Someday a stranger will read your email without your permission or scan the website you have visited. Or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell bills to find out your shopping preferences or calling habits.
In fact, it is likely that some of these things have already happened to you. Who would watch you without permission? It might be a girlfriend, a marketing company, a boss or a criminal. Whoever it is, they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen-----the 21st century is the equal of being caught naked.
Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy and that it is important to reveal yourself to friends, families and lovers at appropriate time and places. But now few boundaries remain. The information you leave everywhere makes it easy for strangers to reconstruct who you are, where you are and what you like. Believe it or not, we live in a world where you simply can’t keep a secret. The key question is: does that matter?
When you ask Americans about privacy, most say they are concerned about losing it.
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 refuse to offer personal information like Social Security numbers to get supermarket loyalty cards.
But privacy (隐私) does matter—at least sometimes. It is like health: when you have it, you don’t notice it. Only when it is gone do you wish you had done more to protect it.
小题1:What does the underlined sentence in Para 2 mean?
A．People’s personal information is easily accessed without their knowing it.
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.小题2:Which of the statements will the psychologists probably agree with?
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．The closer they are, the deeper their friendship is.小题3:In the last paragraph but one, the EZ-Pass system and Social Security numbers are used as evidence to show_________.
A．Americans talk a lot but do little about privacy protection
B．Americans use various loyalty cards for business.
C．Americans rely more and more on electronic devices.
D．Americans change behaviors that might disclose their identity.小题4:Which of the following may serve as the best title of the passage?
A．Privacy and Health
B．Privacy Is Getting Lost.
C．Boundary and Friendship
D．Cherish What You Have
