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.
Straifford 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 'sswheresStraitford earns its keep.
Friedman relies on a lean staff 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.
BACDB
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.”O(jiān)ne 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 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's 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.
ABBAD
Text 3
In recent years, railroads have been combining with each other, mergingsintossuper systems, causing heightened concerns about monopoly. As recently as 1995,the top four railroads accounted for under 70 percent of the total ton-miles moved by rails. Next year, after a series of mergers is completed, just four railroads will control well over 90 percent of all the freight moved by major rail carriers.
Supporters of the new super systems argue that these mergers will allow for substantial cost reductions and better coordinated service. Any threat of monopoly, they argue, is removed by fierce competition from trucks. But many shippers complain that for heavy bulk commodities traveling long distances, such as coal, chemicals, and grain, trucking is too costly and the railroads therefore have them by the throat.
The vast consolidation within the rail industry means that most shippers are served by only one rail company. Railroads typically charge such“captive”shippers 20 to 30 percent more than they do when another railroad is competing for the business. Shippers who feel they are being overcharged have the right to appeal to the federal government's Surface Transportation Board for rate relief, but the process is expensive, time consuming, and will work only in truly extreme cases.
Railroads justify rate discrimination against captive shippers on the grounds that in the long run it reduces everyone's cost. If railroads charged all customers the same average rate, they argue, shippers who have the option of switching to trucks or other forms of transportation would do so, leaving remaining customers to shoulder the cost of keeping up the line. It's theory to which many economists subscribe, but in practice it often leaves railroads in the position of determining which companies will flourish and which will fail.“Do we really want railroads to be the arbiters of who wins and who loses in the marketplace?”asks Martin Bercovici, a Washington lawyer who frequently represents shipper.
Many captive shippers also worry they will soon be his with a round of huge rate increases. The railroad industry as a whole, despite its brightening fortuning fortunes. still does not earn enough to cover the cost of the capital it must invest to keep up with its surging traffic. Yet railroads continue to borrow billions to acquire one another, with Wall Street cheering them on. Consider the .2 billion bid by Norfolk Southern and CSX to acquire Conrail this year. Conrail's net railway operating income in 1996 was just million, less than half of the carrying costs of the transaction. Who's going to pay for the rest of the bill? Many captive shippers fear that they will, as Norfolk Southern and CSX increase their grip on the market.
51.According to those who support mergers railway monopoly is unlikely because
A. cost reduction is based on competition.
B. services call for cross-trade coordination.
C. outside competitors will continue to exist.
D. shippers will have the railway by the throat.
52.What is many captive shippers' attitude towards the consolidation in the rail industry?
Straifford 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 'sswheresStraitford earns its keep.
Friedman relies on a lean staff 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.
BACDB
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.”O(jiān)ne 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 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's 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.
ABBAD
Text 3
In recent years, railroads have been combining with each other, mergingsintossuper systems, causing heightened concerns about monopoly. As recently as 1995,the top four railroads accounted for under 70 percent of the total ton-miles moved by rails. Next year, after a series of mergers is completed, just four railroads will control well over 90 percent of all the freight moved by major rail carriers.
Supporters of the new super systems argue that these mergers will allow for substantial cost reductions and better coordinated service. Any threat of monopoly, they argue, is removed by fierce competition from trucks. But many shippers complain that for heavy bulk commodities traveling long distances, such as coal, chemicals, and grain, trucking is too costly and the railroads therefore have them by the throat.
The vast consolidation within the rail industry means that most shippers are served by only one rail company. Railroads typically charge such“captive”shippers 20 to 30 percent more than they do when another railroad is competing for the business. Shippers who feel they are being overcharged have the right to appeal to the federal government's Surface Transportation Board for rate relief, but the process is expensive, time consuming, and will work only in truly extreme cases.
Railroads justify rate discrimination against captive shippers on the grounds that in the long run it reduces everyone's cost. If railroads charged all customers the same average rate, they argue, shippers who have the option of switching to trucks or other forms of transportation would do so, leaving remaining customers to shoulder the cost of keeping up the line. It's theory to which many economists subscribe, but in practice it often leaves railroads in the position of determining which companies will flourish and which will fail.“Do we really want railroads to be the arbiters of who wins and who loses in the marketplace?”asks Martin Bercovici, a Washington lawyer who frequently represents shipper.
Many captive shippers also worry they will soon be his with a round of huge rate increases. The railroad industry as a whole, despite its brightening fortuning fortunes. still does not earn enough to cover the cost of the capital it must invest to keep up with its surging traffic. Yet railroads continue to borrow billions to acquire one another, with Wall Street cheering them on. Consider the .2 billion bid by Norfolk Southern and CSX to acquire Conrail this year. Conrail's net railway operating income in 1996 was just million, less than half of the carrying costs of the transaction. Who's going to pay for the rest of the bill? Many captive shippers fear that they will, as Norfolk Southern and CSX increase their grip on the market.
51.According to those who support mergers railway monopoly is unlikely because
A. cost reduction is based on competition.
B. services call for cross-trade coordination.
C. outside competitors will continue to exist.
D. shippers will have the railway by the throat.
52.What is many captive shippers' attitude towards the consolidation in the rail industry?