2006年VOA标准英语-US Intelligence Chief Vows to Protect American

By Stephanie Ho
Washington
10 July 2006

The U.S. Director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte, says the intelligence community puts high priority on protecting the privacy and civil liberties of Americans. He spoke¹ to business leaders Monday at a luncheon² sponsored by the U.S. Chamber³ of Commerce.

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As the U.S. government steps up its efforts to strengthen security, critics have charged that these developments are coming at the expense of civil liberties.

John Negroponte (file photo)   
  
The U.S. intelligence chief, John Negroponte, told business leaders that as American intelligence agencies continue to consolidate⁴ and reform, protecting the privacy and civil liberties of Americans is an important concern.

"This is sensitive work in a nation with our political culture and traditions," he said. "We are looking to bring intelligence to America in a way that has never before been attempted or been necessary, but it is necessary now."

He added that in what he described as the current "new age of information sharing and access," it may be necessary to "amend⁵ or create rules, policies and processes" as a means to protect civil liberties.

He criticized recent media reports about a U.S. government program that monitors international bank transfers. Negroponte said these so-called information leaks harm the U.S. government's efforts to work with private American companies.

"They significantly complicate⁶ the ability of the United States government to cooperate quietly with patriotic⁷ and concerned businesses to defend our country, and they damage our clandestine⁸ capabilities⁹ to track those who seek to do us harm," he said. "Rest assured that the intelligence community will work to protect the confidentiality¹⁰ of its arrangements, so that we and those that would help us can continue to protect our nation, our citizens and our way of life."

The Bush administration has criticized the newspaper reports, saying they revealed sensitive information and undermined U.S. national security. The New York Times and other U.S. newspapers that ran the story have defended their decisions, saying they acted in the public interest.

Picture from file video of unidentified North Korean missile launch   
  
Meanwhile, the U.S. intelligence official added that Washington's concern over North Korea's nuclear programs was underscored by the communist country's missile tests last week.

"We know that North Korea has enough fissile material to construct nuclear weapons," he said. "We don't know for absolute certainty that they have nuclear weapons, although the intelligence community assesses that they do. And, in addition, we know that they have considerable capabilities in the area of missile technology."

He called North Korea "a particularly serious situation." He added that the United States has attached great importance to resuming the six party talks on the North Korean nuclear crisis. The talks include the United States, North Korea, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 luncheon   

n.午宴，午餐，便宴

参考例句：

• We have luncheon at twelve o'clock.我们十二点钟用午餐。
• I have a luncheon engagement.我午饭有约。

3 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

4 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

5 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

6 complicate   

vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂

参考例句：

• There is no need to complicate matters.没有必要使问题复杂化。
• These events will greatly complicate the situation.这些事件将使局势变得极其复杂。

7 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

8 clandestine   

adj.秘密的，暗中从事的

参考例句：

• She is the director of clandestine operations of the CIA.她是中央情报局秘密行动的负责人。
• The early Christians held clandestine meetings in caves.早期的基督徒在洞穴中秘密聚会。

9 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

10 confidentiality   

n.秘而不宣，保密

参考例句：

• They signed a confidentiality agreement. 他们签署了一份保守机密的协议。
• Cryptography is the foundation of supporting authentication, integrality and confidentiality. 而密码学是支持认证、完整性和机密性机制的基础。