VOA标准英语2009-Light Security Contributes to Pakistan Hotel

Investigators¹ are sifting² through the rubble³ of the Pearl Continental⁴ Hotel in northwest Pakistan, searching for clues to Tuesday night's devastating⁵ truck bombing that killed at least 9 people and injured 70 others. Closed-circuit footage aired on Pakistani television stations shows how easy it was for the attackers to hit the five-star star hotel in Peshawar.
　
TV grab from private GEO television channel shows an explosives-laden car as it enters the premises⁶ of the five-star Pearl Continental hotel in Peshawar, 10 June 2009

Just moments before the explosion, security cameras caught a white car driving up to a security gate, 150- to 200-meters ahead of the entrance to the hotel. Gunfire erupted from the car and, seconds later, a huge truck barrels right through the checkpoint and explodes in the parking lot of the hotel.

The blast was deadly and destructive; dozens of cars were demolished⁷; a section of the hotel was reduced to rubble; and a huge crater⁸ was left in the parking lot. Scores of people were injured and the death toll⁹ is expected to rise, as bodies are discovered in the rubble.

Police spent the night picking through the destroyed building, the city's only luxury hotel catering¹⁰ to foreigners and wealthy Pakistanis. Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province, has suffered a spate¹¹ of attacks on soft targets, especially since early May, when the army officially began its offensive to drive Taliban militants¹² out of nearby Swat Valley.

Security analysts¹³ Hassan Askari says it is clear that hotel management did not take security threats in the city seriously enough. He describes the security at Pearl Continental "extremely poor", in comparison to other upscale hotels in Pakistan.

"It was amazing that these two vehicles could go in just straight on. I think it could be over-confidence and not spending money," he said. "It's sometimes denial that it [an attack] will not happen and sometimes it's a question of money. Because if you want to have secure security, obviously you end up spending more money and sometimes people are miserly with that. "

Western security experts had recently warned management at the Pearl Hotel that its security was not sufficient and that it could easily be targeted.

The style of the attack - shooting through a barricade¹⁴, then detonating explosives - has become a recent signature of terrorists in Pakistan. That same tactic¹⁵ was used in last month's attack on a police building in Lahore, which killed at least 24 people.

Askari says there are several steps that can be taken to deal with the escalating¹⁶ threat of terrorist attacks.

"I think the first thing that needs to be strengthened is intelligence services," said Askari. "They need to monitor these groups, try to penetrate¹⁷ these groups, because the best solution is that terrorists should be pre-empted from doing what they do. Second is that the government must use its resources to make people conscious that life cannot go on the way it used to be a couple of years ago. Pakistan has internally changed and the real struggle for Pakistan's survival is now internal. And, internal wars are are always problematic and difficult."

No one has claimed responsibility for the Peshawar attack. The city remains¹⁸ on high alert, but Pakistani officials are warning the public to expect more attacks in the future, even as they vow¹⁹ to defeat those behind them.

1 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 sifting   

n.筛，过滤v.筛( sift的现在分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审

参考例句：

• He lay on the beach, sifting the sand through his fingers. 他躺在沙滩上用手筛砂子玩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was sifting the cinders when she came in. 她进来时，我正在筛煤渣。 来自辞典例句

3 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

4 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

5 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

6 premises   

n.建筑物，房屋

参考例句：

• According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定，场内不准饮酒。
• All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行，不用送到外面去做。

7 demolished   

v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
• They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来，为了不让拆除他们的房子，他们一直在进行最后的努力。

8 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

9 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

10 catering   

n. 给养

参考例句：

• Most of our work now involves catering for weddings. 我们现在的工作多半是承办婚宴。
• Who did the catering for your son's wedding? 你儿子的婚宴是由谁承办的？

11 spate   

n.泛滥，洪水，突然的一阵

参考例句：

• Police are investigating a spate of burglaries in the area.警察正在调查这一地区发生的大量盗窃案。
• Refugees crossed the border in full spate.难民大量地越过了边境。

12 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

13 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

14 barricade   

n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住

参考例句：

• The soldiers make a barricade across the road.士兵在路上设路障。
• It is difficult to break through a steel barricade.冲破钢铁障碍很难。

15 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

16 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

17 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。

18 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

19 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。