英語聽力小短文走遍全世界: 請保護你的隱私

英語聽力原文：

Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy, that it's important to reveal yourself to friends, family and lovers in stages, at appropriate times. But few boundaries remain. The digital bread crumbs you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to reconstruct who you are, where you are and what you like. In some cases, a simple goolge search can reveal what you think. Like it or not, increasingly we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret.

心理學家告訴我們和別人保持界限是健康的，而且在適當?shù)臅r機逐步地向你的朋友、家人和戀人透露你的個人情況很重要。但是現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)沒有多少界限存在了。你處處留下的“數(shù)字面包碎屑”很容易讓陌生人推向出你是誰，你在哪里，你對什么感興趣。在有些情況下，一次簡單的Google搜索就可以暴露你的想法。無論我們喜歡與否，我們越來越生活在一個無法保密的世界里。

The key question is: Does that matter?

問題的關鍵是：這很重要嗎?

For many Americans, the answer apparently is "no".

對于許多美國人來說，答案很顯然是“不重要”。

When opinion polls ask Americans about privacy, most say they are concerned about losing it. A survey found an overwhelming pessimism about privacy, with 60 percent of respondents saying they feel their privacy is "slipping away, and that bothers me."

在一次關于隱私的美國民意調(diào)查時，大部分人很擔心失去它。有一項調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，人們對于隱私的安全性非常地悲觀，60%的被調(diào)查者說他們感覺“隱私正離他們遠去，這讓他們煩惱不已。”

But people say one thing and do another. Only a tiny fraction of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy. Few people turn down a discount at tollbooths to avoid using the EZ-Pass system that can track automobile movements. And few turn down supermarket loyalty cards. Privacy economist Alessandro Acquits has run a series of tests that reveal people will surrender personal information like Social Security numbers just to get their hands on a pitiful 50-cents-off coupon.

但是人們言行不一。只有一小部分美國人改變自己的行為，以保護自己的隱私。很少有人會拒絕收費站的打折，本來若是拒絕的話就可以避免使用能跟蹤汽車行蹤的 EZ-Pass系統(tǒng)。很少有人會拒絕超市的會員優(yōu)惠卡(積分卡)。隱私經(jīng)濟學家壓力山德羅·奎斯蒂進行了一系列的測試，表明人們會透露像社?？ㄌ栠@樣的個人信息，就只是為了能拿到微不足道的便宜50美分的優(yōu)惠券。

But privacy does matter — at least sometimes. It's like health: when you have it, you don't notice it. Only when it's gone do you wish you'd done more to protect it.

但是隱私的確很重要——至少有些時候是這樣。它就如同健康：當你擁有它時，你沒有注意它，當你失去它后，你才后悔你沒有盡力保護好它。

英語詞匯整理：

1. crumb n. 碎屑，面包(或糕餅)屑

eg: I stood up, brushing crumbs from my trousers.

我站起來，撣去褲子上的食物碎屑。

短語：

to a crumb 精細地;精確地

crumb rubber 廢膠末

bread crumb 面包心;面包碎屑

2. apparently adv. 顯然地

eg: He sat at a different table, apparently without noticing her.

他在另一張桌邊坐下，顯然沒有注意到她。

短語：

aim apparently 明顯地以......為目標

apparently drowned 溺水假死

3. respondent n. 應答者，被告

eg: The court holds the respondent responsible for the losses.

仲裁庭認為被告應當對損失負責。

短語：

respondent post 回貼

respondent will 答辯會

respondent bank 代理銀行

4. fraction n. 小部分

eg: Their economy is still a fraction of ours.

他們的經(jīng)濟仍然是我們的一部分。

短語：

a fraction of a second 頃刻，轉(zhuǎn)瞬間

not by a fraction 一點也不

to a fraction [口語]完全地;地地道道地

5. preserve v. 保護，保存

eg: We will do everything to preserve peace.

我們將竭盡全力維護和平。

短語：

(Heaven) preserve us! (表示沮喪、反對等)我的天啊!

poach (trespass) on someone's preserves 侵犯某人的利益(或活動范圍)

6. tollbooth n. 過路收費亭

eg: I looked at the tollbooth. Inside it, the man was dancing.

我朝收費亭里望去，有個人在里邊跳舞。

7. loyalty n. 忠誠，忠心

eg: His loyalty is above suspicion.

他的忠誠無可置疑。

短語：

out of loyalty to 出于對......的忠誠

loyalty to 對......的忠誠

8. surrender v. 交出，放棄

eg: He had to surrender the watches to the police in which the heroin was hidden.

他被迫向警察交出了那些藏有海洛因的手表。

短語：

surrender to 向...交出...;向......讓步/屈服

surrender at discretion 無條件投降

9. coupon n. 禮券，(購物)優(yōu)惠券

eg: Tear off this coupon and use it to get 25p off your next jar of coffee.

撕下這張優(yōu)待券,用它再買一瓶咖啡可省25便士。

短語：

coupon rate 票面利率

coupon bond 附息票債券

coupon code 優(yōu)惠碼

佳句采摘：

It's like health: when you have it, you don't notice it. Only when it's gone do you wish you'd done more to protect it.

它就如同健康：當你擁有它時，你沒有注意它，當你失去它后，你才后悔你沒有盡力保護好它。