2006年VOA标准英语-US Senate Building Evacuated After Alarm f

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
09 February 2006

A U.S. Senate office building was evacuated¹ late Wednesday after sensors² detected the possible presence in the air of what was initially³ described as a nerve agent. The building was later reopened after police reported negative test results.

---------------------------------------------------

Senator Jeff Sessions leaves underground garage of US Capitol Complex after security scare  
  

At approximately 6:30 Wednesday evening, an alarm sounded in the Russell Office Building on Capitol Hill.

Police immediately ordered an evacuation of the building.

However, as a precaution about 200 people, including some senators and staff, were confined for a time to a garage area.

A hazardous⁴ material response team, its members wearing protective suits, entered and conducted tests.

Although the initial alarm was for a suspicious substance detected in the attic⁵ of the building, Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said later tests proved negative.

Kimberly Schneider also spoke⁶ for the Capitol Police.

"We have also worked with the Office of the Attending Physician," she said. "No

reported symptoms and if there are any reported symptoms people would be

treated as if they have been exposed to a nerve agent. We don't have

any indication of that at this time. We have very good news all around."

Officer Schneider said an investigation⁷ was continuing into what substance might have triggered the initial alarm.

None of the lawmakers or staff prevented from leaving the building exhibited any symptoms of having been exposed to any nerve agent.

However, as an additional precaution they have been told to monitor their health in coming days.

Activity in the nearby U.S. Capitol building, where members of the House of Representatives continued floor speeches, was not disrupted.

Alerts, involving suspicious objects, packages or substances, have become a fact of daily life on Capitol Hill in the more than four years since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

In the weeks after those attacks, letters containing potentially deadly anthrax bacteria were mailed to two U.S. senators, and major media offices.

Twenty-two people developed anthrax infections, 11 of them suffering from inhalation rather than exposure anthrax, and five persons died.

The crime has never been solved, despite intense government efforts since then.

1 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

2 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

3 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

4 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

5 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

6 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。

7 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。