Listening comprehension exercise about the real-life Mr. and Mrs. Smith, 21st century spies

Listen to the article and decide if the statements are TRUE or FALSE.

1)     The Ansclags have been working as spies for a quarter of a century from Germany.                                    
2)     The spy couple has been working for the Soviet Union for more than two decades.                                       
3)     Mr. and Mrs. Anschlag were also as secret informants for the EU and NATO.                                                 
4)     Andreas and Heidrun Anschlag gathered security-relevant data about Germany, the EU and the NATO.      
5)     The Anschlags were also working for the Dutch Foreign Ministry in 2008-11.                                                 
6)     They also had ties with the FBI through an American agent, Anna Chapman.                                                
7)     They were arrested due to information gathered from American interrogations.                                             
8)     The couple were originally Austrians who were both born in South America.                                                  
9)     The Anschlags were sentenced to five years and six months.                                                                         
10)  The spy couple have one daughter who thought her parents were from Russia.                                             

Answers: 1) T, 2) F, 3) F, 4) T, 5) F, 6) F, 7) T, 8) F, 9) F, 10) F

Married spy couple jailed in Germany after spying for their Russian paymasters for 25 years

A married spy couple have been jailed in Germany after being found guilty of espionage for their Russian paymasters for 25 years. The couple, codenamed Andreas and Heidrun Anschlag, are said to have settled in former West Germany on false passports a quarter of a century ago. They began their snooping career in the same city – Dresden – where Russian leader Vladimir Putin was posted for the KGB. The duo are accused of first feeding information about West Germany to the former Soviet Union, then the reunited land to the Russian Republic. The espionage agents for Moscow operated under the radar of the intelligence services sending back their reports to their handlers via a radio code.  ‘The accused had the task of gathering information about the political and military strategy of the EU and NATO,’ said the prosecutor at their trial, as well as ‘security-relevant political aspects of relations between Germany, the EU and NATO to Russia.’ An alleged spy in the Dutch Foreign Ministry supplied them with secret European Union and NATO documents from 2008 to 2011. It was also revealed the pair, both now aged 52, had contact to agent OOX – the glamorous spy Anna Chapman who was among the sleeper cell that the FBI broke up in America two years ago. Investigators said it was due to information gleaned from the interrogations in America that led to the arrests of the spy duo in Germany. Andreas and Heidrun were described as ‘throwbacks’ from the Soviet era who stayed on in reunited Germany to serve new masters after the same old secrets – industrial, technological and military. While his wife was seized at home, Andreas was arrested while on an alleged business trip in the university city of Marburg. Two Austrian passports, both said to be forgeries made by the counterfeiters of the SVR, were seized when they were taken into custody. The bogus passports stated that Andreas was born in Argentina and Heidrun in Peru. Checks with authorities in both nations proved them to be fakes. ‘The accused are suspected of having worked in Germany over a long period of time for a foreign intelligence agency,’ the federal prosecutor said in a statement. A court in Stuttgart gave Andreas Anschlag six years and six months, and Heidrun five years and six months. Their daughter was born and raised in Germany and knew nothing of their activities – nor of their true identities before they became spies.

source: dailymail.co.uk

spy– kém
to jail – bebörtönözni
guilty – bűnös
espionage – kémkedés
paymaster – fizetőtiszt, számvívő(tiszt)
to settle – letelepedni
false – hamis
snooping – szimatolás, besugás, spicliskedés
to post – szolgálati helyre/parancsnoki tisztségre kinevezni
to accuse – megvádolni
to feed – táplálni, szolgáltatni
reunited – újraegyesült
agent – ügynök
handler – kezelő, vezető, főnök
to gather – gyűjteni
prosecutor – vádló, ügyész
trial – bírósági tárgyalás, per
relevant – (valamivel) kapcsolatos, lényeges, vonatkozó
relation – kapcsolat
alleged – állítólagos
to supply – ellátni, beszerezni, szállítani
to reveal – feltárni, felfedni, elárulni
glamorous – elbűvölő, elegáns
sleeper cell – alvó sejt/ügynök
to break up – feloszlatni, szétzúzni
investigator – nyomozó
to glean – szedni, gyűjteni, tallózni
interrogation – kikérdezés, vallatás, kihallgatás
arrest – letartóztatás
throwback – visszamaradt
to seize – elfogni
forgery – hamisítvány, hamisítás
counterfeiter – hamisító
to take into custody – őrizetbe venni valakit
bogus – hamis, ál
to prove – bizonyítani, bizonyulni
to suspect – gyanakodni, gyanítani, gyanúsítani
foreign intelligence agency – külföldi hírszerző ügynökség
federal – szövetségi
to raise – nevelni