After eight months during which he seemed to float happily beyond the reach of his critics, George W. Bush found himself in danger of sinking last week. As clues and warnings about the Sept. 11 plot came to light and the need to assign blame grew stronger, fingers began pointing toward the White House. Bush was in an unaccustomed position — on the defensive against the Democrats, who seemed more energized than they had been in a year. This was one campaign that Bush did not delegate to others. With the cries of What did Bush know at their most hysterical, he knew better than to go out to face the cameras right away. Instead, he began behind closed doors in a Thursday lunch with Senate Republicans. Confident that his words would leak, he offered a passionate defense, saying that had he known about the plot, he would have used the whole force and fury of the United States to stop them. 点击查看答案

北京故宫建于明永乐年间，至今已有500多年的历史。它占地72公顷，建筑面积15万平方米，共有殿宇9999.5间。它的前面是天安门广场。故宫既是一座举世无双的古代宫殿建筑群．又是一座明清宫廷史迹和中国古代文化艺术博物馆。这里是两朝24个皇帝的历史舞台，是中国15世纪以来历史的见证。这里有90余万件文物，包括书法、绘画、珠宝、古玩、金、银、铜、玉器皿，陶瓷、织绣、钟表、雕塑及铭刻等珍贵文物。欧阳斋编写的《国宝欣赏100种》一书，列举了自新石器时代至清末五大类(工艺美术品、青铜器、绘画、书法、陶瓷)100种国宝，其中大部分收藏在故宫。可见，这里是中华国宝荟萃之处。 点击查看答案