249. In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks these questions have never seemed more pressing.

在9·11袭击之后，这些问题好像更加急迫了。

本句的主干是questions have never seemed more pressing; In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks为状语，have never seemed more pressing通过否定比较级来表示最高级概念。

in the wake of的意思是“随……之后到来”。如：

Outbreaks of diseases occurred in the wake of the flood. 洪水过后疾病丛生。

否定式＋比较级可表示最高级概念：

名词短语否定式＋比较级表示最高级。如：

Nobody else in the class is taller than John. ＝John is the tallest in the class. 班里没人比约翰更高。

Nobody works harder than Steven does. ＝Steven works hardest. 没人比史蒂文更努力。

动词短语否定式＋比较级表示最高级。如：

The food in that restaurant couldn't taste worse. ＝The food in that restaurant tastes the worst. 那家餐馆里的食物不能再糟糕了。

I couldn't have spent more time writing this book. ＝I spent a lot of time writing this book. 我没法花再多的时间来写这本书了。