美国7个州多所学校因炸弹威胁关闭

AS IT IS 2016-01-21 Bomb Threats Empty Schools in 7 States 美国7个州多所学校因炸弹威胁关闭

Police are investigating threats against dozens of schools this week in seven U.S. states.

Searches failed to find bombs or other dangers.

Threats were called in to at least 26 schools in New Jersey¹ on Tuesday. Most were to schools in suburbs of New York City, police said.

Other threats were called in Tuesday to schools in Maryland, Iowa, Massachusetts, Delaware, Arizona and Florida. Wednesday brought more bomb threats to schools in Delaware and Arizona.

The threats come at a time polling shows Americans worried about terrorist attacks.

New Jersey police officials said voices on the threatening phone calls sounded altered by computers. The calls were traced to Bakersfield, California, police said.

At Clifton High School, a voice mail warned of a bomb. A separate call warned of a “mass shooting” at the school later on Tuesday, said Sgt. Robert Bracken of Clifton Police Department.

The responses to the threats varied², according to news reports. Some schools moved students to other buildings while officials searched the threatened schools. In New Jersey, some students said they waited outside their schools for an hour or more without coats in below freezing temperatures.

Other schools closed for the day. And some kept students “locked down” in their classrooms.

In New Jersey, police used dogs trained to smell explosives.

Police and school officials said Tuesday they could not say if most threats came from a single group or person. They also said they did not know the reason threats were made.

Some police said some calls appear the work of “copy cats.” Copy cats are people who repeat an action taken by somebody else.

Last month, threats were made to school administration offices in New York City and Los Angeles. Emails warned of attacks on multiple schools in the two cities. Los Angeles officials decided³ to close their schools that day, but New York City officials kept schools open.

No bombs were found. Los Angeles and New York are the largest school districts in the United States.

The threats are making some students and parents nervous.

NBC 4 TV News in New York reported some students said they decided not to return to school Tuesday after the “all clear” signal was given because they remained afraid.

Last month, President Barack Obama observed the third anniversary of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. A lone⁴ gunman killed his mother and then drove to the school where he killed 20 first graders and six educators.

In Virginia, Prince William County school and police officials met Monday with parents to discuss recent bomb threats at four county high schools.

Insidenova.com reported that officials told parents most people planning school shootings “do not advertise shootings.”

“We have to take the threat seriously, but we also have to balance our approach so that we’re not scaring the kids,” said Police Lieutenant⁵ David Burghart, according to Insidenova.com

But a school official told parents they should tell their children to report any threats they hear about from classmates or others.

Words in This Story

suburb – n. a town or other area where people live in houses near a larger city

alter – v. to change something or someone

voice mail – n. a message left on a telephone answering device

response – n. something that is done as a reaction to something else

vary – v. different responses to the same problem

locked down -- v. to be kept in place

dozens - n. large numbers of people or things

polling - n. an activity in which many people are asked questions in an effort to get information about what most people think about something

according - adv. as stated by or in

coats - n. an outer piece of clothing that keeps a person warm or dry

1 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

2 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

5 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。