VOA慢速英语2016 美国政府利用社交媒体确认恐怖威胁

AS IT IS 2016-06-30 US Government Using Social Media to Determine Terror Threats 美国政府利用社交媒体确认恐怖威胁

The United States government is increasingly using social media to investigate people who may represent a security threat to the country.

美国政府越来越多地使用社交媒体来调查可能对国家造成恐怖威胁的人。

The latest example comes from the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection office. It wants to ask foreign visitors to provide information about their accounts on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

最新的例子来自于国土安全部海关和边境保护局。该局想要让外国游客提供像脸书和推特这样社交网站的账号信息。

An optional – or non-required – question would be added to the form that people must complete before entering the United States.

一个可选的——非强制性的——问题将会被添加到表格中，这个表格是进入美国之前必须填的。

The form asks information like the person’s name, phone number, and countries they have visited since 2011.

表格会问姓名、电话号码以及2011年以来都去了哪些国家之类的信息。

The proposed social media question would only concern travelers who do not need a visa to enter the United States. Travelers from 38 countries are permitted to enter the U.S. without a visa.

提出的这个和社交媒体有关的问题只牵涉到不用持签证进入美国的游客。美国对来自38个国家的游客实行免签。

The Customs and Border Protection office said in its proposal that adding the question would affect about 24 million people.

海关和边境保护局称添加这个问题会影响到近2400万人。

There is a 60-day comment period for the public to share their opinion about the proposal.

在60天的意见征询期内，公众可以就该提议发表自己的看法。

U.S. lawmakers have also proposed bills concerning the use of social media for researching possible terrorism links.

美国议员们也提出了利用社交媒体搜索潜在恐怖主义的议案。

Senator John McCain sponsored a bill that would require the Department of Homeland Security to look at internet activity and social media profiles of anyone seeking entry to the United States.

约翰·麦凯恩参议员提出了一项议案，要求国土安全部监视想进入美国的所有人的网络活动和社交媒体资料。

Senators Martin Heinrich and Jeff Flake¹ sponsored a bill that would permit the Department of Homeland Security to “search open source information, including internet and social media postings” of people applying for a visa to enter the U.S.

参议员马丁·海因里希和杰夫·弗雷克提出了另一项议案，允许国土安全部“搜索开源信息，包括申请来美签证者的互联网和社交媒体的内容”。

Senator Chuck Schumer has proposed a different plan to help officials search for possible terror links. He wants to reward people who send officials terrorism-related information from social media posts. Anyone whose information leads to the arrest of someone planning an attack in the U.S. would be paid money.

查克·舒默参议员提出了不同的计划来帮助官员查找潜在的恐怖主义线索。他希望能够奖励把社交媒体中的恐怖主义相关信息发送给官员的人。如果有人提供的信息帮助抓获了计划在美国实行恐怖主义袭击的人，就可以领到钱。

Schumer’s proposal would make use of the Justice Department’s Rewards for Justice program.

舒默的提案会用到司法部的“正义悬赏”计划。

Schumer said that investigators² need the public’s help. Schumer said he wants to award people who come forward with information anywhere from $25,000 to $25 million.

舒默说，调查人员需要公众的帮助。他说他希望能够奖赏提供线索的人25000美元到2500万美元不等。

In the House of Representatives, Congressman³ Stephen Fincher proposed a bill that centered on stopping prisoners from becoming radicalized.

在众议院，斯蒂芬·芬奇尔国会议员提出了一项议案，希望能够阻止囚犯变得激进。

His bill would require volunteers in federal prisons to provide their social media accounts during their background investigations⁴. Fincher called U.S. prisons a “breeding ground” for Islamic radicalization.

他的提案希望联邦监狱的志愿者们能够在背景调查期间提供他们的社交媒体账号。芬奇尔认为美国监狱是伊斯兰极端主义的温床。

Words in This Story

optional – adj. available as a choice but not required

sponsored – v. to introduce and support (a proposal) in a legislative⁵ assembly

breeding ground – expression. a situation or place in which bad things can easily begin to develop

1 flake   

v.使成薄片；雪片般落下；n.薄片

参考例句：

• Drain the salmon,discard the skin,crush the bones and flake the salmon with a fork.将鲑鱼沥干，去表皮，粉碎鱼骨并用餐叉子将鱼肉切成小薄片状。
• The paint's beginning to flake.油漆开始剥落了。

2 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

4 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

5 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。