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 re-made such everyday pastimes as buying books and sending mail, is reshaping Donovan's vocation as well.

　　The latest 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 this 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.

　　Straitford 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 political 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 of 20 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.

　　21. The emergence of the Net has ¬¬

　　[A] received support from fans like Donovan.

　　[B] remolded the intelligence services. 　

　　[C] restored many common pastimes.

　　[D] revived spying as a profession.

　　22. Donovan's story is mentioned in the text to

　　[A] introduce the topic of online spying.

　　[B] show how he fought for the U.S.

　　[C] give an episode of the information war.

　　[D] honor his unique services to the CIA.

　　23. The phrase “making the biggest splash” (Line 1, Paragraph 3)most probably means

　　[A] causing the biggest trouble.

　　[B] exerting the greatest effort.

　　[C] achieving the greatest success.

　　[D] enjoying the widest popularity.

　　24. It can be learned from paragraph 4 that

　　[A] Straitford's prediction about Ukraine has proved true.

　　[B] Straitford guarantees the truthfulness of its information.

　　[C] Straitford's business is characterized by unpredictability.

　　[D] Straitford is able to provide fairly reliable information.

　　25. Straitford is most proud of its

　　[A] official status.

　　[B] nonconformist image.

　　[C] efficient staff.

　　[D] military background.

　　名师解析

　　21. The emergence of the Net has 网络的出现已经

　　[A] received support from fans like Donovan. 得到了多诺文这样的爱好者的支持。

　　[B] remolded the intelligence services. 重新塑造了情报业。　

　　[C] restored many common pastimes. 恢复了许多常见的娱乐活动。

　　[D] revived spying as a profession. 使情报业成为一个职业。

　　【答案】 B

　　【考点】 事实细节题。

　　【分析】 第一段最后一句话“These days the Net, which has remade such everyday pastimes as buying books and sending mail，is reshaping Donovan’s vocation as well.”从上文中我们已经得知“Donovan’s vocation”指的就是“spying”(间谍)，也就是“intelligence services”(情报行业)。关键在于对“reshape”一词的理解，它的含义是“重新塑造”。[B]其实就是原文的另一种表述方式。“remold”就是“reshape”的意思，都表示“重新塑造，改造”。干扰项“revive”的意思是“(使)苏醒, (使)复兴, (使)复活, (使)再生效, 回想”，言下之意是将某一样已灭亡或已很脆弱的东西重新复活或者复兴。而第一段并没有提到间谍行业曾经消失的信息，从第二段中我们了解到互联网推动了情报行业的发展，也没有找到任何关于情报行业曾经中断的内容，所以[D]的说法是不正确的。[C]“restore”的含义是“使恢复, 使回复”，言下之意是将原来不完整的或者破碎的东西给复原。原文中没有提到。[A]的错误在于对第一句话的误读。“would have loved”表示虚拟语气，是对当时情况的一种假设，而这种假设的情况在当时是不存在的。这句话的真实意思是：如果“疯狂的Bill Donovan还在世的话，他会爱上互联网的”。可见“Donovan”在世的时候并没有互联网，所以[A]将“Donovan”说成是“互联网的爱好者”的说法是错误的。

　　22. Donovan’s story is mentioned in the text to 本文提到多诺文的故事是为了

　　[A] introduce the topic of online spying. 引出网络间谍这个话题。

　　[B] show how he fought for the U.S.. 显示多诺文如何为美国效力的。

　　[C] give an episode of the information war. 提供情报战的一个片断。

　　[D] honor his unique services to the CIA. 表彰他为中情局所作的独特贡献。

　　【答案】 A

　　【考点】 作者意图题。

　　【分析】 本文提到比尔•多诺文只有第一段，而文章的中心思想讲的是“情报工作”和“互联网”的关系，以及“情报工作”在网络时代的巨大变化等等。由此不难看出，多诺文作为一个间谍只是为文章展开讨论前提供了一个引子，因此[A]为正确答案。

相关文章>>>>>>

实战演练：名师解析考研英语阅读理解真题（一）

实战演练：名师解析考研英语阅读理解真题（二）

实战演练：名师解析考研英语阅读理解真题（三）