单选题 Wild Bill Donovan would have loved the Internet. The American spymaster who built the Office of Strategic Services in the World War II and later laid the roots for the CIA was fascinated with information. Donovan believed in using whatever tools came to hand in the "great game" of espionage—spying as a "profession". These days the Net, which has already remade pastimes as buying books and sending mail, is reshaping Donovan's vocation as well. The last revolution isn't simply a matter of gentlemen reading other gentlemen's e-mail. That kind of electronic spying has been going on for decades. In the past three or four years, the World Wide Web has given birth to a whole industry of point-and-click spying. The spooks call it "open source intelligence", and as the Net grows, it is becoming increasingly influential. In 1995 the CIA held a contest to see who could compile the most data about Burundi. The winner, by a large margin, was a tiny Virginia company called Open-Source Solutions, whose clear advantage was its mastery of the electronic world. Among the firms making the biggest splash in the new world is Straitford, Inc., a private intelligence-analysis firm based in Austin, Texas. Straitford makes money by selling the results of spying(covering nations from Chile to Russia)to corporations like energy-services firm McDermott International. Many of its predictions are available online at www.straitford.com. Straiford president George Friedman says he sees the online world as a kind of mutually reinforcing tool for both information collection and distribution, a spymaster's dream. Last week his firm was busy vacuuming up data bits from the far corners of the world and predicting a crisis in Ukraine. "As soon as that report runs, we'll suddenly get 500 new internet sign-ups from Ukraine," says Friedman, a former pplitical science professor. "And we'll hear back from some of them." Open-source spying does have its risks, of course, since it can be difficult to tell good information from bad. That's where Straitford earns its keep. Friedman relies on a lean staff with twenty in Austin. Several of his staff members have military- intelligence backgrounds. He sees the firm's outsider status as the key to its success. Straitford's briefs don't sound like the usual Washington back-and-forthing, whereby agencies avoid dramatic declarations on the chance they might be wrong. Straitford, says Friedman, takes pride in its independent voice.
单选题 The emergence of the Net has______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析:本题可参照文章的第1段。从中可知,美国的间谍头子Donovan对收集情报非常痴迷。他认为,在职业间谍活动这一伟大事业中,可以利用任何可以利用的工具;互联网已经彻底改变了人们的一些日常消遣活动,比如买书、发送邮件,如今它也正在重新塑造着Donovan的事业。据此可知,网络改变了其智能服务。B项与文章意思相符,因此B项为正确答案。
单选题 Donovan's story is mentioned in the text to______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析:本题可参照文章的第1段。从中可知,Donovan一定会喜欢互联网,这位在第二次世界大战中建立了战略情报局且后来又为中央情报局的建立奠定基础的美国间谍头子对收集情报非常痴迷;Donovan认为,在这种间谍活动——刺探情报作为一种“职业”——的“绝妙游戏”中,应该利用可以利用的一切手段。据此可知,文中提到Donovan的故事是为了介绍在网上从事间谍活动这一话题。A项与文章的意思相符,因此A项为正确答案。
单选题 The phrase "making the biggest splash"(Line 1, Para. 3)most probably means______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:从文章第2段的后半部分可知,1995年,中央情报局曾经举办过一次比赛,结果以绝对优势赢得比赛的是弗吉尼亚的一家小公司,名叫“开源信息咨询公司”,它的明显优势就是对电子世界的把握;从第3段的内容可知,在这个领域中最成功的公司之一是Straitford有限公司,这是一家位于得克萨斯州奥斯汀市的私营情报分析公司,它通过向一些公司出售间谍情报谋取利润。据此可知,making the biggest splash最可能的意思应该是——“成就最大的”。C项与文章的意思相符,因此C项为正确答案。
单选题 It can be learned from Paragraph 4 that______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:从文章第4段的内容可知,Straitford公司总裁George Friedman把网络世界看成是一种信息收集和发布的互动工具,是超级间谍的天堂;上周,他的公司就忙着从世界各地收集信息,以便预测乌克兰可能发生的危机;“一旦情报传播开,我们将立刻得到500条来自乌克兰的最新的网上消息,然后从中进行筛选,”曾是政治学教授的Friedman说。当然,这种公开渠道的间谍活动也担有风险,因为很难区分情报的真假,而这正是Straitford公司生存发展的立足点。据此可知,Straitford能够兴旺的原因就是它能够辨别并提供真实的信息。D项与文章的意思相符,因此D项为正确答案。
单选题 Straitford is most proud of its______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析:本题可参照文章的最后一段。从中可知,Friedman依靠的是奥斯汀的20名员工中的少数几个人。他的员工中有几名有军事情报背景。他把公司“局外人”的状况看成是其成功的关键。Straitford公司的情报简讯不像华盛顿的那样扑朔迷离,因为政府机构避免发表惹人注目的言论,以防出错;Friedman说,Straitford公司以其与众不同的言论而自豪。由此可知:Straitford引以为豪的就是它不受约束。B项与文章的意思相符,因此B项为正确答案。