US federal security lapses found

US federal security lapses¹ found

Undercover investigators² managed to smuggle（偷运，走私） bomb-making materials into key US government buildings on 10 occasions last year, a congressional report（国会报告） says.

The Government Accountability Office said that once inside the buildings, investigators were able to assemble bombs and carry them around freely.

The infiltrated（浸润，渗透） buildings included the offices of a senator and a congressman³.

The report cited instances of guards falling asleep on the job or failing to detect explosives at x-ray scanners.

Embarrassing

Washington spends around $1bn a year protecting thousands of government buildings across the country.

The BBC's Jon Donnison in Washington says the report makes embarrassing reading for the Federal Protection Service, which employs over 13,000 contract security guards.

The report flagged up an incident where one guard accidently fired his gun into a mirror in a public lavatory（公共厕所） while practicing pulling it out of its holster（手枪皮套）.

On another occasion, a security officer did not notice that he had sent a baby through an X-ray machine.

The Senate Homeland Security Committee is due to hold a hearing into failings at the agency.

The committee chairman, Senator Joe Lieberman, said that eight years after the 9/11 attacks, it was "simply unacceptable" that federal employees and visitors remained exposed to potential terrorist attacks. (本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

 

1 lapses   

n.失误，过失( lapse的名词复数 )；小毛病；行为失检；偏离正道v.退步( lapse的第三人称单数 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He sometimes lapses from good behavior. 他有时行为失检。 来自辞典例句
• He could forgive attacks of nerves, panic, bad unexplainable actions, all sorts of lapses. 他可以宽恕突然发作的歇斯底里，惊慌失措，恶劣的莫名其妙的动作，各种各样的失误。 来自辞典例句

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。