From VOA Learning English, this is In the News.
这里是美国之音慢速英语新闻报道。
European officials have traveled to Washington seeking more information about American spying programs.
欧洲官员已经动身前往华盛顿寻求更多有关美国监控项目的信息。
On Tuesday, the director of the National Security Agency, Army General Keith Alexander, defended the NSA at a hearing in Congress. He denied accusations that the NSA collected the records of millions of French and Spanish telephone calls.
周二，美国国家安全局（简称国安局，NSA）局长、陆军上将基斯·亚历山大（Keith Alexander）在国会举行的听证会上为国安局进行辩护。他否认了声称国安局收集数百万法国和西班牙电话记录的指责。
"Those screenshots that show, or at least lead people to believe that we, NSA, or the United States, collected that information is false. And it's false that it was collected on European citizens. It was neither."
他说，“这些截图显示，或至少让人们认为我们国安局或美国收集这些信息是不对的，这些信息收集自欧洲公民更是不对，但事情不是这样。”
The accusations follow information leaks by Edward Snowden, the former NSA contract worker who has been given asylum in Russia.
这些指控是在俄罗斯庇护的前美国国安局合同雇员爱德华·斯诺登泄漏信息之后。
General Alexander said the agency has received targeted information from phone calls by some Europeans, through NATO allies.
亚历山大将军表示，该局通过北约盟国从电话中获得了一些欧洲人的针对性信息。
"The sources of the metadata include data legally collected by NSA under its various authorities, as well as data provided to NSA by foreign partners. To be perfectly clear, this is not information that we collected on European citizens."
他说，“这些元数据的来源包括国安局各部门合法收集的数据，以及外国合作伙伴提供给国安局的数据。很显然，我们没有收集欧洲公民的信息。”
Metadata would include details about a call, but not the contents of the call. But earlier reports said intelligence officials listened to the calls of as many as 35 world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
元数据包括通话的细节，但不包括通话内容。但此前有报道称，情报官员监听了多达35位世界领导人的电话，其中就包括德国总理安格拉·默克尔（Angela Merkel）。
The European Parliament sent a delegation to Washington to express anger. The delegation met with members of Congress and government officials. Parliament member Jan Philipp Albrecht told VOA that the spying on Chancellor Merkel was simply too much.
欧洲议会派遣一个代表团到华盛顿传达愤怒。该代表团会见了美国国会议员和政府官员。欧洲议会议员简·菲利普·亚伯雷希(Jan philipp Albrecht)对美国之音表示，监听默克尔总理简直太过分了。
"Now people are really concerned. They see that it's not any longer connected to a terrorist threat, because Angela Merkel is not a terrorist, or not part of a terrorist ring. And they think that there was a red line crossed, which is now spying on everybody about everything."
他说，“现在人们真正开始担心了，他们发现监控和恐怖威胁无关，因为默克尔不是恐怖分子，不是恐怖分子集团的一部分。人们认为美国越线了，美国现在是监控一切。”
Mr. Albrecht called for American legislation to balance national security needs with the responsibility to protect basic civil rights.
亚伯雷希先生要求美国的立法在国家安全需求和保护公民基本权利这一责任上取得平衡。
On Tuesday, American lawmakers held a hearing on possible changes to NSA spying programs. Mike Rogers is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He says it is overly simplistic to think that other countries do not operate their own spying programs. But another Republican Party lawmaker, Senator Susan Collins, took a different position. In her words, "Friends do not spy on friends."
周二，美国国会就国安局监控项目的可能变动举行了听证会。迈克·罗杰斯（Mike Rogers）是众议院情报委员会主席。他说，认为其它国家没有监控项目过于幼稚。但另一位共和党立法委员、参议员苏珊·柯林斯（Susan Collins）立场完全不同。用她的话来说，“朋友不监控朋友。”
Later in the week, the Washington Post reported that the NSA secretly broke into the communication networks of Google and Yahoo. Both Internet companies said they have not approved the reported actions involving their communication links.
本周晚些时候，《华盛顿邮报》报道称，美国国安局秘密闯入谷歌和雅虎的通讯网络。两家互联网公司都表示，他们都未批准涉及他们通信链路的这一被报道出来的行为。
General Alexander has said his agency does not enter Google and Yahoo servers. He said the NSA gains access to data by "court order."
亚历山大将军已经表示，国安局没有进入谷歌和雅虎的服务器。他说，国安局要通过“法院命令”获得访问数据的许可。
Paul Tiao formerly served as an adviser to the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He says all the publicity has made the NSA's job harder.
刁明伦(Paul Tiao)此前曾担任美国联邦调查局局长的顾问。他说，所有舆论使得国安局的工作更为艰难。
"NSA is facing significant challenges, both in terms of its public reputation, the level of trust that the public has in NSA, and then also policy issues, legislation that's pending that the new NSA director is going to have to deal with. That could change the nature of NSA's authority with respect to its intelligence collection mission."
他说，“国安局面临着重大挑战，无论是其口碑--即公众对其的信任水平，还是这位新任国安局局长将必须要处理的未决政策问题和立法。这可能会改变国安局各部门关于其情报收集天职方面的性质。”
Obama administration officials have promised to examine the NSA's programs. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney says the review will be completed by the end of the year.
奥巴马政府官员已经承诺调查国安局的监控项目。白宫新闻发言人杰伊·卡尼（Jay Carney）表示，该调查将在今年年底前完成。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)