英语听力精选进阶版 14400

US created 'Cuban Twitter'

Summary

4 April 2014

The US created a text message social network designed to cause unrest in Cuba, according to an investigation¹ by the Associated Press news agency. ZunZuneo, called the 'Cuban Twitter', had over 40,000 users in a country with limited access to the internet. The project is thought to have lasted from 2009-2012. 

Reporter:

Sarah Rainsford

Report

ZunZuneo was popular here in Cuba. The service provided news - on sport and culture in particular - straight to subscribers' mobile telephones. But users had no idea they were signing up to a programme created in the United States. 

Funded by the US government development agency USAID, ZunZuneo targeted young Cubans in particular. Ultimately, the goal was to send political messages via the network, aimed at provoking a 'Cuban Spring'. 

But users told the BBC that the service ended abruptly² over a year ago, before they received any kind of political content. Confirming that the project did indeed exist, the White House called ZunZuneo a 'development' programme, intended to help the 'free flow' of information. 

But the US has a long history of trying to provoke regime change in Havana: starting with assassination³ plots against Fidel Castro - then a trade embargo⁴ - and more recently, high-tech⁵ projects like this one.

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

3 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

4 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

5 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。