英国又两人中神经毒剂之毒

British Officials Say Nerve Agent That Poisoned Two People Same as Earlier Incident

Britain’s interior minister says a poison used to sicken a British man and woman last week is the same one that sickened a former Russian spy and his daughter.

Sajid Javid gave the latest report on the two people found unresponsive in the town of Amesbury. The two have been identified as 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess and 45-year-old Charlie Rowley.

Javid said of the poisonous substance, “This has been identified as the same nerve agent that contaminated both Yulia and Sergei Skripal.”

The attack on the Skripals took place in March in the city of Salisbury. They were poisined with Novichok, a nerve agent developed by the former Soviet¹ Union.

British Security Minister Ben Wallace spoke² to the BBC on Thursday. He said investigators³ believe the new incident resulted from the earlier one that involved the Skripals. But he also said investigators do not believe that Sturgess and Rowley were meant to be targeted in the latest incident.

Javid said it is not clear if the nerve agent found in the latest incident was from the same batch⁴ as the one that poisoned the Skripals.

The unexpected poisoning of the couple has raised public concerns in the Salisbury area.

Salisbury is 13 kilometers from Amesbury. Health officials, however, say the risk to the public is low. Sturgess and Rowley have no known links to Russia. Britain blamed Russia for poisoning the Skripals.

Wallace called on Russia to share information about the poisoning.

Russia has denied any involvement in either incident. It has claimed that Britain is at fault and is seeking to create anti-Russian feelings.

Russia said Thursday it had offered assistance to Britain with the Skripal investigation⁵, but that Britain refused the offer.

The incident resulted in the biggest expulsion of Russian diplomats⁶ since the Cold War. The United States and European allies took the side of Britain and blamed Russia for the incident.

I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

unresponsive - adj. not able to react to

nerve agent –n. a kind of poison that affects the nervous system

contaminated –adj. something that has had a substance added to it that makes it harmful

batch –n. an amount of something that is made at one time

1 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

5 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

6 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》