A recent case in Australia shows how easily fear can frustrate an informant's good intentions. In December, a woman wrote anonymously to the country's antitrust watchdog, the ACCC, alleging that her employer was colluding with others in breach of the Trade Practices Act. Her evidence was sufficient to suggest to the ACCC that fines of A$10m could be imposed on "a large company". But the agency needed more details. So just before Christmas it advertised extensively to try and persuade the woman to come forward again. Some days later her husband rang the ACCC, but he hung up before disclosing vital information. Now the agency is trying to contact the couple again.
In America, there is some evidence that the events of September 11th have made people more public-spirited and more inclined to blow the whistle. The Government Accountability Project, a Washington-based group, received 27 reproaches from potential informants in the three months before September 11th, and 66 in the three months after. Many of these complaints were about security issues. They included a Federal Aviation Adnunistration employee who claimed that the agency had repeatedly failed to respond to known cases of security violations at airports.
Legislation to give greater protection to people who expose corporate or government misbehavior externally(after having received no satisfaction internally)is being introduced in a number of countries. In America, it focuses on informants among federal employees. According to Billy Garde, a lawyer who was a member of BP's Alaska inquiry team, they "have less rights than prisoners". A bill introduced last year by Senator Daniel Akaka to improve protection for them is currently stuck in congressional committees.
In Britain, the Public Interest Disclosure Act came fully into force last year. Described by one American as "the most far-reaching informant protection in the world", it treats informants as witnesses acting in the public interest. This separates them from people who are merely pursuing a personal grievance. But even in Britain, the protection is limited. Rupert Walker, a fund manager, was fired by Govett Investments in September 2001 for expressing concerns in the Financial Times about a group of people of investment trusts that invest in each other.
单选题 What does the author most probably think about what the ACCC did to the woman?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】首段列举发生在ACCC和那名妇女之间的例子是为了说明该段主题，即首句。开始的时候，那名妇女匿名举报，就是害怕暴露身份，但当时她仍然相信ACCC能按照她提供的证据采取相应的措施，可是ACCC却大登广告，这无异于暴露了这名妇女的身份特征，虽然ACCC可能因为要取得更多的证据才这样做，但它没有考虑到保护证人安全的重要性，这使那名妇女失去了对它的信任，不敢再与其合作，由此可见，选项B为本题答案。
单选题 By saying "more inclined to blow the whistle"(Line 2, Para. 2), the author means that people are more ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】第2段首句是该段的主题句，通过对比9．11事件前后举报者的数字可以知道，该段的主题是为了说明美国人更乐意揭发不法行为，由此可推断，选项B为本题答案。
单选题 It can be inferred that the Federal Aviation Administration employee ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】作者在第2段末句提到航空管理局的雇员，是为了举例说明该段倒数第2句，由此可推断，该雇员经历了9．11事件之后，出于对公众安全问题的关注，他把雇主的不当行为举报给政府职责促进会，由此可见，选项C为本题答案。
单选题 According to the third paragraph, informants among the American federal employees ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】第3段末句表明虽然美国加强保护举报人的法案已经提出，但是未能在国会委员会通过，也就是说，对举报人的保护还是跟以前一样，因此选项D为正确的说法。
单选题 Britain's protection to informants is not perfect in that ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】末段一开始说的都是英国举报人保护法的好处，第4句开头的but这一转折连词表明接下来的才是其缺点，由此可见，答案应在第4句及其后寻找，第5句提到举报人可能因为举报而遭解雇，选项C就表达了这个意思。