White House Gatecrashers美国夫妇混入白宫

By Richard Lister, Washington

媒体英语会带大家一起学习BBC撰稿人在报道世界大事时常用到的单词和短语。

Background: 背景：一对美国夫妇在没有受到邀请的情况下，不但混入了白宫而且还受到了总统奥巴马的接见。此后，美国特情局决定将加强对在白宫内举行官方活动的安防检查。特情局已经发表了一份书面道歉声明，称其对未能严格执行安防措施深表歉意。白宫也表示其工作人员要监管来访个人的工作更为负责任。美国国会晚些会举行听证会对此事件进行进一步调查。

Even with an invitation to the White House, it can be tricky to get through the heavily guarded perimeter.

So the revelation that a couple of aspiring socialites were able to talk their way into the state reception for India's prime minister last week, left officials scrambling for answers.

President Obama, who met the couple in a receiving line, was said to be angry about the incident and received a public apology from the Secret Service, which said procedures hadn't been followed at an entry point.

But now the White House deputy chief of staff, Jim Messina, has issued a memo instructing members of his team to be stationed alongside secret service agents at entry check-points, for all White House events.

Their role will be to cross-reference the guest list as people arrive.

The White House has declined a request to send the Obama social secretary to the forthcoming Congressional hearing on the matter.

It's unclear whether the couple who sparked this furore, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, will be attending, although this time they do have an invitation.