Passage Five
Concern about individual privacy on the Internet has been rising. E-commerce continues to grow, but many online shoppers are concerned about how their personal information is being or might be used. According to a Harris poll, many people do not shop online because of this concern, and of those who do shop online, 41% say they are very concerned about how a company uses their personal information. Now a clear majority of Americans - 57% - favor some sort of laws regulating how personal information is collected and used. Just as people are angry at intrusions into their physical space, they now want to protect the privacy of their virtual space.
For most companies, the Web can be a vast source of information about customers. Each buying that a user conducts on a Web site, from a single click to an actual online purchase, can be stored and analyzed. A company can learn about visitors to its Web site through “cookies”, which are small data files that the site creates on the first visit and stores in the user’ s computer. A cookie contains a unique tracking number, which enables sites to “remember” users on all subsequent visits. When you visit a site, it places electronic bits of data in your computer that tell the site a lot about you: what your e-mail address is, which portions of a Web site you looked at, what purchases you made, and so on. Many people do not even know that these “cookies” are being placed into their computers. Privacy advocates point out that if Web profiles ever became available for sale on the open market, such information could be used against people. For example, someone might not be hired for a future job if it became known that he or she had sought certain health advice on the Web. Or let’ s say a customer has purchased a lot of ice cream and wine on the Web. An insurance company could use that information against the person, assuming he or she would be a candidate for high cholesterol or alcoholism, and refuse to provide insurance.
Questions 21-25 are based on Passage Five.
21. Many people refuse to do on-line shopping because they are afraid that __________.
A. the quality of the product they buy cannot be guaranteed
B. their personal information might be illegally used
C. the goods they buy cannot be delivered in time
D. the goods they buy will be lost during delivery
22. What’ s the meaning of “virtual” at the end of paragraph one?
A. Of particles with extremely short lifetimes.
B. Nearly as described but not completely.
C. Not physically existing but produced by a computer.
D. Of points where rays meet if produced backward.
23. A company can collect the personal information of shoppers visiting its Web site__________ .
A. through small data files established in the user’ s computer
B. the first time an online shopper uses a unique tracking number
C. when the shopper conducts a transaction online
D. from Web profiles bought on the market
24. What is the major function of “cookies”?
A. To store visitors’ information on the web site.
B. To record a tracking number of each visitor.
C. To inform users on all their visits.
D. To tell the site a lot about the visitors.
25. The fact that an online shopper buys a lot of ice cream __________ .
A. may indicate his economic status
B. may make it harder for him to get insurance
C. may suggest his brand preference
D. may reveal the web sites he often visits
