Last week, in a stunning departure from protocol, the head of Mossad – Israel’s national intelligence agency – singled out his female field agents for praise. “Women have a distinct advantage in secret warfare because of their ability to multitask,” He also added that women are “better at playing a role” and superior to men when it comes to “suppressing their ego in order to attain the goal.”
上周，以色列情报局局长发表了一番有悖常理的惊人言论。他高度赞扬了情报局里的外勤女特工，“在情报战上，女性比男性有显著的优势，因为她们有胜任多项任务的能力。除此之外，女性能很好地扮演自身的角色。与男性相比，她们更能为了完成目标而压抑自己。”
“Women are gifted at deciphering situations. Contrary to stereotypes, you see that women’s abilities are superior to men in terms of understanding the territory, reading situations, spatial awareness. When they’re good, they’re very good.”
“女性天生就能审时度势。与传统观点相反，在解读地理位置、判断形势和空间意识上，女性都要优于男性。当女性很好地拥有了这些技能时，她们就能表现得非常出色。”
One of the CIA’s best-kept secrets
美国中情局保守得最好的秘密之一
Lindsay Moran worked for the CIA for five years. She tells that one of the CIA’s best-kept secrets is that their most talented spies are women. “The women in my training class and those with whom I later served were always the top recruiters of foreign agents – which is the bread and butter of the secret service.”
林赛-莫兰为美国中情局工作了五年。她说，美国中情局保守得最好的秘密之一就是他们最优秀的间谍都是女人。“在我的训练班里的女性和后来我的女同事往往在招募外国特工方面都是顶尖高手，招募特工则是我们这一行的衣食父母。”
People Skills
人际交往技巧
Being able to make friends easily, to read people – determine their motivations and vulnerabilities. “When we received training about how to ‘spot and assess’ potential sources, it came naturally to the women. I felt like I’d been doing it my whole life,” Lindsay explains.
林赛表示，“女性很容易就可以和别人交朋友，解读他人的想法，判断他们的动机和弱点。在接受关于‘发现与评估’这样的培训时，我发现这对女性来说易如反掌。我觉得好像‘我一直都在做这样的事’。”
Street smarts vs Physical strength
灵活应变vs身体素质
Contrary to popular belief that you need to be physically fit to outmaneuver the enemy, it’s actually the ability to read the danger potential of a person or situation – in other words, having the smarts, which is the key to survival on the ground. “Women are already attuned to the security of their environment. We are always on the lookout for suspicious characters, people who might be following us, dangerous situations. We’ve compensated for being the physically ‘weaker sex’ by developing these street smarts.”
人们往往觉得，体魄强壮才能克敌制胜。而事实上却恰恰相反，在应对危机时最需要的能力是解读潜在的危险情况或危险人物。换句话说，灵活应变才是制胜之道。”女性已经习惯于保证周围环境的安全性。我们对于那些品行可疑、尾随跟踪的人以及危险的环境都特别留心。身体素质上的劣势，我们用灵活应变来弥补。“
Women are better listeners
女性更善于倾听
Handling an agent requires listening to their concerns or complaints. “Many of the men in my training class had to be instructed on how to listen or on how to elicit information. It came naturally to us women,” Lindsay explains.
林赛解释说，“与特工相处就要求善于倾听对方的关切和抱怨。在我的训练班上的很多男性不得不学着去如何倾听，如何从别人的话里删选出所需要的信息。而这对女性来说，她们天生就会。”
Women spies have a built in ‘cover story’
女间谍善于“编故事”
According to Lindsay, women always have the advantage in creating a reasonable sounding excuse for why they might be meeting with a man in a parked car, hotel room or dark restaurant on the edge of town. “The standard cover story is we’re having an affair. It’s plausible under any circumstances and in any part of the world.”
根据林赛的说法，女性在编故事方面很有优势。她们总能合理地解释为什么在路边的车里，在酒店的房间，在郊区的昏暗餐馆内和男人见面。最标准的故事版本就是：我们有奸情。这个理由在世界上任何地方都行得通。