Question

【题目】阅读理解。

Enough “meaningless drivel”. That’s the message from a group of members of the UK government who have been examining how social media firms like LinkedIn gather and use social media data.

The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee’s report, released last week, has blamed firms for making people sign up to long incomprehensible legal contracts and calls for an international standard or kitemark (认证标记) to identify sites that have clear terms and conditions.

“The term and conditions statement that we all carelessly agree to is meaningless drivel to anyone,” says Andrew Miller, the chair of the committee. Instead, he says, firms should provide a plain-English version of their terms. The simplified version would be checked by a third party and awarded a kitemark if it is an accurate reflection of the original.

It is not yet clear who would administer the scheme, but the UK government is looking at introducing it on a voluntary basis. “we need to think through how we make that work in practice,” says Miller.

Would we pay any more attention to a kitemark? “I think if you went and did the survey, people would like to think they would,” says Nigel Shadbolt at the University of Southampton, UK, who studies open data. “We do know people worry a lot about the inappropriate use of their information.” But what would happen in practice is another matter, he says.

Other organisations such as banks ask customers to sign long contracts they may not read or understand, but Miller believes social media requires special attention because it is so new. “We still don’t know how significant the long-term impact is going to be of unwise things that kids put on social media that come back and bite them in 20 years’ time,” he says.

Shadbolt, who gave evidence to the committee, says the problem is that we don’t know how companies will use our data because their business models and uses of data are still evolving. Large collections of personal information have become valuable only recently, he says.

The shock and anger when a social media firm does something with data that people don’t expect, even if users have apparently permission, show that the current situation isn’t working. If properly administered, a kitemark on terms and conditions could help people know what exactly they are signing up to. Although they would still have to actually read them.

【1】What does the phrase “ meaningless drivel” in paragraphs 1 and 3 refer to?

A. Legal contracts that social media firms make people sign up to.

B. Warnings from the UK government against unsafe websites.

C. Guidelines on how to use social media websites properly.

D. Insignificant data collected by social media firms.

【2】It can be inferred from the passage that Nigel Shadbolt doubts whether _______.

A. social media firms would conduct a survey on the kitemark scheme

B. people would pay as much attention to a kitemark as they think

C. a kitemark scheme would be workable on a nationwide scale

D. the kitemark would help companies develop their business models

【3】Andrew Miller thinks social media needs more attention than banks mainly because _______.

A. their users consist largely of kids under 20 years old

B. the language in their contracts is usually harder to understand

C. the information they collected could become more valuable in future

D. it remains unknown how users’ data will be taken advantage of

【4】The writer advises users of social media to _______.

A. think carefully before posting anything onto such websites

B. read the terms and conditions even if there is a kitemark

C. take no further action if they can find a kitemark

D. avoid providing too much personal information

【5】Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A. Say no to social media?

B. New security rules in operation?

C. Accept without reading?

D. Administration matters!

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】B

【3】D

【4】B

【5】C

【解析】

试题分析：当我们在社交媒体上注册登记的时候，总会签署一些无意义的法律合同，文章就此现象展开了讨论，并列举了多人的不同观点。

【1】A 词义猜测题。根据第一段第一句“...... has blamed firms for making people sign up to long incomprehensible legal contracts....”可知很多社交媒体公司和用户签订了没有意义的法律合同。而这些合同是没有意义的废话，也起不到任何作用，很多用户根本没有仔细阅读合同的具体内容。故A正确。

【2】B 推理判断题。根据第五段前二句“Would we pay any more attention to a kitemark? “I think if you went and did the survey, people would like to think they would,” says Nigel Shadbolt at the University of Southampton, UK, who studies open data.”可知Nigel Shadbolt认为如果我们去做相关调查，人们会认为他们会很注意这些认证标记的。故B项正确。

【3】D 推理判断题。根据第六段最后一句“We still don’t know how significant the long-term impact is going to be of unwise things that kids put on social media that come back and bite them in 20 years’ time,” he says.可知我们现在还不知道所签署的这些长期的无意义的合同未来会给他们带来什么样的影响。也不知道未来人们会怎么利用这样的信息。故D项正确。

【4】B 推理判断题。根据文章最后一句If properly administered, a kitemark on terms and conditions could help people know what exactly they are signing up to. Although they would still have to actually read them.可知文章建议我们即使有认证标志，我们呀应该认真阅读那些无意义的合同中的条款和内容，我们要知道我们所签署的协议的具体内容。故B正确。

【5】C 标题概括题。现在的网站中或者社交媒体软件中，我们在注册用户名或安装的时候，总会有一些合同或条约让我们签署。很多人从来都没有详细阅读这些合同条款就签名了。文章就此话题展开讨论，作者提出我们应该仔细阅读条款内容，然后再签名。故C项“Accept without reading?未阅读就接受?”符合文章中心思想。其余三项与文章内容不贴切。