2006年VOA标准英语-Former Russian Spy Dies of Radiation Poisoning

By Tom Rivers
London
24 November 2006

Calling it unprecedented¹, a British official says former Russian Spy Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned by radiation. For VOA News, Tom Rivers reports from London.

 
Alexander Litvinenko, former KGB spy and author of the book 'Blowing Up Russia: Terror From Within'

Leading British health officials have determined² that former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, a strong critic of President Vladimir Putin, died from a massive dose of the radioactive substance, polonium-210.

That conclusion has come from the analysis of urine samples taken from Mr. Litvinenko.

Roger Cox, a chief scientist at Britain's Health Protection Agency, says polonium-210 can produce fatal results if ingested, is breathed in or enters the body through a cut.

"Then it will rapidly track through the body and goes to most organs within the body and if the dose were to be sufficiently³ high, one would expect to see tissue damage characteristic of radiation," he said.

Alexander Litvinenko defected to the West and was granted asylum⁴ in Britain six years ago. Shortly before he died, he dictated⁵ a statement directed at President Putin. Part of that statement was read out Friday by Litvinenko's close friend, Alexander Goldfarb. It accuses the Russian leader of being behind the poisoning.

"You have shown yourself to be as barbaric and ruthless as your most hostile critics have claimed," he said. "You have shown yourself to have no respect for life, liberty or any civilized⁶ value."

 
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during final press conference at EU-Russia summit in Helsinki, 24 Nov. 2006
Meanwhile, at a Russian-European Union Summit in Helsinki, Russian President Putin denied that the Kremlin had anything to do with the death of Litvinenko.

"I deplore⁷ this and I would extend my condolences to the family of Mr. Litvinenko," he said. "Now as far as I understand the medical statement of British physicians, it does not say that this was the result of violence, that this is not a violent death so there is no ground for speculation⁸ of this kind."

The chief executive of Britain's Health Protection Agency, Dr. Pat Troop, says both her department and the police are now examining various locations in London that Litvinenko visited on the day he became sick, just over three weeks ago, and the two hospitals where he was treated.

"We are concentrating on the hospitals because that is where the deceased spent most of the time once he was ill and that is where we are doing our sampling and that is where we are looking at staff," she said. "But of course we are also looking at other locations where he may have been in contact just before he was ill and the police are advising us of people there that we need to assess."

Those other locations include a restaurant, a hotel and Litvinenko's home.

1 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

4 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

5 dictated   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• He dictated a letter to his secretary. 他向秘书口授信稿。
• No person of a strong character likes to be dictated to. 没有一个个性强的人愿受人使唤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

7 deplore   

vt.哀叹，对...深感遗憾

参考例句：

• I deplore what has happened.我为所发生的事深感愤慨。
• There are many of us who deplore this lack of responsibility.我们中有许多人谴责这种不负责任的做法。

8 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。