VOA慢速英语2015 美国法庭:国家安全局收集电话记录非法

US Court: NSA Phone Record Gathering¹ Is Illegal 美国法庭:国家安全局收集电话记录非法

A U.S. appeals court in New York ruled Thursday that the National Security Agency's program to collect phone records of Americans is illegal.

The program collected “metadata” from millions of phone calls from American citizens. The metadata recorded the times when the phone calls were made and the phone numbers called.

The surveillance program was not known to the public until two years ago. NSA contractor² Edward Snowden leaked the information about the program to reporters in June of 2013.

The NSA claimed that the spying program was legal under the Patriot³ Act, which Congress passed following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The appeals court ruled that the spying program was not authorized⁴ by Congress. The three-judge panel of the court wrote,”Congress cannot reasonably be said to have ratified⁵ a progam of which many members of Congress - and all members of the public - were not aware."

Close elections in Great Britain

British voters are voting in a close election that could oust⁶ Prime Minister David Cameron from office.

Public opinion studies show that 33 percent of British voters support Mr. Cameron’s Conservative Party. The Labor⁷ party, led by Ed Milliband, is only one point behind.

Observers are calling the election Britain's most unpredictable and consequential⁸ in a generation.

Mr. Cameron has promised to hold a referendum if he is re-elected. The referendum will ask if Britain should remain in the 28-nation European Union.

Iran releases seized Maersk vessel⁹

Iran's official IRNA news agency reported that its government released the Maersk Tigris cargo¹⁰ ship today.

On April 28, Iranian forces seized the ship in the Strait of Hormuz. The seizure¹¹ followed a legal complaint from a private Iranian company.

The incident took place while Iran and the U.S. are negotiating Iran’s nuclear program and international economic restrictions¹². At the same time, the U.S. is supporting Saudi Arabia in its air campaign against Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen.

After the Maersk seizure, the U.S. announced that its Navy will escort all U.S.-registered vessels¹³ through the Strait of Hormuz.

The strait is the path for one-fifth of the world’s oil transport.

Words in This Story

metadata – n. a set of data that describes and gives information about other data.

referendum – n. an event in which the people of a county, state, etc., vote for or against a law that deals with a specific issue; a public vote on a particular issue

consequential – adj. important

complaint – n. an official charge saying that someone has done something wrong

escort – v.  to go with (someone or something) to give protection or guidance

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 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。

3 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

4 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

5 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

6 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

7 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

8 consequential   

adj.作为结果的，间接的；重要的

参考例句：

• She was injured and suffered a consequential loss of earnings.她受了伤因而收入受损。
• This new transformation is at least as consequential as that one was.这一新的转变至少和那次一样重要。

9 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

10 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

11 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

12 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

13 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》