AIRPORT SECURITY : Bomb sniffers
That's not a Hoover they're running over your suitcase. It's the Itemiser, one
of the two airline security devices that detect tiny quantities of explosives
or drug residues. It is almost impossible for someone who has handled these
illegal materials to completely remove all traces of them from clothing and
baggage. The analysis takes less than three seconds.
To check passengers rather than their bags, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories
have designed a walk-through portal that uses the same technology as the Itemiser.
The portal looks like a metal detector, but the passenger stands in it for 12
seconds while air is blown over his body and then sucked into an ion mobility
spectrometer at the bottom of the machine. The device can detect explosives
in concentrations as low as four parts per trillion.
Ion Track Instruments of Washington, Massachusetts has a deal with the F.A.A.
to manufacture 250 Itemisers. A few have already been installed in airports,
including New York's La Guardia and Chicago O'Hare. Field testing of the Sandia
explosives-detection portal began a few months ago.
1) What is a bomb sniffer?
A) a Hoover
B) a policeman
C) a device detecting bombs
2) What is the name of its manufacturer?
A) F.A.A.
B) Itemiser
C) Ion Track
3.)What are La Guardia and O'Hare?
A) famous airports
B) famous towns
C) famous criminals