可疑信件发送到白宫

　　WASHINGTON, May 30 (Xinhua) -- A suspicious letter addressed to the White House that is similar to the ones sent to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been intercepted¹ at a mail screening facility, the U.S. Secret Service said on Thursday.

　　"The White House mail screening facility intercepted a letter addressed to the White House that were similar to letters previously² addressed to Mayor Bloomberg in New York," Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said.

　　"This letter has been turned over to the FBI Joint³ Terrorism Task Force for testing and investigation," Donovan said in a statement.

　　Federal law enforcement officials said the letter is being tested for ricin. It was received Thursday at an off-site facility, and did not reach the White House.

　　If confirmed, this would be the second letter addressed to Obama that was laced with ricin in recent months. Last month, a Mississippi man was arrested for trying to send ricin-laced letters to Obama, a U.S. senator and a local official.

　　Authorities said Wednesday that threatening letters addressed to Bloomberg in both New York and Washington, D.C. have been found containing ricin.

　　A letter addressed to Bloomberg arrived late last week at a municipal building in New York, and a second letter containing the poison arrived at a building in Washington that houses Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group Bloomberg helps run and finances.

1 intercepted   

拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻

参考例句：

• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave the hotel. 他正要离开旅馆，记者们把他拦截住了。
• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave by the rear entrance. 他想从后门溜走，记者把他截住了。

2 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。