VOA标准英语2015--Young Muslims Radicalized Online

Young Muslims Radicalized Online

LONDON—

Young Muslims are being radicalized "in their bedrooms" through direct contact with Islamic State fighters via the Internet, according to terror experts. There are growing concerns authorities and Internet providers are not doing enough to counter online extremism, which analysts¹ say is spread by a prolific² network of online supporters around the world.

Treading carefully across the snow-covered tarmac of a bus station in Istanbul, Turkey, grainy CCTV footage shows three British schoolgirls - two aged³ 15, one 16 - on their way to join the Islamic State. The video emerged last week after the teenagers were believed to have crossed the border into Syria.

What drove these high-achieving students to leave their families for a war zone - to likely become the partners of Islamic State fighters? Britain’s lead counterterrorism police officer, Peter Fahy, blames social media. “The change we have seen over the last few years is these extremist messages are now pumping through the Internet right into your child's bedroom,” he stated.

Investigators⁴ said another British woman, Aqsa Mahmood, who had traveled to the Islamic State in Syria, helped recruit the teens.

It is a phenomenon that is happening with increasing frequency across the world as part of the IS foreign recruitment drive for both male fighters and potential female partners, according to terror expert Shiraz Maher of Kings College London, speaking at the policy institute Chatham House.

“Today, you can have a direct dialogue with a fighter. You can ask them what life is like on the ground. You can ask them how they got there,” said Maher. “And that in many respects helps you overcome your own fears, or whatever it is that is stopping you from going.”

Maher said these online ‘Q and As’ often center on the impact on families back home.

“How did you tell your mother that you came out here to Syria? How did you essentially⁵ get over and emotionally reconcile the fact that you are breaking her heart?”

Islamic State propaganda also relies on a network of what Maher terms ‘fanboys’ and fangirls.'

“We call them ‘disseminators.’ And these disseminators are incredibly important insofar as because they are not on the ground,” said Maher. “They are able to aggregate⁶ large amounts of information from multiple sources and to spread it.”

One of the most prolific disseminators lived in Bangalore, India, operating under the Twitter name ‘Shami Witness.’ He was arrested in December. The Shami Witness Twitter account, now inactive but still accessible, has more than 17,000 followers⁷ and included IS propaganda, advice for would-be recruits and messages praising dead fighters.

U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Monday his biggest worry is home grown extremism inspired via the Internet. “ISIL particularly is very slick. Very sophisticated proselytizing⁸ and recruiting and they are very astute⁹ users of social media. So this is a challenge for us as it is in Europe,” he stated.

Security analysts said extremist propaganda on the web must be countered using the same Internet tools to prevent more young people from turning online curiosity into radicalized reality. 

1 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

2 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

3 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

4 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》

5 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

6 aggregate   

adj.总计的，集合的；n.总数；v.合计；集合

参考例句：

• The football team had a low goal aggregate last season.这支足球队上个赛季的进球总数很少。
• The money collected will aggregate a thousand dollars.进帐总额将达一千美元。

7 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

8 proselytizing   

v.（使）改变宗教信仰[政治信仰、意见等]，使变节( proselytize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

9 astute   

adj.机敏的，精明的

参考例句：

• A good leader must be an astute judge of ability.一个优秀的领导人必须善于识别人的能力。
• The criminal was very astute and well matched the detective in intelligence.这个罪犯非常狡猾，足以对付侦探的机智。