VOA慢速英語(yǔ):美法院裁定NSA收集電話(huà)記錄違法

A U.S. appeals court in New York ruled Thursday that the National Security Agency's program to collect phone records of Americans is illegal.

美國(guó)紐約上訴法院周四裁定美國(guó)安全機(jī)構(gòu)手機(jī)美國(guó)公民手機(jī)電話(huà)記錄的行為是違法的。

The program collected "metadata" from millions of phone calls from American citizens. The metadata recorded the times when the phone calls were made and the phone numbers called.

這一收集數(shù)百萬(wàn)美國(guó)公民手機(jī)電話(huà)記錄的項(xiàng)目叫做“元數(shù)據(jù)”計(jì)劃。當(dāng)美國(guó)公民使用手機(jī)撥打電話(huà)時(shí)通話(huà)時(shí)間和電話(huà)號(hào)碼將會(huì)被“元數(shù)據(jù)”記錄下來(lái)。

The surveillance program was not known to the public until two years ago. NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked the information about the program to reporters in June of 2013.

兩年前，自2013年六月份美國(guó)國(guó)家安全局合同工斯諾登泄漏監(jiān)聽(tīng)計(jì)劃信息之前，美國(guó)公民對(duì)此計(jì)劃一無(wú)所知。

The NSA claimed that the spying program was legal under the Patriot Act, which Congress passed following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

國(guó)家安全據(jù)稱(chēng)這一監(jiān)聽(tīng)計(jì)劃是合法的，是由國(guó)會(huì)在911恐怖襲擊事件發(fā)生之后通過(guò)的愛(ài)國(guó)者法案。

The appeals court ruled that the spying program was not authorized by Congress. The three-judge panel of the court wrote,"Congress cannot reasonably be said to have ratified a progam of which many members of Congress - and all members of the public - were not aware."

上述法院裁定稱(chēng)監(jiān)聽(tīng)計(jì)劃沒(méi)有經(jīng)國(guó)會(huì)授權(quán)。三人法官小組寫(xiě)到：不可能合情合理地說(shuō)國(guó)會(huì)批準(zhǔn)了這一監(jiān)聽(tīng)計(jì)劃，因?yàn)閲?guó)會(huì)許多成員和所有美國(guó)公民對(duì)此事并不知情。

Close elections in Great Britain

British voters are voting in a close election that could oust Prime Minister David Cameron from office.

英國(guó)選民正在進(jìn)行一場(chǎng)勢(shì)均力敵的投票選舉，而這次選舉可能會(huì)使得卡梅倫下臺(tái)。

Public opinion studies show that 33 percent of British voters support Mr. Cameron's Conservative Party. The Labor party, led by Ed Milliband, is only one point behind.

據(jù)民意調(diào)查顯示有33%的選民支持卡梅倫代表的保守黨，而支持米利班代表的工黨的選票僅僅落后1%。

Observers are calling the election Britain's most unpredictable and consequential in a generation.

觀察員稱(chēng)此次選舉是英國(guó)歷史上最難以預(yù)測(cè)的一次選舉，也是非常重要的一次選舉。

Mr. Cameron has promised to hold a referendum if he is re-elected. The referendum will ask if Britain should remain in the 28-nation European Union.

卡梅倫承若如果選舉成功將就英國(guó)是否留在歐盟舉行公投。

Iran releases seized Maersk vessel

Iran's official IRNA news agency reported that its government released the Maersk Tigris cargo ship today.

伊朗官方伊斯蘭共和國(guó)通訊社報(bào)道稱(chēng)其政府今天釋放了馬士基貨船。

On April 28, Iranian forces seized the ship in the Strait of Hormuz. The seizure followed a legal complaint from a private Iranian company.

4月28號(hào)，伊朗軍隊(duì)在霍爾木茲海峽扣押了馬士基公司的貨船。此舉是因?yàn)橐晾室患宜饺斯緦?duì)馬士基進(jìn)行了法律投訴。

The incident took place while Iran and the U.S. are negotiating Iran's nuclear program and international economic restrictions. At the same time, the U.S. is supporting Saudi Arabia in its air campaign against Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen.

事情發(fā)生時(shí)伊朗和美國(guó)正在就伊朗核問(wèn)題和國(guó)際經(jīng)濟(jì)制裁進(jìn)行談判。同時(shí)美國(guó)表示支持沙特阿拉伯在也門(mén)對(duì)受伊朗支持的叛軍進(jìn)行空襲。

After the Maersk seizure, the U.S. announced that its Navy will escort all U.S.-registered vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.

在截獲馬士基貨船之后，美國(guó)宣布其海軍將護(hù)送所有美國(guó)注冊(cè)的船只通過(guò)霍爾木茲海峽海域。

The strait is the path for one-fifth of the world's oil transport.

該海峽海域占世界石油運(yùn)輸線(xiàn)路的五分之一。

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Words in This Story

metadata – n. a set of data that describes and gives information about other data.

referendum – n. an event in which the people of a county, state, etc., vote for or against a law that deals with a specific issue; a public vote on a particular issue

consequential – adj. important

complaint – n. an official charge saying that someone has done something wrong

escort – v. to go with (someone or something) to give protection or guidance