September 17

New Yorkers: Determined to show defiance

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New Yorkers have been returning to work six days after the terror attacks which devastated the heart of their city.

Thousands are believed dead after hijackers deliberately flew three passenger planes into buildings in New York and Washington.

Workers from New York's financial district - many of them draped in the American flag - have said they want to show life can go on.

The air was still thick with dust and smoke from the collapsed towers of the World Trade Center and dozens of those going back to work wore face masks to protect themselves.

The devastation and the troops lining Wall Street made the city look more like a war zone than a business district, but the people who work here were determined to prove their defiance.

"They expect us to be down on the floor - if it lifts everyone's spirits then I've done something good today," one man told the BBC.

Jim Textor, a lawyer forced to flee the carnage on 11 September, said Americans wanted to imitate the British way of dealing with years of attacks by the IRA.

"It's important you demonstrate that you can't be beat and that you have to go back to work," he said.

But there was also grief in a city which has lost so many.

As the search for survivors in the wreckage of the towers becomes a hunt for bodies, American Red Cross workers mingled with the crowds to offer counselling.

"It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, young or old, you still have those same feelings oftrauma," said Pam Jennings.

All Mr Buckley's record attempts have have taken place on Lake Windermere

Norman Buckley drove the boat at an average speed of over 79mph during his hour on the course on Lake Windermere.

But he said he was disappointed not to have reached 80mph.

The previous record was 64.03mph, set by Charles von Mayenburg of Germany.

On returning to the Windermere Motor Boat Racing Club - which has hosted all his world record attempts - he said he had had one or two anxious moments during the attempt.

On one occasion, the wash from a passing launch threatened tojeopardisethe whole operation.

"I throttled down just before the wash hit me, but even so the boat leaped clear of the water," Mr Buckley said.

"Had I not slowed, anything might have happened."

Among those in the audience was fellow speedboat enthusiast and close personal friend, Donald Campbell, who makes his own attempt on the water-speed record on Coniston Water later this month.

He said the incident involving the launch had "cost Britain a record of 80mph".

The record attempt was delayed by several hours as Mr Buckley's team endured an anxious wait for early morning mists to lift from the lake.

Mr Buckley designed and built his hydroplane boat, Miss Windermere III, himself.

This was the third time he had tried to break the record: the previous attempt, in May, failed disastrously when the boat's propellor shaft broke, possibly broken off by a piece of driftwood.

Mr Buckley, whose job as a solicitor means he can only indulge his hobby of powerboat racing at the weekends, already holds one world speed record.

In 1951, he drove Miss Windermere at 63.53mph over a 24-mile course on the lake, breaking the speed record for 800kg class motorboats.

trauma: an emotional wound or shock often having long-lasting effects（损伤）

jeopardise: to present a danger to（危及）