Lesson 9

英语高级听力教程Listen09
There was an assassination attempt against Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi today. A man fired several shots at Gandhi and other Indian leaders participating in an open-air prayer meeting. Gandhi was not injured. Six people received minor wounds when the gunman burst from the brushes where he had apparently hidden prior to the ceremony to avoid security checks. He surrendered when guards surrounded him. Those in charge of Gandhi's security have been suspended, and an investigation is under way.

Jess Moore, NASA's top official in charge of the shuttle program when Challenger exploded, announced today he's leaving his new post as Director of the Johnson Space Center. Moore will take a leave of absence and then be reassigned to NASA headquarters in Washington. NPR's Daniel Zwerdling reports. "The obvious question, of course, is this: Is Jess Moore leaving his job and taking a year off work because of the Challenger accident? Moore came under quite a bit of pressure before a congressional committee early this summer when his former assistant testified that he told Moore in detail almost a year ago that there were serious problems with the shuttle rocket's O-rings, the same O-rings that eventually caused the Challenger accident. That testimony flatly contradicted what Moore's been saying all along: that he did not know the O-ring problems were serious until after the Challenger exploded. Congressional sources who've interviewed Moore told me that they have no way of knowing just Who's telling the truth, Moore, or Moore's former assistant. But one top congressional aide who met with Morre recently says the NASA veteran's been depressed since the Challenger blew up. He says, 'Moore doesn't have the edge he used to. He's hollow inside, just like a lot of guys at NASA who worked on the shuttle.' 'Jess Moore,' the aide says, 'is not the man he was before the accident, and he needs a rest.' I'm Daniel Zwerdling in Washington."

Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi survived an assassination attempt in New Delhi today. The assailant fired a succession of shots at Gandhi, who was attending a Hindu prayer service with his wife and Indian President Zail Singh. Official sources have called the incident a major security lapse. Witnesses say Gandhi told security guards two times he had heard gun shots; the security forces reportedly dismissed the noise as motorcycle backfire. It was over half an hour later that police finally surrounded and captured the gunman. Six people were injured during the arrest. The BBC's Humphrey Hoxley reports.
An official statement from the Home Ministry said that those police officials who were directly responsible for the security arrangements for Mr. Gandhi have been suspended from duty. Senior officials in the Ministry say that a top-level investigation is under way to determine why the security around the Prime Minister, who's meant to be one of the most closely protected government leader

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