美国国家公共电台 NPR U.S., Britain Restrict Electronics On Flights From Mideast Countries

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The U.S. is tightening¹ rules about electronic devices allowed in carry-on baggage. The new security measures cover direct flights to the U.S. from eight majority-Muslim countries. This, of course, comes as President Trump² is waging an ongoing³ legal battle over his travel ban for six other majority-Muslim countries. Here to explain all this is NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre. Good morning, Greg.

GREG MYRE, BYLINE⁴: Hi, Rachel.

MARTIN: So these are separate countries from the countries that were included in the travel ban?

MYRE: Absolutely. And what's very interesting here are these are traditional U.S. allies, and these are the stable countries in the region. We're talking about four wealthy Gulf⁵ states - Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates - and four other U.S. allies - Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco.

It's almost the opposite demographic of the travel ban. These are sort of wealthier, more prosperous countries as opposed to sort of the troubled countries that have fraught⁶ relations with the U.S., like Syria, for example.

MARTIN: So before we get to the intention behind these new restrictions⁷, can you just lay out exactly what are the new rules?

MYRE: Right. So the travelers will still be allowed to take their smartphones on their planes, but anything larger than that - a laptop, a tablet, a camera - that will have to be placed in checked baggage. So it doesn't affect the travelers themselves, just the devices that they can bring into the cabin of the plane.

MARTIN: We should say these are long flights. And people use those devices to entertain themselves for 10, 12 hours sometimes.

MYRE: Exactly. And again, these are - these tend to be a lot of business flights. So you look at a plane like this, and it would be - tend to be full of businessmen or businesswomen with their heads buried in a laptop for the length of this flight. Now they're going to be restricted to a smartphone.

MARTIN: So Department of Homeland Security has - is behind these new rules. Do we know anything about what the intention is behind this? I mean, clearly it's about security, but anything more specific?

MYRE: Not really. They didn't say if this was based on new intelligence or existing information. Now, it's a known threat that perhaps an explosive device could be put in an electronic device. And one could certainly think that that is the starting point for this.

MARTIN: Well, we don't have any - there's no new threat specific to that.

MYRE: They did not mention any new threat. So we're not - none that we're aware of.

MARTIN: How are these countries responding? I mean, I know Royal Jordanian Airlines tweeted out, just as a courtesy to their customers, that this was happening. But have we heard any response from the governments of these countries yet?

MYRE: That's about all we've heard so far is announcing it. And they're going - basically going into effect immediately. They have four days. But some, like Royal Jordanian, have already announced them. But it's certainly going to be a hassle for the airlines and their customers. And again, these are countries with very good relationships. They have not - places that generally have not been targets for terror attacks.

I mean, the one concern that the U.S. has brought up many times is al-Qaida in Yemen as a potential threat with very skilled bomb-makers, in particular a guy named Ibrahim al-Asiri. And Yemen is not on this list, but it's near those Gulf states that have been placed on the list.

MARTIN: So two quick clarifications. This does not apply to U.S. flights leaving America to fly to these countries, correct?

MYRE: That's correct.

MARTIN: And then secondly⁸, do we know how long this - these new rules are supposed to be in place?

MYRE: It's open-ended. They say it will be reviewed regularly, but it's going to be a standing⁹ order.

MARTIN: Buy some new paperback¹⁰ books, long ones, for those flights. NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre. Thanks, Greg.

MYRE: Thanks, Rachel.

1 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

6 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

7 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

8 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 paperback   

n.平装本，简装本

参考例句：

• A paperback edition is now available at bookshops.平装本现在在书店可以买到。
• Many books that are out of print are reissued in paperback form.许多绝版的书籍又以平装本形式重新出现。