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  3. A recent case in Australia shows how easily fear can frustrate an informant’

A recent case in Australia shows how easily fear can frustrate an informant’

游客2024-03-12  25
问题     A recent case in Australia shows how easily fear can frustrate an informant’s good intentions. In December, a woman wrote anonymously to the country’s antitrust watchdog, the ACCC, alleging that her employer was colluding with others in breach of the Trade Practices Act. Her evidence was sufficient to suggest to the ACCC that fines of A$10m could be imposed on "a large company". But the agency needed more details. So just before Christmas it advertised extensively to try and persuade the woman to come forward again. Some days later her husband rang the ACCC, but he hung up before disclosing vital information. Now the agency is trying to contact the couple again.
    In America, there is some evidence that the events of September 11th have made people more public-spirited and more inclined to blow the whistle. The Government Accountability Project, a Washington-based group, received 27 reproaches from potential informants in the three months before September 11th, and 66 in the three months after. Many of these complaints were about security issues. They included a Federal Aviation Administration employee who claimed that the agency had repeatedly failed to respond to known cases of security violations at airports.
    Legislation to give greater protection to people who expose corporate or government misbehavior externally (after having received no satisfaction internally) is being introduced in a number of countries. In America, it focuses on informants among federal employees. According to Billy Garde, a lawyer who was a member of BP’s Alaska inquiry team, they "have less rights than prisoners". A bill introduced last year by Senator Daniel Akaka to improve protection for them is currently stuck in congressional committees.
    In Britain, the Public Interest Disclosure Act came fully into force last year. Described by one American as "the most far-reaching informant protection in the world", it treats informants as witnesses acting in the public interest. This separates them from people who are merely pursuing a personal grievance. But even in Britain, the protection is limited. Rupert Walker, a fund manager, was fired by Govett Investments in September 2001 for expressing concerns in the Financial Times about a group of people of investment trusts that invest in each other. [br] Britain’s protection to informants is not perfect in that ______.
选项 A、the Public Interest Disclosure Act came fully into force only last year
B、it treats informants as witnesses acting in the public interest
C、informants are threatened with the possibility of losing their jobs
D、informants are considered as merely pursuing a personal complaint
答案 C
解析 末段一开始说的都是英国举报人保护法的好处，第4句开头的but这一转折连词表明接下来的才是其缺点，由此可见，答案应在第4句及其后寻找，第5句提到举报人可能因为举报而遭解雇，选项C就表达了这个意思。
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