考研英语阅读理解分析
Directions:
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing [A], [B], [C] or [D]. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)
Text 1
Wild Bill Donovan would have loved the Inter net. 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 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.
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.
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 US
[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
一、文章结构总体分析
这是一篇说明性的文章,介绍了互联网技术给间谍工作带来的变化。该文章独特之处在于整篇文章主要引用斯特雷福公司为典型例子,说明互联网对间谍工作带来的影响。文章通俗易懂,论证特点是夹叙夹议。
第一段:以著名间谍比尔•多诺汶为引子,段尾提出文章的主题:互联网正在改变谍报工作。
第二、三段:进一步说明互联网促使了一种新的情报行业的诞生,运用这种互联网技术可以获取更多的情报。接着文章以斯特雷福公司为典型事例,说明很多公司在这一趋势中获益。在写作手法上,以时间顺序为主线,利用例证法说明段落主题。
第四、五段:文章依然以斯特雷福公司为典型事例,通过引用该公司董事长的话,介绍了该公司的一些经营管理理念,总结了该公司的许多成功的经验。
二、试题具体分析
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
21. 互联网出现后 。
[A] 得到了多诺汶这样的网迷的支持
[B] 改变了情报收集工作
[C] 恢复了许多平常的消遣活动
[D] 使谍报复兴成为一个职业
[答案] B
[解析] 本题考核的知识点是:事实细节题。
关于A选项,文章第一句指出,若Wild Bill Donovan还在世的话,他会爱上互联网的,即一定会利用它来进行情报工作。句子使用的是虚拟语气(would have loved),这说明多诺汶在世时并没有互联网。而且我们从文章的后面的几句话也能证实这一论断,因此,多诺汶是互联网的爱好者的说法是错误的。关于B选项,文章第一段结尾指出:“These days the Net, which has already re-made pastimes as buying books and sending mail, is reshaping Donovan’s vocation as well.”。其中的“Donovan’s vocation”指的就是“intelligence services”(情报工作)。此外,解答本题的另一个关键是对“reshape”一词的理解,它的含义是“recast,remold”即“改造,给···以新形式”,因此B选项为正确答案。
选择D选项的考生在于对“reshape”和“revive”的词义差别区分不清。这里的“revive”是主要意义是“to come or bring back into use or existence”(<使>恢复,<使>复兴,<使>复归使用),暗含的意思是某事物已经不存在或已经丧失作用。在第一段中并没有谈到间谍行业曾经消失的信息。在第二段中,我们知道互联网的出现推动了情报行业的发展,也没有找到任何有关情报行业曾经中断的信息。而选项C所对应的原文是“re-made pastimes as buying books and sending mail”,意思是:互联网改变了人们的日常生活方式,如买书,发邮件等。考生要注意区别“restore”和“re-make”的含义。原文中的“re-make”的含义是“re-create”(改变,重新创造)。即重新创造一种消遣方式:人们现在足不出户,通过网络就可以实现购书或发电子邮件。这当然不是恢复平常的消遣活动。
知识点补充:re-是个常见的前缀,表示“再,重新”,该题中涉及到的词汇都和这个前缀有关。restore的含义主要有:①bring back into existence or use;reestablish(使恢复存在或使用;重新建立);②bring back to an original condition(使回到原来的状态);③put (someone) back in a former position(使复职,把(某人)放回原来地位)。
22. Donovan’s story is mentioned in the text to .
[A] introduce the topic of online spying
[B] show how he fought for the US
[C] give an episode of the information war
[D] honor his unique services to the CIA
22. 文中提到多诺汶的故事是为了 。
[A] 为网上谍报这个话题提供开头
[B] 展示多诺汶是如何为美国效力的
[C] 提供信息战的一个片断
[D] 表彰他为中情局所做出的杰出贡献
[答案] A
[解析] 本题考核的知识点是:作者意图题。
题干要求考生识别作者的写作意图。回答本题时,考生需要从整段或全文的角度去考虑。作者在写文章时举出某一个具体的例子来表达他所要表达的观点。在解答文章的主旨题时要注意充分利用文章中提到的细节,读懂了这些细节,弄清了文章的篇章结构有助于把握文章的主旨,反过来,了解文章的大致主题和观点也可以帮助我们吃透细节。
本文只在第一段提到比尔·多诺汶,其余部分讨论的都是情报工作在互联网时代的巨大变化,以及它面临的机会和挑战。文章列举司特雷福公司的例子去说明互联网为谍报工作提供了巨大的可能性,因此文章的中心议题是情报工作和互联网的关系。多诺汶作为一个大间谍只是为文章展开讨论前提供了一个引子,因此A选项为正确答案。其他B、C、D选项虽然可能都与多诺汶的生平事迹有关,但是与文章主题无关,因此都不正确。
23. The phrase “making the biggest splash” (line 1, paragraph3) most probably means .
[A] causing the biggest trouble
[B] exerting the greatest effort
[C] achieving the greatest success
[D] enjoying the widest popularity
23. 段落中的“making the biggest splash”(第三段第一行)最可能的意思是 。
[A] 引起最大的麻烦
[B] 做出最大的努力
[C] 取得最大的成功
[D] 受到最广泛的欢迎
[答案] C
[解析] 本题考核的知识点是:词义题。
题干要求考生根据上下文猜测短语。文章第二段谈到,在互联网时代对“公开来源情报”的收集具有越来越重要的影响,中央情报局也对它十分重视。然后第三段又列举了“司特雷福公司”这个典型的例子,说它是在这个领域的佼佼者。making the biggest splash的含义是“to create a forceful, favorable, and noticeable effect”,即创造一种强有力的、良好的和引人注意的效果,也就是取得了最大的成功,而不是“引起最大的麻烦”。
此外,如果司特雷福公司“做出最大努力”而未取得成功,它也不会成为一个典型例子,因此B选项也是错误的。D选项在文中根本没有提及。
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
24. 从文章第四段推论出其中的暗示是 。
[A] 斯特雷福公司关于乌克兰的预测已经被证实
[B] 斯特雷福公司保证它提供的信息的真实性
[C] 斯特雷福公司公司的业务特征是不可预测性
[D] 斯特雷福公司能够提供相当可靠的信息
[答案] D
[解析] 本题考核的知识点是:推理引申题。
第四段的主要内容是:Friedman将互联网作为一个双向的工具,既用来收集信息,又用来发布信息。然后以Ukraine的例子说明网络互动的实际作用。该段的最后两句指出:公开来源的谍报活动有它的风险,因为情报的真伪难辨。司特雷福公司就是靠辨别情报的真伪吃饭的。这就暗示司特雷福公司能够提供相当可靠的情报,因此,D选项为正确选项。
B选项的说法太绝对,因为司特雷福公司既然担有风险,它就不能够保证信息100%可靠。从常理上来说,这也是不可能的。A选项的说法没有根据,因为司特雷福公司只是对乌克兰的局势作出了预测,但没有提到预测已经被证实是真的。文章只提到一旦信息被公布,会收到一些人的反馈。C选项的说法在文中也找不到根据,因为文中只提到司特雷福公司提供的信息具有不可预测的特点,并不是说它的业务也有不可预测的特征。
知识点补充:reliable(可靠的、可信赖的)的近义词有:dependable,responsible, trustworthy,trusty。这些词的中心含义都是“worthy of reliance or trust”(值得依赖和信任)。
25. Straitford is most proud of its .
[A] official status
[B] nonconformist image
[C] efficient staff
[D] military background
25. 司特雷福公司最引以自豪的是 。
[A] 官方地位
[B] 不随大流的形象
[C] 它的有效率的员工
[D] 它的军方背景
[答案] B
[解析] 本题考核的知识点是:事实细节题。
文章最后一句直接指出,司特雷福公司对其“independent voice(独立的声音)”感到自豪。与其他公司不同,司特雷福公司避免外界的左右。公司不同于政府,它具有“outsider(局外人)”的地位,不对官方的腔调随声附和,可以独立地宣称自己的主张,因此它给人的印象是“不随大流的形象”,这也就是它引以为豪的地方。虽然公司某些员工来自军事情报机构,但是公司本身并不附属于军方,因此D选项不正确;C选项在文中也找不到依据。
知识点补充:nonconformist中前缀non-表示“非,不”,conformist原来的含义是指“宗教上遵奉国教”,引伸义是“墨守陈规者”,noncomformist的含义包括“非国教徒,不墨守成规的(人)”。
三、试题命制分析
考点设计点评:
命题专家设置的5道试题考查的范围覆盖了全文,既考查了考生理解具体信息的能力,也考查了考生推测词义、推理引申的能力。文章写作方法上的突出特点是使用了例证法,因此试题多以例子出题,包括比尔•多诺汶的例子(已考)、来源公开策略公司、斯特雷福公司的例子。(参见补充考点中第1和第2题)。从语言角度讲,该篇文章通俗易懂,难度不是很大,语言较新,虽然存在个别生词,但考生都可以通过上下文猜测出词义(参见原考题第3题和补充考点第3题)。此外,从命题的角度来看,还可以命制文章主旨题和作者观点态度题,如:第二段第一句话就可以作为词义句意考点。
补充考点:
(1)The author mentioned CIA’s contest to show that .
[A] CIA was eager to know who was able to get as much information about Burundi as possible
[B] Open-Source Solutions is a very successful company in information collection
[C] electronic spying isn’t something new
[D] Open-Source Solutions’ success is an old story
(2) Straiford is cited .
[A] as a success in the mastery of the electronic world
[B] as a successful spying agency
[C] to show how the Net influences the spying vocation
[D] to show the importance of being independent of government
(3) The phrase “earns its keep” (last line, paragraph 4) most probably means .
[A] keeps its leading position [B] makes profits
[C] takes risks [D] sticks to the task
(4) The best title for the passage might be .
[A] Spying: an Information War
[B] Internet Changes the World
[C] The Success of Intelligence-Analysis Agencies
[D] Spying in the New Age
参考答案:(1)C (2)A (3)B (4)D
四、文章长难句分析与佳句赏析
长难句分析:
①The 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.
这个句子的特点是定语从句中含有两个并列的分句。该句子的主干是:The American spymaster...was fascinated with information,主语后是 who 引导的定语从句,对其修饰限制。定语从句中由and连接的两个分句是:built the Office …和laid the roots …。搭配be fascinated with意为“对…着迷”,lay the roots for意为“为…打下基础”。
②Donovan believed in using whatever tools came to hand in the “great game” of espionage—spying as a “profession”.
句子主干是Donovan believed in using...,其中using的宾语是关系代词whatever引导的宾语从句:whatever tools came to hand。in the “great game” of espionage做状语成分,破折号后的内容spying as a “profession”是对espionage的进一步解释说明。固定短语come to hand意为“到手”。
补充:whatever和它一类的疑问代词(whichever,whoever,whomever)除了有一般代词的用法外,还可以做关系代词,相当于any thing(s) that,any one(s) that,any person(s) who。如:He did whatever he could do.(他做了他能做的任何事)。
③The winner, by a large margin, was a tiny Virginia company called Open-Source Solutions, whose clear advantage was its mastery of the electronic world.
该句的特点是多重定语。句子主干是The winner... was a tiny Virginia company...,主语和谓语之间插入了by a large margin做状语。表语a tiny Virginia company 后是第一层定语,由called过去分词对其进行修饰,第二层定语是whose 引导的非限定性定语从句,修饰solutions。
④Straitford makes money by selling the results of spying (covering nations from Chile to Russia) to corporations like energy-services firm McDermott International.
句子主干是:Straitford makes money by selling...to...,其状语结构中含有一个复合结构:sell sth. to sb.。the results of spying 是sell 的直接宾语,括号中的现在分词短语做直接宾语的定语,对其补充说明;corporations是sell的间接宾语,介词结构like energy-services firm McDermott International做其定语。
⑤Straitford’s briefs don’t sound like the usual Washington back-and-forthing, whereby agencies avoid dramatic declarations on the chance they might be wrong.
该句子是由关系副词whereby引导的主从复合句。逗号前是主句,其主干是briefs don’t sound like back-and-forthing;关系副词whereby相当于by which,引导定语从句,修饰主句的宾语back-and-forthing,从句的主干是agencies avoid dramatic declarations。back and forth原是副词短语,意为“来回地”,文中将它动名词化了。表示“反复无常的语言,言辞躲闪”。
佳句赏析:
Among the firms making the biggest splash in the new world is Straitford, Inc, a private intelligence-analysis firm based in Austin, Texas.
句子中make the biggest splash or make a splash意思是“惹人注目,引起轰动”。“splash”(水花)极其形象地描述当时的场面。该短语形象生动,形神俱佳。又如:She has made quite a splash in literary circles with her first book.
五、核心词汇与超纲词汇
(1)spymaster(n.)间谍大王,间谍组织的首脑。该词的构词法是:名词+名词=名词,类似的词还有bottleneck(瓶颈),eyewitness(目击者),bookworm(蛀书虫,书呆子)等。
(2) espionage(n.)间谍活动
(3) spy (n.) 间谍;侦探;(v.) 当间谍,刺探;察觉,发现
(4) give birth to产生
(5) point-and-click整个词汇代指“电脑”或“网络”,它是用连字符连接的复合名词,其中point和click分别指使用电脑时的两个常用动作:“指到”和“点击”。类似的词有:coach-and-four(四马拉的大马车),forget-me-not(勿忘草)等。
(6) spook (n.) 鬼,幽灵;行踪秘密的人,间谍 (v.) 使害怕,惊吓
(7) intelligence (n.) 才智,智力;情报,情报部门,情报工作
(8) compile (v.) 编辑,汇编,编译,搜集
(9) margin (n.) 边缘,边界;页边空白;差额,尺度、数量或程度上的不同;by a large/ comfortable/wide margin 以较大的优势或悬殊 by a narrow margin 以微弱多数
(10)mutually(ad.)相互地, 彼此地;mutual (a.) 相互的, 彼此的
(11)reinforce(v.)增强,加强,增援,[心理学] 强化刺激法。re-前缀,意为“再,重新”,inforce是enforce(强制,加强)的变体。
(12)vacuum(n.)真空,真空吸尘器;(v.) (用真空吸尘器) 打扫,清理
(13)sign-up 是动词和副词通过连字符连接的复合名词,原来的动词短语是sign up(报名,注册),文中internet sign-up指的是“登陆网络发布信息”。这类复合名词变复数时通常把后一词变为复数。类似的词还有:hold-ups(拦截),stand-bys(蒡观者),go-betweens(媒介者, 中间人)等。
(14)earn one’s keep挣钱糊口,keep(n.)生计;照顾,管理;要塞
(15)lean(v.)斜,靠,依靠 (a.) 消瘦的,少量的,节约的
六、全文翻译
狂热的比尔·多诺汶(要是活着的话)肯定会喜欢网络。这位美国间谍大王对情报着迷,他曾经在第二次世界大战时建立了战略事务办公室,后来又为中央情报局(Central Intelligence Agency)的成立打下了基础(长难句①)。多诺汶相信,在谍报职业这个“大游戏”中可以使用任何手段。(长难句②)如今,互联网已经完全改变了买书和寄信这样的日常活动,也正在改变多诺汶曾经从事的这个职业。
最近的这次革命性的改变不仅仅是一个人偷看别人的电子邮件的问题,这样的电子间谍活动已经存在了数十年。在过去的三四年中,国际互联网已经派生出一个可称为点击谍报的完整的产业。间谍们把它称为“公开来源情报”。随着互联网的发展,它变得越来越有影响力。1995年美国中央情报局举办了一个竞赛,看谁能够收集到关于“布隆迪”最多的信息。胜者胜出了一大截,却是弗吉尼亚一家名为“公开来源解决方案”的小公司,它的明显优势是它对电子世界的把握(长难句③)。
在这个新的电子世界中最引起轰动的是一个叫司特雷福的公司,它是得克萨斯州奥斯汀市的一个私营的情报分析公司。(佳句)该公司的业务是将全球各个国家(从智利到俄罗斯)侦察而得到的情报销售给“麦克德莫国际”这样的能源公司。(长难句④)它的许多预测都可以从它的网站上www.straitford.com在线查阅。
该公司的总裁乔治·弗莱德曼说,他把网络世界视为情报收集和情报发布两方面相互增强的工具,是间谍大王的梦想。上周,他的公司正忙于从世界的偏僻角落里收集零散的信息,并预测在乌克兰将发生一场危机。“一旦这个报道发布,我们将从乌克兰突然新增500个用户登陆发布的信息,”弗莱德曼,一位前政治科学教授说,“我们将听到其中一些人的反馈。”当然公开来源的谍报活动的确有它的风险,因为很难区分正确与错误的信息。但这也正是司特雷福公司挣钱糊口的事业。
弗莱德曼在奥斯汀市依赖的是一个人数不多的雇员团体,其中几位有军事情报工作背景。他把公司的“局外人”地位视为它成功的关键。司特雷福公司的简报听上去不像华盛顿当局常常提供的躲闪的言辞,这些政府机构往往以此来避免发布引人注目的言论,因为这些言论可能出错(长难句⑤)。弗莱德曼说,司特雷福公司为其独立的声音而感到自豪。