VOA标准英语2010年-Obama Discusses Airline Attack With In

Kent Klein | Washington 31 December 2009

U.S. President Barack Obama has been briefed on early reports about last week's aborted¹ airline terror attack.  The president has received a report on how a Nigerian man suspected of terrorist links boarded a U.S.-bound jetliner and allegedly tried to bomb it.

President Obama is not saying what is in the preliminary report from John Brennan, his assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism.  But a written statement from the president says he has talked with Brennan and will discuss the issue with other U.S. intelligence advisers² over the next few days.

The president ordered a review of intelligence and travel policies after 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab apparently³ smuggled⁴ explosives onto a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on December 25.  He allegedly tried and failed to set off the explosives, which were concealed⁵ on his body.

Mr. Obama says he also spoke⁶ with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Thursday to hear about her agency's review.

The president is on vacation in his home state of Hawaii, and says he will meet with the heads of several homeland security agencies on Tuesday, after he returns to Washington.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which is affiliated⁷ with Osama bin⁸ Laden's organization, claims it was behind the attempted bombing.

The father of the suspect had warned U.S. officials in Nigeria about his son's extremist views.  The suspect's name was placed in a U.S. government database, but not on the list that would have prevented him from boarding the plane.

President Obama said on Tuesday that such lapses⁹ cannot be allowed.

"When our government has information on a known extremist and that information is not shared and acted upon as it should have been and this extremist boards a plane with dangerous explosives that could cost nearly 300 lives, a systemic failure has occurred," said President Obama. "And I consider that totally unacceptable."

The president has demanded to know why the U.S. intelligence community did not piece together the information that could have kept the suspect off the plane.  Reports say questions are being aimed at the National Counterterrorism Center, the CIA and the State Department, among other agencies.

Mr. Obama told reporters Tuesday the nation's intelligence practices need to be reformed immediately. 

"We need to learn from this episode and act quickly to fix the flaws in our system because our security is at stake and lives are at stake," said Mr. Obama.

The president has also ordered an investigation¹⁰ of security screening practices at U.S. airports.  Officials in Nigeria and the Netherlands announced Wednesday they will begin using full-body scanners on some flights.

Republicans have criticized Mr. Obama for waiting several days after the incident to make his first statement.  Former Vice¹¹ President Dick Cheney accused the president of trying to pretend the U.S. is not at war with terrorists.

White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer responded that Cheney was injecting politics into what the administration is treating as a terrorist attack. 

1 aborted   

adj.流产的，失败的v.（使）流产( abort的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）（某事物）中止；（因故障等而）（使）（飞机、宇宙飞船、导弹等）中断飞行；（使）（飞行任务等）中途失败

参考例句：

• The rocket flight had to be aborted because of difficulties with computer. 因电脑出故障，这次火箭飞行只好中辍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They aborted the space flight finally. 他们最后中止了这次宇航飞行。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

5 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

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 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

8 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

9 lapses   

n.失误，过失( lapse的名词复数 )；小毛病；行为失检；偏离正道v.退步( lapse的第三人称单数 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He sometimes lapses from good behavior. 他有时行为失检。 来自辞典例句
• He could forgive attacks of nerves, panic, bad unexplainable actions, all sorts of lapses. 他可以宽恕突然发作的歇斯底里，惊慌失措，恶劣的莫名其妙的动作，各种各样的失误。 来自辞典例句

10 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。

11 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。