为了提高广大学生的英语水平，提高英语专业学生的专四通过率，特提供以下英语阅读理解及答案详解：
The simple act of surrendering a telephone number to a store clerk may not seem harmful--so much so that many consumers do it with no questions asked. Yet that one action can set in motion a cascade of silent events, as that data point is acquired, analyzed, categorized, stored and sold over and over again. Future attacks on your privacy may come from anywhere, from anyone with money to purchase that phone number you surrendered. If you doubt the multiplier effect, consider your e-mail inbox. If it's loaded with spam, it's undoubtedly because at some point in time you unknowingly surrendered your e-mall to the wrong Web site.
Do you think your telephone number or address is handled differently? A cottage industry of small companies with names you've probably never heard of--like Acxiom or Merlin--buy and sell your personal information the way other commodities like corn or cattle futures are bartered. You may think your cell phone is unlisted, but if you've ever ordered a pizza, it might not be. Merlin is one of many commercial data brokers that advertises sale of unlisted phone numbers compiled from various sources--including pizza delivery companies. These unintended, unpredictable consequences that flow from simple actions make privacy issues difficult to grasp, and grapple with.
In a larger sense, privacy also is often cast as a tale of "Big Brother"--the government is watching you or An big corporation is watching you. But privacy issues don’t necessarily involve large faceless institutions: A spouse takes a casual glance at her husband's Blackberry, a co-worker looks at e-mall over your shoulder or a friend glances at a cell phone text message from the next seat on the bus. while very little of this is news to anyone--people are now well aware there are video cameras and Internet cookies everywhere--there is abundant evidence that people live their lives ignorant of the monitoring, assuming a mythical level of privacy. People write e-mails and type instant messages they never expect anyone to see. Just ask Mark Foley or even Bill Gates, whose e-mails were a cornerstone of the Justice Department's antitrust case against Microsoft.
And polls and studies have repeatedly shown that Americans are indifferent to privacy concerns. The general defense for such indifference is summed up a single phrase: "I have nothing to hide." If you have nothing to hide, why shouldn't the government be able to peek at your phone records, your wife see your e-mail or a company send you junk mail? It's a powerful argument, one that privacy advocates spend considerable time discussing and strategizing over.
It is hard to deny, however, that people behave different when they're being watched. And it is also impossible to deny that Americans are now being watched more than at any time in history.
1. In the first paragraph, the telephone number is cited to show
A. many customers didn't keep their privacy confidential.
B. it is harmful to give a store clerk a telephone number.
C. careless disposal of personal information can be harmful.
D. customers should inquire its use when giving telephone numbers to others.
2. What do companies like Acxiom and Merlin do?
A. Compile telephone directories for businessmen.
B. Collect and sell personal information to make a profit.
C. Trade commodities like corn on the market.
D. Crack down crimes like stealing private information.
3. From Paragraph 3, we learn that
A. cases of privacy intrusion happen only in large institutions.
B. people are quite aware of how their privacy is intruded.
C. it is not privacy intrusion when a wife glances at her husband's cell phone.
D. Bill Gates' email messages were cited as evidence against him.。
4. It can be inferred from the fourth paragraph that the author thinks
A. Americans are actually concerned about privacy issues.
B. Americans are indifferent to privacy concerns.
C. Americans are very frank about privacy concerns.
D. Americans are puzzled about privacy concerns.
5. Which of the following is the author's viewpoint?
A. Never give your private information to anyone.
B. People should pay more attention to their privacy issues.
C. Do not surrender your email to any website.
D. It does no good saying "I have nothing to hide".
【文章概要】
本文以个人无意泄漏电话号码和电子邮件为例引出对隐私问题的探讨。首段指出简单无意识地泄漏个人信息的行为可能事后会给自己带来麻烦;第2段讲述某些小 公司利用泄漏个人信息来赢利，使得隐私成为一个棘手的问题;第3段进一步提到隐私问题不一定只涉及大机构，隐私在日常生活中就可能有意无意地受到侵犯;第4段讲到美国人对隐私问题的态度及作者对此的看法;第5段作小结指出美国人正面临着更多的监视。
【答案解析】
1.[C]细节判断题。首段第l句提到泄漏电话号码的例子，第2、3句指出这一行为可能带来的麻烦，故选C。A、B本身正确但只停留在例子本身，并没有指明举例要表明的问题;D在文中没有提及。
2.[B]细节推断题。根据Acxiom和Merlin定位到第2段第2旬。该句第2个破折号说明了这两家公司的性质，指出他们买卖个人信息就像买卖玉米和牛期货证券一样，故选8。文中提到Merlin公司出售那些未登记过的电话号码，这些号码汇编来源多样，A只是利用原文个别单词设置的干扰项;文中 只是说这些公司买卖个人信息的方式就像在市场买卖玉米的方式一样，故C错;D“破解如窃取个人信息的犯罪行为”在文中没有提及。
3.[D]段落细节题。由第3段第2句可知A错误;由该段倒数2、3句可知人们对隐私受侵犯并没有多深的意识，故B也错：But一句指出隐私问题并不一定只涉及大机构，冒号后所列举的例子即是对此观点的支持，可见C的说法也是不正确的;末旬指出司法部控告微软公司就是利用比尔·盖茨的邮件为证据，故D正确。
4.[A]推理判断题。第4段第l句指出调查和研究证明美国人对隐私问题漠不关心，但根据后文连续几个假设问句可以推断出。美国人实际上很关住他们的隐私问题，故C错误;B只是一种表面现象;文中没有提及他们对隐私的关注是否“迷惑”，D也不对。
5.[B]观点态度题。文章首段就提到了隐私无意间的泄漏可能会带来的麻烦，接下来几段分别从个人信息被滥用、隐私问题无处不在、美国人对隐私的态度等方面说明，在当今时代，由于通信技术的发达，个人隐私的保护问题越来越复杂.因此人们对隐私问题应给予更多的重视，故选B。A、C说法太过绝对;D项也不能概述作者的观点。