VOA标准英语2013--Europe Demands Answers on NSA Bugging Claims

 

Europe Demands Answers on NSA Bugging¹ Claims

The German magazine Der Spiegel and Britain’s Guardian² newspaper claim to have evidence showing that the U.S. National Security Agency bugged³ the European Union mission in New York and its embassy in Washington.

The EU summoned the U.S. ambassador and ordered a sweep of its offices to check for devices.

Steffen Seibert, a spokesperson for German Chancellor⁴ Angela Merkel, said Washington needs to explain.

"It has to be cleared up. And if it turns out to be true, that it would be unacceptable, as we are no longer in the Cold War," said Seibert.

On a trip to Brunei Monday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was questioned about the allegations.

"I will say that every country in the world that is engaged in international affairs of national security undertakes lots of activities to protect its national security, and all kinds of information contributes to that.  And all I know is that is not unusual for lots of nations," said Kerry.

Such revelations should not be surprising, says Kristian Gustafson of the Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies at Brunel University.

“On security issues everyone is sufficiently⁵ on the same page that they don’t tend to need to spy on each other. But it’s in the economic realm where they are competitors rather than allies where you tend to get these espionage⁶ allegations," said Gustafson.

Other leaked documents allege⁷ that the NSA taps a half-billion phone calls and e-mails in Germany in a typical month.

“It might turn into an EU internal problem," said David Cadier, who is from the IDEAS analyst⁸ group at the London School of Economics. "It might be that the problem is less the fact that the U.S. authorities have been spying on some EU delegations⁹ officers, some embassies. But I think the key problem will rather be the issue of personal data sharing."

The allegations come as Europe and the United States are beginning negotiations¹⁰ on creating the world’s biggest free trade agreement.

“Will it be put in jeopardy¹¹? In the end, I don’t think so because the level of support among the EU officials, among European governments, for this trade has been quite strong," said David Cadier of LSE.

One document lists 38 other embassies where spying has allegedly taken place - including Mexico, Japan, South Korea, India and Turkey.

The documents were leaked by former NSA contractor¹² Edward Snowden, who is currently at Moscow airport while he seeks asylum¹³.

Several European politicians have suggested he should now be offered asylum in Europe. 

1 bugging   

[法] 窃听

参考例句：

• Okay, then let's get the show on the road and I'll stop bugging you. 好，那么让我们开始动起来，我将不再惹你生气。 来自辞典例句
• Go fly a kite and stop bugging me. 走开，别烦我。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语

2 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

3 bugged   

vt.在…装窃听器（bug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The police have bugged his office. 警察在他的办公室装了窃听器。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had bugged off before I had a chance to get a word in. 我还没来得及讲话，他已经走了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

5 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

6 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

7 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。

8 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

9 delegations   

n.代表团( delegation的名词复数 )；委托，委派

参考例句：

• In the past 15 years, China has sent 280 women delegations abroad. 十五年来，中国共派280批妇女代表团出访。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• The Sun Ray decision follows the federal pattern of tolerating broad delegations but insisting on safeguards. “阳光”案的判决仿效联邦容许广泛授权的做法，但又坚持保护措施。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

10 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

11 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

12 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

13 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。