replaced. Instead, some experts advise copying other New York buildings that are not as tall. The Urban Land Institute is a research and educational organization for planners and building designers. Some members believe skyscrapers waste space. These experts say some buildings use their lower levels mainly to get people to the upper levels. Some experts also believe the office needs of businesses are changing. Most large companies now have their headquarters in skyscrapers. This permits their employees to work together in one place. However, employees today can communicate easily though electronic mail and other technology. So some planners believe there will be less need for skyscrapers in the future. The Empire State building is now the tallest building in New York City. It was built in Nineteen-Thirty-One. It was the tallest building in the world for more than forty years. It still is one of the most popular. Thousands of millions of visitors have seen New York from observation areas in this building. Some Americans now say they are worried about the Empire State Building. However, a wealthy New York property owner has offered as much as fifty-seven-million dollars to buy it. He says he believes fear of skyscrapers will be temporary.

35. Many of America's skyscrapers have increased safety measures since the terrorist attacks. Owners have placed barriers around the buildings at street level. Security devices and guards examine people who enter the buildings. Building occupants are receiving information about what to do in an emergency. Skyscrapers were invented in the United States. As early as the Eighteen-Eighties, two new technical developments made these taller buildings possible. One development was the mechanical elevator. It meant that people would not have to climb many steps to reach the upper floors of tall buildings. The development of steel also helped make taller buildings possible. The first skyscraper was built in Chicago, Illinois in Eighteen-Eighty-Five. The Home Insurance Building was almost fifty-five meters tall. Chicago became home to the world's tallest building in Nineteen-Seventy-Three when the Sears Tower was built. It is four-hundred-forty-two meters tall. The Sears Tower was the tallest building in the world for twenty-three years. Then, in Nineteen-Ninety-Six, two taller buildings were completed. They are the Petronas Towersin Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They are about four-hundred-fifty-two meters tall. Recently, businessman Donald Trumpproposed another very tall building for Chicago. Mister Trump and the owners of the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper wanted to build a structure four-hundred-fifty-seven meters high along the Chicago River. Mister Trump and the newspaper owners have been seeking more money for the project. Now, however, it is unclear if they will continue proposing such a big skyscraper.

36. Developers in China want to build the tallest skyscraper ever. They are planning an International Financial Center for Shanghai. The Center is to be more than four-hundred-eighty-seven meters tall. The building would have several safety measures not included in the World Trade Center buildings. For example, the areas containing steps would be wider than those in the World Trade Center. Areas called refuge floors would be placed every ten to twelve levels. These open-air places are designed to protect people from smoke. They are legally required in China and some other Asian countries. Experts say there is almost no engineering limit to the height a skyscraper can be. Still, people's feelings may limit the size of skyscrapers in the future. For example, a New York City stock trader works in an office high in a skyscraper. He says he once liked to look out his office window and see the other tall buildings of the city. But his feelings have changed since the terrorist attacks. Now, he says, he would like to work much closer to the ground. 1,257 words

37. Main idea of Text 2 • After the 9.11 Attack of the World Trade Center, the skyscrapers are being rethought by Americans. People hold different opinions on whether to rebuild the World Trade Center and how to rebuild it. Some even fear to see more high buildings built. However, other countries still strive for skyscrapers. Of course, the security check measures have been increased to avoid the terrorism.

38. Topics for discussion: What was special about the World Trade Center in New York? The two towers of the Center were the tallest buildings in the city and they represented business and trade in the biggest city in America.

39. What makes Americans feel uneasy about extremely tall buildings? People fear that tall buildings would be the target of terrorists and it would be hard for people to survive such attacks locked in extremely tall buildings.

40. What do some experts think of skyscrapers now? What’s your idea about skyscrapers? Experts say there is almost no engineering limit to the height a skyscraper can be. They also believe the office needs of businesses are changing.

41. Words and Expressions for Text I lash v. to hit violently or suddenly scoff v. to laugh at drawstring n. (often pl.) a string or cord that can be pulled tighter or looser to tie up bags. Window shade (AmE)= blind (BrE) 百叶窗 illusion n. something that deceives a person by seeming to be real rumble n. 隆隆声 careen v. (of a ship) to turn over or tilt Cast into to throw into purgatory n. a place or condition of great suffering Find one’s way to to succeed in reaching ultimate a. most extreme moral a. concerning principles of right and wrong behavior and the difference between good and evil dilemma n. a situation in which one has to make a difficult choice Back to the text

42. rip v. to tear apart quickly and violently soak v. to (cause to) become wet thoroughly by being in a liquid Off and on not happening continuously or regularly flight n. a set of stairs between one floor and the next Wade into to make one’s way into … with effort or difficulty pandemonium n. s state of wild and noisy disorder stairwell n. the space, going up through all the floors of a building, where the stairs are descent n. the act or process of going down calf n. 小腿肚 spasm n. a sudden uncontrolled movement of muscles 痉挛 heavyset a. (of people) rather broad and strong-looking Back to the text

43. stoop v. to bend the upper body forward and down Guinea pig the subject of some kind of test or experiment bank n. row butt n. (sl.) the buttocks, the part of the body on which a person sits Back to the text

44. … for some, it was a matter of geography: for some, whether they could survive depended on where they were. …May Davis: May Davis Group Investment Bank. The firm lost it World Trade Center offices in the 9.11 Attack. It feels extremely fortunate that all but one of them survived the ordeal of walking down 87 flights of stairs on Sep. 11. However. They grieve for the loss of their head trader, Harry Ramos. Back to the text

45. …head trader: the trader in charge Back to the text

46. … So Hong … the guinea pig instead: If someone is used as a guinea pig in an experiment, something is tested on him that has not been tested on other people before. For example, Dr. Roger used himself as a human guinea pig to perfect a treatment which has since saved the lives of countless people. Here the sentence means that Hong decided to test the safety of the elevator himself. Back to the text

47. …the picture began to fade on the 36th floor: Nothing was know about what had happened on the 36th floor. Back to the text

48. … the buildings held up well: the buildings stayed in reasonably good conditions after they were struck. … the towers imploded and fell down in their own space: the towers burst inward instead of outward and fell down in their own space. Back to the text

49. … Petronas Towers: Kuala Lumpur, being the capital of Malaysia, is full of high-rise buildings and skyscrapers. Petonas Towers, the tallest in the world with the height of 1,438 ft., are located there. Donald Trump: Donald Trump, born in 1046, is a billionaire real estate developer that has massed a fortune through owning key New York properties (i.e. Trump Towers) and Atlantic City Casinos. Donald Trump took over his father’s New York real estate business and by the 1970s has fashioned himself a deal-maker in Manhattan. Back to the text