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 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 spouse, a girl friend, 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 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 crumbs (碎屑) 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 an overwhelming pessimism 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 fraction 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 Alessandro Acauisti 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 (优惠卷).
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.What does the author mean by saying “the 21st century equivalent of being caught naked” (Lines 3-4, Para. 2)?
A.People's personal information is easily accessed without their knowledge. |
B.In the 21st century people try every means to look into others’ secrets. |
C.People tend to be more frank with each other in the information age. |
D.Criminals are easily caught on the spot with advanced technology. |
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 disputes between friends. |
Why does the author say “we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret” ( Line5, para. 3)?
A.Modern society has finally evolved 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. |
What do most Americans do with regard to privacy protection?
A.They change behaviors that might disclose their identity. |
B.They use various loyalty cards for business transactions. |
C.They rely most and more on electronic devices. |
D.They talk a lot but hardly do anything about it. |
According to the passage, privacy is like health in that .
A.people will make every effort to keep it |
B.its importance is rarely understood |
C.it is something that can easily be lost |
D.people don’t cherish it until they lose it |
LOS ANGELES, the US
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff ruled Michael Jackson’s father can receive some medical records related to his superstar son’s death.The judge will review the records first before making them accessible to Joe Jackson’s lawyer,Brian Oxman.Beckloff said the man can only receive records on or after June 25一the day Michael Jackson died.
VANCOUVER,CANADA
World number one Zhou Yang overcame three South Korean players to win the women’s short track speed skating 1,500 meters final at the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.The l8-year-old made perfect debut(首次亮相)as she set an Olympic record of a winning time of 2 minutes and l6,993 seconds among other seven skaters.
China has never won the women’s l,500 meters in the Olympics before,and this time Zhou’s performance gave China its third gold medal in Vancouver.
BElJING,CHINA
China’s first compulsory,(强制性的)safety regulation on primary school buses,which requires every seat to have a seat belt,will take effect on July l to help ensure safer transportation for the country’s 100 million students.
Each primary school bus must also be equipped with a “black box”,0r a recording monitor,to record speed,travel time and distance.Also,the bus must be staffed by teachers who will ensure student safety.In addition,the new rule states that the color of the school buses should be yellow,and each bus must have at least two emergency exits.
Texas,the US
A software engineer who crashed his plane into a Texas building housing a United States tax agency office,killing himself and at least one worker,apparently left behind an angry anti-government manifesto(宣言) detailing his financial difficulties and tax problems.The pilot took off from an airport in Georgetown.about 48 km from Austin.He flew low over the Austin skyline before plowing into the building.We can learn from the first news that_________.
A.all Michael Jackson’s medical records can be accessed |
B.Mitchell Beckloff will not go over the record first |
C.Joe Jackson’s lawyer will not get any records |
D.medical records before June 25 won’t be received |
The new school bus safety rules include all the followings EXCEPT_____________.
A.the color of the bus | B.the equipment of the bus |
C.the driver’s experience | D.emergency exits |
It seems the software engineer crashed into the US tax office mainly because of___________.
A.unhappy marriage | B.financial and tax problems |
C.heavy work pressure | D.mental disease |
We can infer from the news that____________.
A.Joe Jackson will be the first to receive the medical records |
B.the tax agency office is somewhere inside the building in Texas |
C.Zhou Yang once broke the Olympic records in the same event |
D.the software engineer flew high over skyline before crashing into the building |
A new system that scans customers’ fingerprints and subtracts(减去)the grocery bill from their bank accounts has taken supermarkets in Germany to use the new system. “Almost a quarter of our customers pay with their fingers,” said an employee at the headquarters. Edeka has tried the system at 70 of its supermarkets. It says it will introduce it at 200 others because customers like it.
“At first we thought that only the young who really keep up with the latest technology would be interested, but we were wrong,” said Stefan Sewoester from IT Werke. “Almost two-thirds of the people who use the system are 40 and older,” he said.
IT Werke, a computer company, is one of the pioneers of fingerprint payment software in Germany. It has helped about 150 shops, canteens and bars to put in the fingerprint scanning machines. Each costs about 2,000 euros.
To sign up for the service, customers must have their fingerprints taken and leave their addresses and banking details with the shop. The shop then takes the cost of goods directly out of the customer’s bank account.
“It is especially a good thing for elderly people. Now they do not have to remember their pin to pay with their bank cards, or to scratch around for their glasses or cash.” Sewoester said.
The stores benefit from the system too. It saves more than time in the check-out line. It also cuts out the hidden costs of accepting electronic card payments.According to the passage, the fingerprint system______.
A.was invented by the Edeka supermarket chain |
B.has caused payment revolution in Germany |
C.is more popular with young people |
D.is preferred by most American customers |
To apply to pay with fingers, customers are required to do all of the following EXCEPT______.
A.have their fingerprints taken |
B.leave their addresses |
C.give the shop information about the bank accounts |
D.have their phones connected with computers |
Why do elderly people benefit much from the fingerprint machine?
A.They will spend less time on shopping.. |
B.They are not forgetful. |
C.They don’t like to pay in cash |
D.They always fail to find their bank cards. |
How the iron of tomorrow (the first Self Clean Iron)can change your lifestyle today?
General Electric introduces the iron of tomorrow. The iron can clean itself, inside where irons get dirty. Because it cleans itself each and every time you empty it.
How? With a push of a magic blue button.
The magic blue button
The first thing you’ll notice that’s different about this iron is the blue button on the side. It’s marked “Self Clean”. Push this blue button, and you can wash out loose mineral deposits that remain and block up inside. Push this button, and you’ve made life a lot easier.
Less chance of brown spots
Sure, Self Cleaning Iron is going to cut down on brown spots. (Those ugly spots that happen on nice, cleanly pressed clothes.) Because a Self Cleaning Iron becomes clean each time you press that magic blue button.
Steams much longer
Common sense tells you that if you’ve an iron that blocks less often it has to stay younger for a long period of time. In other words, it steams much longer. That’s another joy of owning General Electric’s Self Cleaning Iron.
What does it mean to you
Today you are doing so much more than just running a house and running after the kids.
You’re working. You’re going to school. It’s all part of your lifestyle. The iron can change that lifestyle. By giving you less trouble before you iron. If we can make it easier for you to be a better wife, a better mother, a better housemaker, we want to. The new Self Cleaning Iron is another one of Home-Makers from General Electric.
Lifestyle.
We’re with yours.
GENERAL ELECTRICThis passage is ______.
A.an introduction to General Electric |
B.an operating instruction of Self Cleaning Iron |
C.an advertisement of Self Cleaning Iron |
D.a description of the change of lifestyle |
This iron can clean itself by ______.
A.empting itself |
B.washing out mineral deposits |
C.blocking up mineral deposits |
D.giving off more steam |
According to the passage, what is most likely to attract the customers?
A.It is made by General Electric. |
B.The iron will not produce mineral deposits. |
C.There will be fewer brown spots on pressed clothes. |
D.Their clothes will be cleaned at the same time. |
Self Cleaning Iron can help change your lifestyle because ______.
A.you can run your house better |
B.you don’t have to run after the kids |
C.you can use it while you are working |
D.we want you to be a better housemaker |
Friendship is one of the basic bonds (纽带) between human beings. While the characteristics of friendship might vary from one country to another, people from all cultures not only enjoy friends but need them.
Many studies have shown that teenagers who have no friends often suffer from psychological disorders. It has been shown that teenagers, perhaps more than any other age group, need companionship and a sense of belonging. The negative consequences of loneliness have also been observed among the elderly. The death of a spouse often leaves a widow or a widower totally bereft (失去). If, however, they are surrounded by friends and relatives and if they are able to articulate(清楚表达) their feelings, they are more likely to recover from their grief.
“No man is an island.” In other words, we are all parts of society. We all need the love, admiration, respect and moral support of other people. If we are fortunate, our friends will provide us with all of these necessary aspects of life.
As most people observe, there are many levels of friendship. The degree or intensity of friendship varies depending on the personality of the individuals involved and the context of the relationships. Extroverts (性格外向者) enjoy being surrounded by many people whereas introverts(性格内向者)are perhaps content with fewer but more intense friendships.
Everyone is not equally open with all their friends. The degree of intimacy (密切) is determined by many factors. Close friends can be formed at any stage in one’s life but they are usually very rare. Not very many people have more than a few really close friends. Irrespective of the level of intimacy, all friendships are based on reciprocity(相互性), honesty and a certain amount of love and affection.The second paragraph implies that _____..
A.teenagers without friends will suffer from psychological problems |
B.a widow or a widower will die very soon without companionship |
C.human beings need companionship and a sense of belonging |
D.both A and B |
The degree of intimacy of friendship mainly depends on _____ .
A.age | B.belonging | C.personality | D.culture |
The author thinks that close friends _____ .
A.can be easily formed when one is young |
B.cannot be long-lasting |
C.are not rare for everyone |
D.are rare for most people |
The word “irrespective”(Last sentence, Para. 5) means _____ .
A.not respecting | B.dishonoring | C.regardless | D.Considering |
NASA’s Mars detector (探测器), Opportunity, succeeded in finding signs that water once existed on the planet. Opportunity landed on Mars in January. Scientists now believe that the planet could once have supported life.
This discovery was chosen by Science, one of the world’s leading magazines, as the most important scientific achievement of 2004 last Friday.
“This little, wheeled, one-armed box went around another planet and has done something no human has ever managed,” according to Science. “It has discovered another place in the universe where life could once have existed.”
“Although we still can’t say that life could have existed in this environment, it is now certain that there was water on Mars,” said Steve Squyres, one of the scientists working on the Mars mission. The evidence comes from pictures and chemical readings taken by Opportunity. It includes marks on rocks like those caused by flowing water on Earth and salty chemicals like those found in dried-out sea-beds. Scientists said the new evidence proved beyond doubt that water has existed on Mars. But it is still unknown whether the water on Mars was like an ocean or justice.
While Opportunity has not found any signs of life, the presence of water means life is possible. “In everything we know about life on Earth, there is no example without liquid water,” Squyres said. “So water is important for the search for life on Mars.”
Researchers agree that a future mission (任务) should bring back physical samples (样品). But some scientists worry about the risk that this could introduce dangerous foreign creatures to Earth. “The problem here is how to get the samples back,” Squyres replied. “I think it is our responsibility to limit any risk.”________ prove that water existed on Mars.
A.The physical samples with salty chemicals |
B.The marks on rocks and salty chemicals |
C.Scientific achievements of 2004 |
D.Creatures from Mars |
Which of the following is TURE according to the text?
A.It is now certain that there was water on Mars. |
B.The water on Mars was like an ocean. |
C.Evidence of life on Mars has been found. |
D.Search for life on Mars is a great risk to humans. |
How did scientists draw the conclusion that there was water on Mars?
A.The world’s leading magazine has announced the fact. |
B.Scientists have taken many pictures and chemical readings on the Mars. |
C.Astronauts have got some rocks from Mars. |
D.Scientists have made a study of the pictures and readings sent back by Mars detector. |
It can be inferred that, if the creatures from Mars came to Earth, ________.
A.they would be kind to humans |
B.they would be cruel to humans |
C.they would be a great danger to Earth |
D.it would be hard to say whether it would be a good news or bad news |