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

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

游客2024-05-04  35
问题     A recent case in Australia shows how easily fear can frustrate an informer’s good intentions. In December, a woman wrote anonymously to the country’s antitrust watchdog, the ACCC, alleging that her employer was conspiring with others in violation of the Trade Practices Act. Her evidence was sufficient to suggest to the ACCC that fines of $ 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.

    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 informers 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 informers among federal employees. According to Billy Garde, a lawyer, they "have fewer 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 informer protection in the world", it treats informers as witnesses acting in the public interest. This separates them from people who are merely pursuing a personal complaint. 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] The couple does not come out to disclose the vital information wanted by ACCC, because there is something they ______.
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答案 fear
解析 文章第一句话提到在澳洲的一起案件表明恐惧可以轻易地挫败揭发者的良好意图，该案件就是指这对夫妇写匿名信控告老板而又不敢提供确凿证据这个事例。本题要填写的是The couple does not come out to disclose the vital information wanted by ACCC的原因之所在。答案就在原文的第一句话中，即在于恐惧。
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