VOA标准英语2010年-Europe Debates Airport Security

European aviation officials are meeting in Brussels to discuss airport security measures and British authorities are doing the same as governments try to decide the best way to protect planes and air passengers in the wake of a failed bombing attempt on an American airliner¹ on Christmas day.

The European Commission's aviation experts are meeting Thursday according to commission spokesman Fabio Pirotta.

"It is a meeting of aviation security committee and they are meeting to take stock of the situation following the incidents that happened over the holidays," he said.

While Pirotta would not say exactly what the committee will address, full body scanners are likely to be on the agenda.  European nations are divided as to whether to deploy² them in airports.  Officials from some countries, like Germany have cited health and privacy issues.

The Netherlands and Britain have announced they will install scanners in the coming weeks. 

Barbara Hellfferich, another commission spokesperson, says there are currently no European Union rules preventing member states from introducing body scanners and the European commission's position is clear.

"It considers body scanners, if they meet the health standards and security standards, as a useful additional tool provided they do not contradict existing European legislation," she said.

In Britain, the heads of airport security are meeting with government officials to discuss rolling out new security measures.  The British prime minister's announcement  this week that scanners will be in U.K. airports in the next three weeks has sparked protest from civil liberties campaigners such as Simon Davies, of the group Privacy International.

"Here you have a machine that electronically strip searches people," he said.  "It strip searches them regardless of age or innocence³, children, grandmothers, whomever.  The reality is this is yet another assault on the dignity of the public and rights of the public.  Now if you could prove that the machines are essential to  protection of our security, then I would say the use is proportionate."

Davies says he objects to the scanners not only because of privacy issues, but also because he says they are a waste of money.

"From a security perspective, money should be diverted to tried and tested proven methods of counter terrorism. Why divert finite resources to something which does not work, which has never ever been proved to work, just on speculation⁴, on hypothesis that at sometime in the future it may?" he asked.

Aviation analyst⁵ Chris Yates says the scanners are effective, but have to be used with other security screening methods.

"Body scanners in and of themselves provide an additional capability⁶, in terms of aviation security, but they are by no means the only answer.  Body Scanners are only the first element, we need to look at the profiling, we need to also look at the liquid aspect.  We need to look at advanced technology as well," said Yates.

That advanced technology includes trace detectors⁷ that can determine whether someone' was touched or been exposed to explosive material.  U.S. President Barack Obama called the failed Christmas day bombing an intelligence failure.  Yates says intelligence is only part of keeping travelers safe.

"Security has always got to be a mix of technique and technology.  So on the technique side, there has to be advances in the profiling of passengers, but not necessarily in terms of ethnicity, religion and so forth," Yates added.

It is not clear whether body scanners would have identified the failed Christmas day bomber⁸, because they do not always detect liquids or plastic. Aviation officials say it was lucky the bomb did not detonate properly.  European governments are working to find aviation security measures that will not rely on luck.

1 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

2 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

3 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

4 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

7 detectors   

探测器( detector的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The report advocated that all buildings be fitted with smoke detectors. 报告主张所有的建筑物都应安装烟火探测器。
• This is heady wine for experimenters using these neutrino detectors. 对于使用中微子探测器的实验工作者，这是令人兴奋的美酒。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技

8 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。