Question

Loren Gladstone of Toronto is 58, but thinking over how to bequeath (遗赠) his digital property(财产). Doing the paperwork after his parents' death was a challenge. “When my time comes, I wonder if my children will even know what paper is，” he says. As a software developer, his virtual property is both valuable and vital to his business. That reflects a problem. Online lives have increasing economic and emotional value. But testamentary (遗嘱) laws offer confusing and incomplete ways of bequeathing and inheriting (继承) them.

Digital property may include software, websites, downloaded content, online gaming identities, social-media accounts and even e-mails. In Britain alone holdings of digital music may be worth over ￡9 billion ($14 billion). A fifth of respondents to a Chinese local-newspaper survey said they had over 5，000 yuan($790) of digital property. And value does not lie only in money.“Anyone with kids under 14 years old probably has two prints of them and the rest are in online galleries，”says Nathan Lustig of Entrustet, a company that helps people manage digital property.

Service providers have different rules—and few state them clearly in their terms and conditions. Many give users a personal right to use an account, but nobody else, even after death. Facebook allows relatives to close an account or turn it into a memorial page. Gmail (run by Google) will provide copies of e-mails to an executor (遗嘱执行人). Music downloaded via iTunes is held under a license which can be abolished on death. Apple declined to comment on the record on this or other policies. All e-mail and data on its iCloud service are deleted on the death of the owner.

This has led to cases to court in America. In 2004 the family of Justin Ellsworth, an army man killed in Iraq, took Yahoo! to court in Michigan to get copies of his e-mails. This year, a court in Oregon ruled that another American mother whose son had died could use her dead son's password to enter his Facebook account for a short period. Now five American states have made laws giving executors control over the social-networking accounts of dead users.

But this raises the subject of privacy. Passing music on is one thing; not everyone may want their relatives to read their e-mails. Colin Pearson, a London-based lawyer, says access should come only with a clear provision in a will.

But laws, wills and password safes may be contrary to the providers' terms of service, especially when the executor is in one country and the data in another. Headaches for the living and lots of lovely work for lawyers.

1.Why does Loren begin to think over how to bequeath his digital property at the age of 58?

A. Because he is afraid his children don't know what paper is.

B. Because there's no complete law dealing with digital property.

C. Because his digital property is of great value and importance.

D. Because he is worried his children will be taken to court.

2.Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A. Digital property is assessed in terms of nothing except money.

B. No laws in America have been made to deal with digital property.

C. The relatives may read the e－mail of the dead without permission.

D. Lawyers can make money through cases about digital property.

3.Facebook, Google and Apple have a similar rule that ________．

A. users are offered accounts used by nobody else except users themselves

B. relatives of the dead may close an account or use it at their own will

C. the executor may enter the e－mail and read it by themselves at any time

D. the data downloaded by the dead will be copied and then deleted from net

4.Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage?

A. Digital Information                                        B. Testamentary Laws

C. Deathless Data                                           D. Vital Property

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.B

2.D

3.A

4.C

【解析】

试题分析：文章大意：文章通过Loren.在58岁的时候考虑遗赠他的电子财产的问题，介绍电子财产的问题，很多人在网站的账户有很多的财产，但是死后怎么处理这些遗产还没有完善的法律。

1.细节题：从第一段的句子：Online lives have increasing economic and emotional value. But testamentary (遗嘱) laws offer confusing and incomplete ways of bequeathing and inheriting (继承) them 可知Loren.在58岁的时候考虑遗赠他的电子财产的问题，是因为现行关于电子财产的法律还不完善。选B

2.推理题：从最后一段的句子：Headaches for the living and lots of lovely work for lawyers.

可知对很多活着的人还说，电子财产问题是让人头疼的，而对于律师来说是很可爱的工作，也就是说律师会通过电子财产的案子挣很多钱。选D

3.细节题：从第三段的句子：Many give users a personal right to use an account, but nobody else, even after death. 可知Facebook, Google and Apple 都有规定，除了用户本人其他人不能使用账户。选A

4.主旨题：文章介绍现在颇受关注的电子版权遗产问题，用户在死后，留下大量的电子财产，如果处理它们是个问题，所以是不死的数据。选C

考点：考查社会现象类短文