2006年VOA标准英语-Britain's Spy Chief Warns of al-Qaida linked Te

By Sonja Pace
London
10 November 2006

Britain's top domestic intelligence chief says authorities are investigating dozens of terror plots and warns of future attacks, which she says could involve chemical or even nuclear devices.

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Eliza Manningham-Buller 
  
The head of Britain's domestic spy agency, MI5 rarely speaks out publicly, but Eliza Manningham-Buller told a select invited audience that the authorities are currently tracking some 30 active terror plots and 200 extremist cells involving some 16,00 individuals.

She said some of the plots have clear links to al Qaida in Pakistan.

Manningham-Buller also said that many of the suspects are British and she warned that young British Muslims are being recruited to extremist causes and ideologies¹ at an alarming rate.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said Friday he fully² agrees with the assessment³ of his spy chief.

Tony Blair   
  
He said, "This is a threat that has grown up over a generation. I think she [Manningham-Buller] is absolutely right in saying it will last a generation."

Britons became painfully aware of the threat of home grown terrorism in July 2005 when four young local Islamic radicals⁴ blew themselves up in London's subway system and on a bus, killing⁵ 52 commuters and injuring hundreds more.

In August of this year, police said they had foiled a plot to blow up transatlantic airliners⁶. Earlier this week a British Muslim convert, Dhiren Barot, was sentenced to life in prison for plotting to blow up major public sites and transport links in the United States and in London.

Mr. Blair says the terror threat persists.

"And, it can only be combated in the end, not just by proper measures on security. … but in addition to that, that we take on and combat the poisonous propaganda of those people that warp⁷ and pervert⁸ the minds, particularly of younger people," he said.

Mr. Blair has repeatedly rejected any link between Islamic terrorism and British foreign policy in the Middle East and Afghanistan. However, in her speech MI5 director Manningham-Buller said extremists are driven by what she termed, "a sense of grievance⁹ and injustice¹⁰."

The intelligence chief said police had foiled five major plots since last year's bus and subway bombings. She said plots currently include the use of homemade improvised¹¹ explosives, but she warned future threats would include chemical and even nuclear materials.

1 ideologies   

n.思想（体系）( ideology的名词复数 )；思想意识；意识形态；观念形态

参考例句：

• There is no fundamental diversity between the two ideologies. 这两种思想意识之间并没有根本的分歧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Radical ideologies require to contrast to their own goodness the wickedness of some other system. 凡是过激的意识形态，都需要有另外一个丑恶的制度作对比，才能衬托出自己的善良。 来自辞典例句

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

4 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

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。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 airliners   

n.客机，班机( airliner的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The fog grounded the airliners. 大雾迫使班机停飞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They placed very stable and accurate atomic clocks on regularly scheduled jet airliners. 他们将非常稳定、准确的原子钟装在定期飞行的喷气式班机上。 来自辞典例句

7 warp   

vt.弄歪，使翘曲，使不正常，歪曲，使有偏见

参考例句：

• The damp wood began to warp.这块潮湿的木材有些翘曲了。
• A steel girder may warp in a fire.钢梁遇火会变弯。

8 pervert   

n.堕落者，反常者；vt.误用，滥用；使人堕落，使入邪路

参考例句：

• Reading such silly stories will pervert your taste for good books.读这种愚昧的故事会败坏你对好书的嗜好。
• Do not pervert the idea.别歪曲那想法。

9 grievance   

n.怨愤，气恼，委屈

参考例句：

• He will not easily forget his grievance.他不会轻易忘掉他的委屈。
• He had been nursing a grievance against his boss for months.几个月来他对老板一直心怀不满。

10 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

11 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。