单选题   Although the top men in smuggling business must work together, most of a syndicate's small fry, specially the mules, know only their immediate contacts. If caught there is little they can give away. A mule probably will not even know the name of the person who gives him his instructions, nor how to get in touch with him. Usually he even does not know the person to whom he has to make delivery. He will be told just to sit tight in a certain hotel or bar until someone contacts him. In this way if he is blown, coming through airport customs he cannot unwittingly lead agents to the next link in the chain.
    All that the person at the receiving end do is to hang around the airport among the waiting crowd, and see that the mule comes through safely. If he does not, he is dimply written off as a loss. To make identification of mules easier, several syndicates have devised their own 'club ties' so that a mule wearing one can immediately be picked out. Mules often receive careful training before embarking on their first journey. One Beirut organization, for example, uses a room with three airline seats in it. There the trainee mules sit for hours on end wearing weighted smuggling vests beneath their clothes, so that they become accustomed to standing up after a long flight in a natural way, and without revealing what they are carrying.
    An outfit in Brussels maintained a comfortable apartment where the mules could relax and get a firm grip on themselves on the night before their first journey; they were helped to dress before setting out for the airport in the morning. More often than not a courier will not know precisely where he is going or what flight number is until he is actually handed his tickets at the airport. This prevents the careless boast in some bar or to a girl friend the night before.
    Mules occasionally run off with the goods to keep the profit themselves. As insurance against this, a syndicate often sends a high-up on the same plane to keep a wary eye on couriers, particularly new ones. Even then things can go badly wrong. One international currency smuggler who was having trouble getting money out of Britain was offered help by a group of men who said they were in a position to 'fix thing'—for a fee of course. Foolishly, the smuggler agreed to accept their help. When he got to London's Heathrow Airport, he handed over to one of the men a black suitcase containing nearly $90,000 in cash, destined for Frankfurt. Just to keep an eye on things, the smuggler went along on the same plane. When they landed at Frankfurt he was handed back his suitcase. He beat a straight path to the men's toilet, opened the case, and found only old clothes. The courier had switched suitcase en route, but the smuggler could hardly run to the police and complain that 'the man who was smuggling money out of England for me has stolen it.'
单选题     How does a mule work? ______
 
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[参考译文] 虽然走私业务中的顶级人士必须共同努力，但大部分贩毒集团的小鱼苗，特别是骡子(走私集团交货人的称呼)，只知道他们的直接联系。如果被抓住，他们几乎也泄露不了什么。骡子可能甚至不知道给他指示的人的名字，也不知道如何与他取得联系。通常他甚至不知道他必须把货交给谁。他会被告知在某个酒店或酒吧静静等待，直到有人与他联系。这样，一旦在他通过机场检查处时出事，他不可能愚蠢地把检查事务官引到锁链的下一个环节。 接收端的所有人要做的就是待在机场的等候人群中，并且看着骡子安全通过。如果没能顺利通过，他就被悄悄地丢弃了。为了更容易识别骡子，几个集团设计了自己的“俱乐部领带”，以便可以立即找出系着领带的骡子。骡子在开始第一次旅行之前经常会受到精密的训练。例如，一个贝鲁特组织使用一个拥有三个航空公司座位的房间。那里，受训骡子连续坐几个小时，衣服里面穿着加重走私背心，通过这种方式让他们习惯在长时间的飞行后能够自然地站起来，而不会表现出他们携带着东西。 布鲁塞尔的一个贩毒集团有一个舒适的公寓，在那里骡子可以放松一下，并且第一次旅程之前的夜晚属于他们自己；他们早上出发去机场前会穿上走私背心。通常情况下，骡子不会准确地知道他要去哪里，或者航班号是多少，直到他真正地在机场拿到机票。这样避免了他在前一天晚上去一些酒吧自吹自擂泄露风声或去找他的女朋友。 骡子偶尔会跑掉货物来维护自己的利益。为了保证这一点，一个集团经常在同一架飞机上发出高层信号，以保持对骡子，特别是新骡子的警惕。即使这样，事情也会出现严重差错。有一个国际货币走私者在英国拿到资金时遇到困难，是由一群男子提供帮助的，他们说当时有能力“解决事情”。走私者愚蠢地同意接受他们的帮助。当他到达伦敦的希思罗机场时，他把一个黑色的手提箱交给了一个男人，这个手提包里装满了近9万美元的现金，然后去往法兰克福。只是为了确认交货，走私者登上了同一架飞饥。当他们到达法兰克福时，他移交了他的手提箱。他径直走到了男厕，打开箱子，只找到了旧衣服。骡子在途中转移了手提箱，但走私者几乎无法向警方投诉，并抱怨说：“为我从英格兰偷钱的人偷走了钱”。 细节题。根据题干意思，可定位到第一段第一句Although the top men in smuggling business must work together, most of a syndicate's small fry, specially the mules, know only their immediate contacts. 关键词know only意为“仅仅知道”，可知他们是各司其职。A选项中的“共同地”，B选项中的“独立地”及C选项中的“有意识地”都不符合文意。选项D意为“分开地”，较B选项“独立地”更符合文意，故选项D正确。
单选题     What is a 'mule'? ______
 
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】细节题。根据第一段的大意可知，mule既需要从上级接收命令，又需要把到手的货物送出去。所以C选项正确。A选项“是为走私集团运送走私货物的人”，但是他们只运送不交货，不能成为骡子，故A选项错误。B选项“负责走私货物的人”也不对，负责者不一定运送和交货。D选项“从走私者那里接受指示的人”更不对，故选项C正确。
单选题     The sentence 'if he is blown' is closest in meaning to ______.
 
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】含义题。blown原意为“欠账了的；被炸毁的；坏了”等。这里指走私分子在过海关时，在机场检查处出事，不一定被逮捕。A选项中的“逮捕”，C选项中的“认出，逮捕”以及D选项中的“逃跑”都不符合blown原意，故选项B正确。
单选题     Which of the following is true about mules? ______
 
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】细节题。因为文章都是围绕mule展开，所以题干中的关键词不能帮我们把答案锁定到唯一位置。所以，需要利用选项来筛选答案。A选项来自于第二段第三句，与文章意思相反，故不正确。B选项来自于第二段第六句，文章中没有提及mule是不是每天都需要穿很重的走私衣，故不正确。C选项来自于第二段第四句Mules often receive careful training before embarking on their first journey. D选项来自于第三段第一句，其信息与文章不符。故选项C正确。
单选题     Why does the author give an example in the last paragraph? ______
 
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】例汪题。答案来自于最后一段第一句Mules occasionally run off with the goods to keep the profit themselves. 即“骡子偶尔会跑掉货物来维护自己的利益。”故D选项正确。A选项“为了表明走私者如何被捕”，例子中没有提及。走私者不去警察局报案，并不一定是害怕警察局，而是报不了。故B选项错误。C选项中的“为了表明监督毫无用处”也不符合题意，故选项D正确。