Someday a stranger will read your e-mail without your permission or scan the websites you’

Someday a stranger will read your e-mail without your permission or scan the websites you’ve visited. Or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell phone bills to find out your shopping preferences or calling habits.
In fact, it’s likely some of these things have already happened to you. Who would watch you without your permission? It might be a husband or wife, a girlfriend, a marketing company, a boss, a cop or a criminal. Whoever it is, they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen—the 21st century equivalent (相等物) of being caught naked.
Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy, that it’s important to reveal yourself to friends, family and lovers in stages, at appropriate times. But few boundaries remain. The digital bread pieces you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to reconstruct who you are, where you are and what you like. In some cases, a simple Google search can reveal what you think. Like it or not, increasingly we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret.
The key question is Does that matter?
For many Americans, the answer apparently is “no.”
When opinion polls ask Americans about privacy, most say they are concerned about losing it. A survey found a serious depression about privacy, with 60 percent of respondents saying they feel their privacy is “slipping away, and that bothers me.”
But people say one thing and do another. Only a tiny part of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy. Few people turn down a discount at tollbooths (收费站) to avoid using the EZ-Pass system that can track automobile movements. And few turn down supermarket loyalty cards. Privacy economist Alessanfro Acquisti has run a series of tests that reveal people will surrender personal information like Social Security numbers just to get their hands on a pitiful 50-cents-off coupon (优惠券).
But privacy does matter—at least sometimes. It’s like health when you have it, you don’t notice it. Only when it’s gone do you wish you’d done more to protect it.
【小题1】What would psychologists advise on the relationships between friends?A．There should be a distance even between friends.B．Friends should always be faithful to each other.C．Friends should open their hearts to each other.D．There should be fewer disagreements between friends.【小题2】 Why does the author say “we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret”?A．People leave tracks around when using modern technology.B．Modern society has finally developed into an open society.C．There are always people who are curious about others’ affairs.D．Many search engines profit by revealing people’s identities.【小题3】What do most Americans do about privacy protection?A．They change behaviors that might disclose their identity.B．They talk a lot but hardly do anything about it.C．They rely more and more on electronic devices.D．They use various loyalty cards for business deals.【小题4】According to the passage, privacy is like health because .A．people don’t treasure it until they lose it B．its importance is rarely understoodC．it is something that can easily be lostD．people will make every effort to keep itA

(答案→)A 解析：这篇材料讲的是信息时代的隐私保护问题，大体可以分成两个部分，前三段是信息时代隐私遭到泄露的现状，后面几段讲的是人们保护隐私的现实情况。【小题1】细节理解题。根据Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy, that it’s important to reveal yourself partly to friends, family and lovers at appropriate times.向朋友敞开心扉是重要的，但必须是在适当的时候，朋友应该是有距离的，故选A。【小题2】细节理解题。从第三段的句子：The digital bread pieces you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to reconstruct who you are, where you are and what you like.可知现在的人们没有秘密是因为使用现代科技就会留下痕迹。 选A。【小题3】细节题：从倒数第二段的句子：But people say one thing and do another. Only a tiny part of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy.可知美国人对于隐私的问题谈的多，做的少，选B。【小题4】细节理解题。根据But privacy does matter- at least sometimes. It’s like health; when you have it, you don’t notice it. Only when it’s gone do you wish you’d done more to protect it——直译为：“隐私是有关系的，至少是某些时候。它就像健康，在你拥有它时，你注意不到它。只有当它离你而去时你才想要是更注意地保护过它就好了。”这段话无论从句法结构还是词汇难度上都很容易，也没有出现体现独特英语思维的比喻等修辞，所以理解起来较为轻松，故选A

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