U.S. to deploy powerful surveillance system in Afghanistan

    WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military is set to deploy¹ a powerful surveillance system in Afghanistan(阿富汗) this winter that wires wide angle aerial images directly to combat troops（部队）, media reports said Sunday.
    The Washington Post reported the new system, dubbed² Gorgon³ Stare, is capable of transmitting live video images of physical movement across an entire town to soldiers on the ground or to analysts⁴ tracking militant⁵ movements.
    The system is made up of nine video cameras mounted on a remotely（遥远地） piloted aircraft. It can send up to 65 different images to different users; by contrast, Air Force drones today shoot video from a single camera over a "soda⁶ straw" area the size of a building or two.
    However, there's still doubt on whether the military has the capability⁷ to sift⁸ through the huge quantities of imagery quickly enough to convey useful data to troops in the field, and it is also acknowledged that Gorgon Stare has limited value unless they are matched with improved human intelligence.
    As the unpopular war in Afghanistan enters its tenth year, the U.S. forces are increasingly relying on aerial surveillance across Afghanistan.
    The monthly number of unmanned and manned aircraft surveillance sorties has more than doubled since last January, and quadrupled since the beginning of 2009, and the demand is still rising.
    U.S. President Barack Obama ordered the deployment⁹ of 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan about a year ago.
    In releasing the administration's review of his war strategy last month, Obama said the war "continues to be a very difficult endeavor" and achievements made there are "fragile and reversible."Obama said he was committed to the beginning of U.S. troops drawdown in July, 2011, but "there is an urgent need for political and economic progress in Afghanistan."A recent survey found that six out of ten Americans oppose the U.S. war in Afghanistan, and more people now believe things are going badly over there.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

2 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 gorgon   

n.丑陋女人，蛇发女怪

参考例句：

• They would not be devoured by this gorgon of the East.他们不愿被这个东部的女妖怪吃掉。
• The Gorgon,Miss Springer,the games mistress came back to gave me a raspberry.那个女妖魔，体育教师斯普林杰小姐，又回来把我教训一通。

4 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

5 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

6 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

7 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

8 sift   

v.筛撒，纷落，详察

参考例句：

• Sift out the wheat from the chaff.把小麦的壳筛出来。
• Sift sugar on top of the cake.在蛋糕上面撒上糖。

9 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。