Google must be the most ambitious company in the world. Its stated goal, "to organize the world' s information and make it universally accessible and useful," deliberately omits the word "web" to indicate that the company is reaching for absolutely all information everywhere and in every form. From books to health records and videos, from your friendships to your click patterns and physical location, Google wants to know. To some people this sounds uplifting, with promises of free access to knowledge and help in managing our daily lives. To others, it is somewhat like another Big Brother, no less frightening than its totalitarian(极权主义的)ancestors for being in the private information. Randall Stross, a journalist at the New York Times, does a good job of analyzing this unbounded ambition in his book "Planet Google". One chapter is about the huge data centers that Google is building with a view to storing all that information, another about the sets of rules at the heart of its web search and advertising technology, another about its approach to information bound in books, its vision for geographical information and so forth. He is at his best when explaining how Google's mission casually but fatally smashes into long-existing institutions such as, say, copyright law or privacy norms. And yet, it's puzzling that he mostly omits the most fascinating component of Google, its people. Google is what it is because of its two founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who see themselves as kindly elites and embody the limitless optimism about science, technology and human nature that is native to Silicon Valley. The world is perfectible, and they are the ones who will do much of the perfecting, provided you let them. Brin and Page set out to create a company and an entire culture in their image. From the start, they professed that they would innovate as much in managing—rewarding, feeding, motivating, entertaining and even transporting(via Wi-Fi-enabled free shuttle buses)their employees—as they do in internet technology. If Google is in danger of becoming a caricature(讽刺画), this is first apparent here—in the over-engineered day-care centers, the Shiatsu massages and kombucha teas(康普茶). In reality Googlers are as prone to power struggle and office politics as anyone else. None of that makes it into Mr Stross' account, which at times reads like a diligent summary of news articles. At those moments, "Planet Google" takes a risk similar to trying to board a speeding train: the Google story changes so fast that no book can stay up to date for long. Even so, a sober description of this moment in Google's quest is welcome. Especially since Google fully expects, as its chief executive, Eric Schmidt, says at the end of the book, to take 300 years completing it.
单选题 By describing Google as a "Big Brother", people think that Google _____.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析:首段末句讲到,Google像是另一个Big Brother,其干涉私人信息的惊人程度丝毫不亚于其极权主义的先辈,由此可知,谷歌侵犯了人们的隐私,故答案为B。第4句提到Google免费获取知识的承诺,但没讲到它违背承诺,故C错误;A和D缺乏原文依据。
单选题 According to Randall Stross, Google's influence on copyright law or privacy norms is _____.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:第2段末句讲到,谷歌的使命虽是漫不经心地,但却给予长期存在的制度习俗带来致命的打击,例如版权法和隐私规范。D“非故意的”与句中causally“偶然地”意思相近,为本题答案。选项C与句中long-existing意思接近,但它描述的是institutions,故排除。
单选题 What does the author think of Sergey Brin and Larry Page?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:第3段提到了谷歌创始人Sergey Brin和Larry Page。末句讲到,世界是可以变得完美的,而他们正是能够为这个完美做很多事的人,如果你允许他们做的话。由此推断D正确。A中的crucial与原文fascinated不符;两位创始人在书中被省略是事实,并非作者的想法,排除B;C无原文依据。
单选题 What do we know about the Google employees in reality?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析:第4段末句讲到了现实中谷歌的员工。其中的power struggle and office politics表明其员工在办公室会勾心斗角,A中的intrigue“耍阴谋”与该句子意思吻合,为本题答案。
单选题 What does the author imply by saying '"Planet Google' takes a risk similar to trying to board a speeding train"?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:末段第2句冒号后的内容对这句话作了解释:因为谷歌的故事变化太快,以至没有哪本书能长期地使内容保持最新。由此可推断,书籍是无法涵盖所有快速发展的科技,D符合文意。A中的in danger无原文依据;B中的300 years只是谷歌老板所希望的事情,与题意无关;C中的board“董事会”误读其在原文的意思,它在原文中作动词,意为“登上”。