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 that 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.
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.

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.

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.

According to the passage, privacy is like health because __________.

A．its importance is rarely understood

B．people don’t treasure it until they lose it

C．it is something that can easily be lost

D．people will make every effort to keep it

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