SEOUL, South Korea – An official says the U.S. Embassy in Seoul has received a package containing a suspicious white powder.
Spokesman Aaron Tarver said the embassy received the package Wednesday, and a sample of the powder was being tested. Tarver said no one was reported sickened.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the substance was not anthrax nor the deadly poison ricin — both of which have been used in mail attacks in the U.S. Additional tests are being conducted with results expected in the next few days.
Last week, the FBI said eight U.S. embassies in Europe received letters containing a white powder in what the agency called a hoax. It said governors' offices in more than 40 U.S. states had received similar letters recently.
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VOCABULARY
anthrax- an infectious disease of warm-blooded animals (as cattle and sheep) caused by a spore-forming bacterium (Bacillus anthracis), transmissible to humans especially by the handling of infected products (as wool), and characterized by cutaneous ulcerating nodules or by often fatal lesions in the lungs ; also : the bacterium causing anthrax
ricin- a poisonous protein in the castor bean
hoax- to trick into believing or accepting as genuine something false and often preposterous
GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. What came into your mind after reading the article? And why?
2. Has there been an incident such as that which has occured in the past in your country? If yes, please tell me about it.
3. What do you think of this hoax?
4. Why do you think some people try to create that kind of hoax? What could be the possible reasons?
5. Are you confident about your country's security from such attacks? Why or why not?
6. How does your country maintain its security?