Text 1

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.

41. 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

42. 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

43. 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

44. 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

45. Straitford is most proud of its ________.

[A] official status

[B] nonconformist image

[C] efficient staff

[D] military background

Text 2

To paraphrase 18th-century statesman Edmund Burke, “all that is needed for the triumph of a misguided cause is that good people do nothing.” One such cause now seeks to end biomedical research because of the theory that animals have rights ruling out their use in research. Scientists need to respond forcefully to animal rights advocates, whose arguments are confusing the public and thereby threatening advances in health knowledge and care. Leaders of the animal rights movement target biomedical research because it depends on public funding, and few people understand the process of health care research. Hearing allegations of cruelty to animals in research settings, many are perplexed that anyone would deliberately harm an animal.

For example, a grandmotherly woman staffing an animal rights booth at a recent street fair was distributing a brochure that encouraged readers not to use anything that comes from or is tested in animals—no meat, no fur, no medicines. Asked if she opposed immunizations, she wanted to know if vaccines come from animal research. When assured that they do, she replied, “Then I would have to say yes.” Asked what will happen when epidemics return, she said, “Don’t worry, scientists will find some way of using computers.” Such well-meaning people just don’t understand.

Scientists must communicate their message to the public in a compassionate, understandable way -- in human terms, not in the language of molecular biology. We need to make clear the connection between animal research and a grandmother’s hip replacement, a father’s bypass operation, a baby’s vaccinations, and even a pet’s shots. To those who are unaware that animal research was needed to produce these treatments, as well as new treatments and vaccines, animal research seems wasteful at best and cruel at worst.

Much can be done. Scientists could “adopt” middle school classes and present their own research. They should be quick to respond to letters to the editor, lest animal rights misinformation go unchallenged and acquire a deceptive appearance of truth. Research institutions could be opened to tours, to show that laboratory animals receive humane care. Finally, because the ultimate stakeholders are patients, the health research community should actively recruit to its cause not only well-known personalities such as Stephen Cooper, who has made courageous statements about the value of animal research, but all who receive medical treatment. If good people do nothing, there is a real possibility that an uninformed citizenry will extinguish the precious embers of medical progress.

46. The author begins his article with Edmund Burke’s words to ________.

[A] call on scientists to take some actions

[B] criticize the misguided cause of animal rights

[C] warn of the doom of biomedical research

[D] show the triumph of the animal rights movement

47. Misled people tend to think that using an animal in research is ________.

[A] cruel but natural

[B] inhuman and unacceptable

[C] inevitable but vicious

[D] pointless and wasteful

48. The example of the grandmotherly woman is used to show the public’s ________.

[A] discontent with animal research

[B] ignorance about medical science

[C] indifference to epidemics

[D] anxiety about animal rights

49. The author believes that, in face of the challenge from animal rights advocates, scientists should ________.

[A] communicate more with the public

[B] employ hi-tech means in research

[C] feel no shame for their cause

[D] strive to develop new cures

50. From the text we learn that Stephen Cooper is ________.

[A] a well-known humanist

[B] a medical practitioner

[C] an enthusiast in animal rights

[D] a supporter of animal research

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