VOA常速英语2007-Officials Along US-Canada Border Work to Strike

By Mike O'Sullivan
Seattle
04 October 2007

Concerns with smuggling¹ and terrorism have led to heightened security along U.S borders. Mike O'Sullivan reports from Seattle.

The U.S. border with Canada, 6,400 kilometers from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, has been described as the world's longest undefended international boundary.

The U.S. southern border with Mexico has hundreds of kilometers of high fencing, with more planned, but there is little to mark parts of the U.S. northern border.

A small fence is all that separates the U.S. town of Blaine, Washington, from a Canadian highway.

Officials along the northern border are trying to balance the need for protection with the need to speed the cross-border flow of goods and people.

Concerns with terrorism have led to added layers of security at border checkpoints, where people crossing over are photographed and questioned.

Customs and Border Protection agents check drivers, passengers and cargo². They are looking for contraband³, undeclared goods, and people, including terrorists, trying to enter the country illegally. Supervisory agent Larry Nichols says the screening process is both an art and a science.

"Scientifically, we have better technology than we did a few years ago," he said. "The art - we do have officers that are very intuitive, and they are trained to detect deceit, illicit⁴ responses."

New technology is also helping⁵ safeguard the border.

In this area near Seattle, a network of cameras, seismic⁶ motion detectors⁷ and banks of computer monitors help agents keep track of the border. Employees monitor video screens, and dispatch agents where they are needed.

Audrey Block lives meters from the border, where things are quiet now. She says before the security upgrade, this area was popular with Canadian drug smugglers.

"During the daytime, we would be out here working in the yard, and a car would race to the barricade⁸, and a car would stop over there, and they would throw the drugs across, and they would be gone," said Audrey Block. "So we were aware we were at the border at that time. But now that the Border Patrol is so active and the cameras are there, we are very comfortable."

Heightened security is also in place at Seattle's port, although critics say the U.S. trading infrastructure⁹ remains¹⁰ vulnerable, from its ports to its highways and its railroads.

Officials at the border say they are working to strike a balance, extending security while maintaining an open border with Canada.

1 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

2 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

3 contraband   

n.违禁品，走私品

参考例句：

• Most of the city markets were flooded with contraband goods.大多数的城市市场上都充斥着走私货。
• The customs officers rummaged the ship suspected to have contraband goods.海关人员仔细搜查了一艘有走私嫌疑的海轮。

4 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 seismic   

a.地震的，地震强度的

参考例句：

• Earthquakes produce two types of seismic waves.地震产生两种地震波。
• The latest seismic activity was also felt in northern Kenya.肯尼亚北部也感觉到了最近的地震活动。

7 detectors   

探测器( detector的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The report advocated that all buildings be fitted with smoke detectors. 报告主张所有的建筑物都应安装烟火探测器。
• This is heady wine for experimenters using these neutrino detectors. 对于使用中微子探测器的实验工作者，这是令人兴奋的美酒。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技

8 barricade   

n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住

参考例句：

• The soldiers make a barricade across the road.士兵在路上设路障。
• It is difficult to break through a steel barricade.冲破钢铁障碍很难。

9 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。