阅读理解100-35

阿邱

This is a book you can imagine Alec Leamas, the miserable spook hero of “The Spy Who Came In From the Cold”, enjoying on the number 11 bus back to his dingy Hammersmith flat. “What do you think spies are: priests, saints, martyrs?” Leamas famously snarled. “They're a squalid procession of vain fools, traitors too, yes; pansies, sadists and drunkards, people who play cowboys and Indians to brighten their rotten lives.”

Plus ça change, apparently. “Curveball” offers a squalid and up-to-date procession of real-life fools, traitors and game-players seeking to brighten their rotten lives. Principal among them is an Iraqi chemical engineer who pitched up in Germany without a visa in 1999. He asked for political asylum and knew that he would greatly improve his chances of getting it if he could make himself interesting to the intelligence services. Which he did. Before long he had their rapt attention, as well as his own code name, Curveball.

Bob Drogin, a reporter on the Los Angeles Times, relates how over the next couple of years Curveball impressed his interrogators with his detailed knowledge of Iraq's chemical and biological weapons programmes. He spoke at length of such things as mobile laboratories that were being used to cook up lethal bugs. The Americans were desperate to have a look at him too. But the Germans fobbed off their rivals with transcripts and reports, blocking direct access to their prize informer.

Nevertheless, Curveball's story became an important part of the American government's case for invading Iraq. Information taken from his testimony cropped up in the National Intelligence Estimate of October 2002 (which maintained with “high confidence” that Iraq had chemical and biological weapons); in George Bush's state-of-the-union message in January 2003 (which included a reference to “mobile weapons labs designed to produce germ-warfare agents”); and in Colin Powell's presentation to the UN the following month (which featured computer-generated images of those mobile weapons labs, based on descriptions and drawings by Curveball).

But it was all rubbish. Curveball was a low-level drone and borderline nutcase with a gift for telling people what they wanted to hear. In the run-up to the war—despite the doubts expressed by some experts about Curveball's reliability—nobody bothered to check out his story properly. It was not until 2004, a year after the invasion of Iraq, that the CIA admitted that Curveball had foxed them. He “appears to be fabricating in this stream of reporting”, the burn notice read.

Mr Drogin points out that, in the aftermath of September 11th 2001, critics lambasted American intelligence for failing to “connect the dots that might have prevented the terrorist attacks”. What makes the Curveball case so dreadful, he reckons, is that this time they simply invented the dots. “If Curveball fused fact and fiction, others twisted and magnified his account in grotesque ways,” he concludes. “Time and again, bureaucratic rivalries, tawdry ambitions and spineless leadership proved more important than professional integrity.” You can just about hear old Alec Leamas muttering “Told you so.”

1. The hero (heroes) of the book “Curveball” is (are)_____
[A] Alec Leamas who severely criticizes the profession of spy.
[B]
a squalid procession of spies.

[C] an Iraqi chemical engineer named Curveball.
[D] the spies that work for CIA ahead of the Iraqi war.

2. Curveball successfully got political asylum in Germany because_____

[A] He was wanted by Americans.
[B] He was the principal of Iraq’s bio-chemical engineering project.

[C] He boasted of his adequate knowledge on Iraq’s information with full confidence.
[D] He succeeded in making the Germans believe that he was a reliable and useful informer.
3. Curveball’s reliability was not suspected despite some experts’ doubt because_____
[A] His knowledge of Iraq’s chemical and biological weapons programmes sounded true.
[B] He was good at providing information that catered to the demand of western governments.
[C] His story has been used in many important government reports.
[D] American intelligence neglected their duty.
4. The word “dots” (Line 4, Paragraph 6) most probably means _____
[A] points.
[B] marks.
[C] falsities.
[D] evidences.
5. By mentioning old Alec Leamas’ muttering “Told you so.”, the author implies that_____
[A] spies are good story teller.
[B] fact is often confused with fiction.
[C] people are easily trusting the spies.
[D] Alec Leams is more intelligent than Curveball.

阿邱

文章剖析：
这篇文章介绍了 Curveball成为间谍的内幕和骗局。第一段以Alec Leamas的言论引出对间谍的评价；第二、三段讲述Curveball是如何成为间谍的；第四段讲述Curveball的故事为美国重要报告所引用；第五段讲述Curveball的骗局；第六段分析了Curveball成功行骗的原因。

词汇注释：
spook n. 鬼，幽灵               dingy adj. 暗黑的，邋遢的
snarl v. 咆哮着说，怒骂          squalid adj. 下流的，卑鄙的
pansy n. 女性化的男子           sadist n. 虐待狂者       
asylum n. 避难所                fob off （用借口）把……对付掉       
drone n.         nutcase n. 疯子
lambast v. 严责
难句突破:
(1) He asked for political asylum and knew that he would greatly improve his chances of getting it if he could make himself interesting to the intelligence services.
[主体句式] He asked for…and knew that…
[结构分析] 这是一个并列句，后面分句结构较复杂。在该分句的宾语从句是一个带有条件状语从句的句子。
[句子译文] 他申请了政治庇护，而且他明白如果让情报机构对自己感兴趣的话，那么就可以增加申请成功的几率。

(2) Information taken from his testimony cropped up in the National Intelligence Estimate of October 2002 (which maintained with “high confidence” that Iraq had chemical and biological weapons); in George Bush's state-of-the-union message in January 2003 (which included a reference to “mobile weapons labs designed to produce germ-warfare agents”); and in Colin Powell's presentation to the UN the following month (which featured computer-generated images of those mobile weapons labs, based on descriptions and drawings by Curveball).
[主体句式] Information cropped up in…;in…; and in…
[结构分析] 这是一个简单句，状语是由三个并列的介词短语组成的；每个介词短语后面括号中是对前面名词的修饰；最后一个介词短语括号中，based on…过去分词短语是用来修饰前面的images。
[句子译文] 他证词中的信息出现在2002年10月国家情报评估中（该评估将伊拉克拥有化学和生物武器定为“高级机密”）；也出现在George Bush 2003年1月的国情咨文中（该国情咨文提到了“旨在培养细菌战药剂的活动武器实验室”）；还出现在次月Colin Powell 向联合国的陈词中（该陈词用电脑中的活动武器实验室的图像，这些都是基于Curveball的描述和绘画而制作出来的。）
题目分析：
1. The hero (heroes) of the book “Curveball” is (are)_____        “Curveball”的主人公是_____
[A] Alec Leamas who severely criticizes the profession of spy.        [A] 严厉斥责间谍行业的Alec Leamas。
[B] a squalid procession of spies.        [B] 一群卑鄙的间谍。
[C] an Iraqi chemical engineer named Curveball.        [C] 一个名叫Curveball的伊拉克化学工程师。
[D] the spies that work for CIA ahead of the Iraqi war.        [D] Bob Drogin。
[答案] B
[难度系数] ☆☆☆
[分析] 细节题。虽然文章整篇都在谈论Curveball，再加上书的名字，很容易让人以为该书的主人公是Curveball，但是文章第二段提到该书介绍了一群这样的间谍，只不过其中最主要的人物是Curveball而已。因此，答案为B选项。
2. Curveball successfully got political asylum in Germany because_____        2. Curveball在德国成功地得到了政治庇护是因为_____
[A] He was wanted by Americans.        [A] 美国人想要得到他。
[B] He was the principal of Iraq’s bio-chemical engineering project.        [B] 他是伊拉克生物化学工程项目的一名主管。
[C] He boasted of his adequate knowledge of Iraq’s information with full confidence.        [C] 他满怀信心地吹嘘自己对于伊拉克高级机密信息的充分了解。
[D] He succeeded in making the Germans believe that he was a reliable and useful informer.        [D] 他成功地让德国人相信他是一名可靠且有用的告密者。
[答案]D
[难度系数] ☆☆☆
[分析] 推理题。文章第二段提到，Curveball明白如果他能引起德方情报机构兴趣的话，他就能增加申请政治庇护的可能，最终他也成功了。文章第三段就提到他讲述了许多伊拉克的军事机密，让大家认为他很重要，但文章下面提到这些机密都是他捏造的。因此，他能成功得到庇护的原因就是让德国相信他有价值。选项中D最为符合题意。
3. Curveball’s reliability was not suspected despite some experts’ doubt because_____        3. 尽管一些专家表示过怀疑，但是Curveball的可靠性最终并没有受到怀疑是因为_____
[A] His knowledge of Iraq’s chemical and biological weapons programmes sounded true.        [A] 他对伊拉克化学、生物武器项目的了解听起来很真实。
[B] He was good at providing information that catered to the demand of western governments.        [B] 他善于为西方政府提供它们想要看到的信息。
[C] His story has been used in many important government reports.        [C] 他的故事在许多重要的政府报告中都被引用。
[D] American intelligence neglected their duty.        [D] 美国情报机构失职。
[答案]B
[难度系数] ☆☆
[分析] 推理题。第五段提到，Curveball的本领就是人们想要听到什么他就告诉什么，人们总是容易轻信自己潜意识中觉得可能的事情，他就是抓住了人们的这个特点进行欺骗的。所以虽然有一些专家表示怀疑，最终没有人去调查。因此，选项中B最为符合题意义。
4. The word “dots” (Line 1, Paragraph 6) most probably means _____        4. “dots” (第六段第一行) 最有可能的意思为_____
[A] points.        [A] 要点。
[B] marks.        [B] 记号。
[C] falsities.        [C] 谎言。
[D] evidences.        [D] 证据。
[答案]C
[难度系数] ☆☆☆
[分析] 猜词题。该词所在的原文为“What makes the Curveball case so dreadful, he reckons, is that this time they simply invented the dots”，从上下文可以分析得出Curveball提供的信息大部分都是纯粹的谎言，答案中C选项比较符合题意。该句的中文译文是“他承认使得Curveball事件这么可怕是因为这次他们自己捏造了这些疑点”。
5. By mentioning old Alec Leamas’ muttering “Told you so”, the author implies that_____        5. 作者提到老Alec Leamas嘟囔着说“告诉你吧”，他暗示_____
[A] spies are good story teller.        [A] 间谍们是最会编故事的人。
[B] fact is often confused with fiction.        [B] 事实经常和编造的故事混淆。
[C] people are easily trusting the spies.        [C] 人们总是容易轻信间谍。
[D] Alec Leamas is more intelligent than Curveball.        [D] Alec Leamas比Curveball更加聪明。
[答案]A
[难度系数] ☆☆☆☆
[分析] 推理题。文章最后以老Alec的这句话结束是带有总结性的意味的，“Told you so.”意思好像就是说这些都是告诉你的，并不一定是事实。而且话从一个间谍口中说出，其实就是说间谍是最会编造的人，因此，选项A最为符合题意。

阿邱

参考译文：
从这本书你可以想象AlecLeamas，这个《从寒冷而来的间谍》中幽灵式的主角坐着11路公共汽车，通往他那位于河北岸伦敦自治区的昏暗公寓。“你们觉得间谍是什么人？ 牧师？ 圣徒还是殉教者？” Leamas咆哮着，“他们不过是一群卑鄙的傻子，也是叛徒；还有女里女气的人、施虐狂和酒鬼，他们只是假扮牛仔或是印第安人来让他们腐烂的生活看起来光鲜一些。”
当然，这一切都已经变了。“Curveball” 展现给我们的是一群卑鄙的真实生活中的傻子、叛徒和游戏玩家，他们也在美化自己腐烂的生活。他们中的主角是一名伊拉克化学工程师，他于1999年在没有签证的情况下在德国扎根。他申请了政治庇护，而且他明白如果让情报机构对自己感兴趣的话，那么就可以增加申请成功的几率。他也这样做了。没过多久他就引起了情报机构的高度注意，也有了自己的代号——Curveball。
《洛杉矶时报》记者BobDrogin讲述了在过去的几年中，Curveball是如何通过详细描述伊拉克化学和生物武器项目，最终给审问他的人留下了深刻的印象。他详细地讲述了用来制造有毒细菌的活动实验室。美国人也急切地希望见到他。但是德国人用了一些转述和报告来应付他们的对手，这样美国人就不能与这个金牌告密者取得直接联系。
但是，Curvball的故事成为美国政府入侵伊拉克的重要组成部分。他证词中的信息出现在2002年10月国家情报评估中（该评估将伊拉克拥有化学和生物武器定为“高级机密”）；也出现在George Bush 2003年1月的国情咨文中（该国情咨文提到了“旨在培养细菌战药剂的活动武器实验室”）；还出现在次月Colin Powell 向联合国的陈词中（该陈词用电脑中的活动武器实验室的图像，这些都是基于Curveball的描述和绘画而制作出来的。）
但这些都是胡说八道。Curveball是一个低级的闲人，也是一个疯子，他的本领就是告诉大家希望听到的东西。尽管一些专家怀疑Curveball的可信度，但随着战争的升温，没人再去费心地查证他的故事了。直到2004年，也就是入侵伊拉克一年之后，中情局才承认Curveball愚弄了他们。他“好象在报道中捏造事实”， 欺骗通告这样写道。
Drogin先生指出，在2001年9月11日之后，批评家严厉地责骂美国情报机构没有“把疑点联系起来，本来还可以避免恐怖袭击的”。他承认Curveball事件的可怕在于这次他们自己捏造了这些疑点。“如果Curveball把事实和虚构混在了一起， 那么其他人则是以奇怪的方式把这些扭曲、放大了，”他总结道，“实践再次证明了官僚敌对、俗气的野心、没有骨气的领导要比专业的真正品质更为致命。” 你听，老Alec Leamas嘀咕着“告诉你吧。”

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很详细啊

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