VOA标准英语2008年-FBI Reveals Evidence Against Army Scientist In

The Justice Department has shed some light on the evidence it has against the prime suspect in the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks, a U.S. Army scientist who killed himself last week. At a news conference Wednesday, U.S. officials said the scientist, Bruce Ivins, had custody¹ of a large flask² of highly purified anthrax spores³ that were found to be identical to the poison that killed five people and left 17 injured. Cindy Saine has the story from Washington.
　
U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor, 06 Aug 2008

The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeffrey Taylor, told a roomful of reporters gathered in Washington that the evidence in dozens of newly unsealed court documents all points to one conclusion.

"Based upon the totality of the evidence we had gathered against him, we are confident that Dr. Ivins was the only person responsible for these attacks," said Jeffrey Taylor.

Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks letters thraced with anthrax were mailed to lawmakers, newsrooms and elsewhere, futher unsettling Americans and making many people afraid to open their mailbox. For seven years, the case remained unresolved.

The prosecutor⁴ said he regrets that investigators⁵ will not have the opportunity to present the evidence to the jury. Taylor said the most important piece of evidence, which he referred to as the "murder weapon" was a flask of anthrax.

"As the court documents allege⁶, the parent material of the anthrax spores used in the attacks was a single flask of spores that was created and solely⁷ maintained by Dr. Ivins," he said.

Investigators said they had also traced back to Ivins lab the exact type of envelope used to mail the anthrax-laden letters, and that he had worked unusually long hours in his lab around the time of the attacks and could not provide a good explanation for the extra hours.

For 35 years, Dr. Bruce Ivins was one of the U.S. government's leading scientists researching vaccines⁹ and cures for exposure to anthrax. His work at the U.S. Army's biochemical laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland earned him the Pentagon's highest honor for civilian¹⁰ employees.

But the 62-year-old husband and father of two committed suicide last week by taking an overdose of pain medication, as prosecutors¹¹ closed in on him as the new prime suspect in the seven-year-old, unresolved anthrax case.

Documents released today depict¹² Ivins as a deeply disturbed and paranoid man, who when confronted with the charges and a possible death sentence, told a social worker that he had a plan to kill co-workers and other individuals who wronged him.

Asked about a possible motive¹³ for the killings¹⁴, Taylor said Ivins may have felt that he was under professional pressure concerning his anti-anthrax vaccine⁸ research at the time of the attacks.

"One theory is that by launching these attacks, he creates a situation, a scenario¹⁵, where people all the sudden realize the need to have this vaccine," said Taylor.

Before the news conference Wednesday, FBI Director Robert Mueller briefed survivors¹⁶ of the attacks and family members of victims behind closed doors. Officials say they will now begin the process of closing the case.

 

1 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

2 flask   

n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱

参考例句：

• There is some deposit in the bottom of the flask.这只烧杯的底部有些沉淀物。
• He took out a metal flask from a canvas bag.他从帆布包里拿出一个金属瓶子。

3 spores   

n.（细菌、苔藓、蕨类植物）孢子( spore的名词复数 )v.（细菌、苔藓、蕨类植物）孢子( spore的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Ferns, mosses and fungi spread by means of spores. 蕨类植物、苔藓和真菌通过孢子传播蔓生。
• Spores form a lipid membrane during the process of reproducing. 孢于在生殖过程中形成类脂膜。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器

4 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

5 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》

6 allege   

vt.宣称，申述，主张，断言

参考例句：

• The newspaper reporters allege that the man was murdered but they have given no proof.新闻记者们宣称这个男人是被谋杀的，但他们没提出证据。
• Students occasionally allege illness as the reason for absence.学生时不时会称病缺课。

7 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

8 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

9 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

10 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

11 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

12 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

13 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

14 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

15 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

16 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者