Question

Someday a stranger will read your e-mail without your permission or scan the website you’ve visited or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell phone bills to find out your shopping calling habits

In fact, it’s likely that some of these things have already happened to you. Who would watch you without your permission? It might be a spouse, 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.

Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy, that it’s important to reveal yourself partly to friends, family and lovers at appropriate times. But few boundaries remain. The digital bread crumbs you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to know 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. 60 percent of respondents say they feel their privacy is “slipping away, and that bothers me”.

But people say one thing and do another. Only a small number of Americans change any behavior in an effort to preserve their privacy. Few people turn down a discount at tollbooths to avoid using the EZ-Pass system that can track automobile movements. Privacy economist Acquisti has run a series of tests that reveal people will give up personal information like social security numbers just to get their hands on a 50-cents-off coupon. 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.

1.What would psychologists advise on the relationships between friends?

A．Friends should open their hearts to each other.

B．Friends should always be faithful to each other.

C．There should be a distance even between friends.

D．There should be fewer arguments between friends.

2.Why does the author say “we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret”?

A．Modern society has finally developed into an open society.

B．People leave traces around when using modern technology.

C．There are always people who are curious about others’ affairs.

D．Many search engines profit by revealing people’s identities.

3.According to the passage, privacy is like health in that _____.

A．people will make every effort to keep it

B．its importance is hardly understood

C．It is something that can easily be lost

D．people don’t value it until they lose it

4.What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Value your health.

B．Treasure your privacy.

C．Boundaries are important between friends.

D．The information age has its own shortcomings.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.C

2.B

3.D

4.B

【解析】

試題分析：這篇材料講的是信息時代的隱私保護問題，大體可以分成兩個部分，前三段是信息時代隱私遭到泄露的現狀，后面幾段講的是人們保護隱私的現實情況。

1.這是細節理解題。根據Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy, that it’s important to reveal yourself partly to friends, family and lovers at appropriate times.向朋友敞開心扉是重要的，但必須是在適當的時候，故選C。

2.這是細節理解題。A的說法非常空泛，也很武斷，第三段的內容僅僅是人們進行電腦等操作會泄露信息，把這種個別現象上升為社會變革顯然不合適，也不是作者的意圖。

B的說法符合文意，modern technology應該就是指文中的digital bread和Google。

C的說法來源于for strangers to reconstruct who you are這一句，這句話透露出的信息僅僅是陌生人獲得個人隱私更加容易，至于是否總會有人對別人的事情感興趣則沒有提到。

D的說法照應文中有關Google的內容，但文中沒有提到搜索引擎獲利問題，可以排除D。故選B。

3.這是細節理解題。根據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——直譯為：“隱私是有關系的，至少是某些時候。它就像健康，在你擁有它時，你注意不到它。只有當它離你而去時你才想要是更注意地保護過它就好了。”這段話無論從句法結構還是詞匯難度上都很容易，也沒有出現體現獨特英語思維的比喻等修辭，所以理解起來較為輕松，故選D。

4.這是標題歸納題。根據從文章的開頭和結尾可知，要重視隱私，故選B。

考點：這是一篇議論文。

點評：文章標題是文章的點睛之筆。標題歸納題在英語閱讀理解題中屬深層理解題，它要求考生在通讀全文的基礎上，準確把握文章大意及作者的寫作意圖。一般說來，標題應該具有概括性、針對性、簡潔性三個突出特點。其中概括性，是指標題應最大程度地覆蓋全文，囊括文章的主要內容，體現文章的主題；針對性，是指標題的含義要直接指向文章的主要特點；而簡潔性，則是指標題應言簡意賅，能吸引讀者的注意力，并喚起讀者對文章的閱讀興趣等。