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2003 Text 1

第一段

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.

  • would have done → 本来将会做某事，但是实际上并没有！（常识：二战时期没有互联网）
  • spymaster → 间谍大师
  • laid → vt. 放；铺设；安排（lay 的过去分词）
  • roots → 根，根源
  • lay the roots for ... → 为 ... 打下基础
  • fascinated with ... → 对 ... 着迷
  • come to hand → 在手，到手
  • espionage → 间谍活动
  • pastimes → n. 消遣，娱乐
  • vocation → n. 职业，行业

第二段

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.

  • spying → 间谍活动
  • spooks → n. 间谍，行踪秘密的人；幽灵
  • compile → v. 汇编，汇集，收集
  • margin → n. 幅度，差额

第三段

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

  • corporations → n. 公司，企业（corporation 的复数）

第四段

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 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.

  • mutually → adv. 相互地，双方地
  • reinforce → v. 加固，加强；增强
  • vacuum → v. 用真空吸尘器吸（文中指“把信息像用吸尘器吸过来一样地收集起来”）
  • former → 以前的，之前的
  • tell ... from ... → 将 ... 和 ... 区别开
  • earns one's keep → 谋生
  • keep → n. 生活费用，生活必需品

第五段

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.

  • lean → 精简的，效率高的
  • see A as B → 把 A 看成 B
  • brief → n. 简报，摘要
  • back-and-forthing → 来回，闪烁其词
  • dramatic → adj. 惹人注意的，给人深刻印象的；戏剧性的；巨大的，急剧的

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

  • emergence → n. 出现，显现；崭露头角；摆脱困境
  • restored → v. 修复；恢复健康（restore 的过去式与过去分词）
  • revived → v. 使复活，使恢复；重新振兴（revive 的过去式）
  • 原文中是虚拟的表达，混淆真假
  • 同义改写
  • 修改了原文的单词，偷换概念
  • 修改了原文的单词，偷换概念

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

  • fought → v. 战斗；打架（fight 的过去分词）
  • episode → n. 一段经历，一段时期；（电视剧或广播剧的）集，一集

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

  • fairly → adv. 相当地，颇；公平地
  • 无中生有
  • 绝对化的词，过度推理
  • 混淆概念
  • 正确

25

Straitford is most proud of its

[A] official status

[B] nonconformist image

[C] efficient staff

[D] military background

  • 本题不认识单词只能用排除法
  • nonconformist → adj. 不墨守成规的，不遵循主流思想的
  • 错误
  • 正确答案
  • 不匹配，答非所问
  • 原文是有几个，并且没说是骄傲的点

单词记忆

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