........ September 11, 2001, at 8:46 A.M., a
hijacked airliner crashed into the north tower
of the World Trade Center ∈New York. At
9:03 A.M. a second plane crashed into the
[5] south tower. The resulting infernos caused
the buildings to collapse, the south tower
after burning for an hour and two minutes, the
north tower twenty-three minutes after
that. The attacks were masterminded by
[10] Osama bin Laden ∈ an attempt to intimidate
the United States and unite Muslims for a
restoration of the caliphate.
9/11, as the happenings of that day are now
called, has set off debates on a vast array of
[15] topics. But I would like to explore a lesser-
known debate triggered by it. Exactly how
many events took place ∈New York on that
morning ........ September?
It could be argued that the answer is one.
[20] The attacks on the two buildings were part of
a single plan conceived by one man ∈ service
of a single agenda. They unfolded ........ a few
minutes and yards of each other, targeting
the parts of a complex with a single name,
[25] design, and owner. And they launched a
single chain of military and political events in
their aftermath.
Or it could be argued that the answer is two.
The towers were distinct collections of glass
[30] and steel separated by an expanse of ,
and they were hit at different times and went
out of existence at different times. The
amateur video that showed the second plane
closing ∈ on the south tower as the north
[35] tower billowed with smoke makes the twoness
unmistakable: while one event was frozen in
the past, the other loomed ∈ the future.
The gravity of 9/11 would seem to make this
discussion frivolous to the point of impudence,
[40] a matter of mere "semantics," as we say, with
its implication of splitting hairs. But the
relation of language to our inner and outer
worlds is a matter of intellectual fascination
and real-world importance.
[45] ______ "importance" is often hard to
quantify, ........ this case I can put an exact
value on it: 3,5 billion dollars. That was the
∑∈a legal dispute for the insurance
payout to Larry Silverstein, the leaseholder of
[50] the World Trade Center site. Silverstein’s
insurance policies stipulated a maximum
reimbursement for each destructive "event."
If 9/11 comprised a single event, he stood to
receive 3,5 billion dollars; if two, he stood to
[55] receive 7 billion. In the trials, the attorneys
disputed the applicable meaning of the term
event. The lawyers for the leaseholder defined
it ∈ physical terms (two collapses); those for
the insurance companies defined it ∈ mental
[60] terms (one plot). There is nothing "mere"
about semantics!
Adapted from: PINKER, Steven. The Stuff of Thought. New York: Penguin, 2007. p. 1-2.
Mark the statements below T (true) or F (false) according to the text.
( ) The semantic conflict between our inner and outer worlds frames the thesis of the text.
( ) Semantics provides undisputed evidence to the claim that 9/11 comprised two events.
( ) The author suggests that the amounts insured determine the importance of 9/11 as an event.
( ) The legal dispute ensuing 9/11 aimed to determine either the oneness or the twoness of the event.
The correct sequence of filling ∈ the parentheses, from top to bottom, is
