The argument over a Philadelphia school district accused of secretly spying on pupils through laptop cameras became fiercer today after it acknowledged obtaining more than 56,000 images of its students, many of them in their homes.
When the scandal (丑闻) first broke, it was believed that only a few pictures had been taken of one pupil, Blake Robbins. But court papers released this week showed that thousands of images were taken of Robbins and other students.
Robbins and his parents have filed an action against the school district. Court papers from the Robbins’s lawyers said that at first it was thought that the laptops’ technology had produced a few images but they found more than 400 of Robbins, including images “showing him partially undressed and sleeping”.
Robbins said he did not know why the spying device was activated (激活) as his laptop had not been reported stolen or missing. Other students whose pictures were taken said their laptops had not been reported stolen or missing either.
An administrator at the school, one of the few with authority to track the laptops, remained silent, refusing to answer questions.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that 38,500 of the images came from six laptops that had been reported missing from the Harriton gym in September 2008. These apparently helped the police catch a suspect. Another set of images were from cameras in laptops which employees responsible for tracking failed or forgot to turn off.
The court papers, filed by Robbins’ lawyers, said that the technology was activated between 20 October and 4 November last year, with most of the 400 shots of him while he was in his home, and included his family. “There were additional webcam pictures and screen shots taken of Blake Robbins which, up to now, have not been recovered because the evidence was deleted by the IT department,” the court papers say.
One of Robbins’ lawyers is trying to obtain access to the administrator’s home computer to confirm whether she downloaded any of the pictures. The court papers indicate she may be a voyeur (窥隐私者) though it has not been proved.
1.We can learn from the passage that _________.
A. Robbins’ parents remained calm over the scandal
B. Robbins had his laptop stolen before the scandal
C. the laptops’ technology produced some images
D. the private rights of the students were offended
2.What did The Philadelphia Inquirer say about the case?
A. The police had found some evidence.
B. Most of the laptops in Harriton gym were missing.
C. Employees in charge of tracking deliberately left the laptops on.
D. There was obviously more than one suspect related to the case.
3.According to the court papers, the administrator _________.
A. may have spied her students on purpose
B. may have broken into Robbin’s house
C. has downloaded many students’ pictures
D. has removed evidence from computers
4. What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. Modern technology has negative effects on our lives.
B. Students in Philadelphia are accustomed to being spied on secretly.
C. A Philadelphia school is charged with spying students through laptop cameras.
D. The American government should take measures to improve teachers’ qualities.
“Scotty!” Mr. Brown, my Year 11 English teacher, called me by my nickname (绰号) across the classroom. His eyes were bright and a secret 36 was half hidden behind the beard.
Once he finished joking over my unbearable 37 , I realized he was going to read my story aloud to the class. I turned red, feeling at once both embarrassed and 38 . I had my very 39 reading audience! Though my classmates were a ‘passive audience’, it didn’t weaken my feeling of being 40 .
After that, I came to 41 those Year 11 English classes. Throughout school I had always studied hard and achieved well in my school subjects. But creative 42 was a passion, and it was not an assignment, but a way of understanding the world and of 43 my thoughts and feelings about events and attitudes.
Mr. Brown was the first to 44 me for my writing so openly. My scores were always 19/20 or 20/20. My stories were often read out to the class. He even 45 one with the respected Head of English teachers, which was the most 46 part that is impressed on my memory. But 47 that, he offered a belief in me that no other teacher had.
My school 48 often stated, ‘Candice is a quiet achiever.’ I thought it was meant as a(n) 49 for being hard-working. I was someone that no one really 50 before, but Mr. Brown managed to 51 all that by bringing me to the attention of the world. Though it was the relatively 52 world of school, it put the seed of belief in myself that some day I could be an 53 person rather than the person who faded into the background.
I 54 touch with my teacher long ago, as we do when we move away from the school system and enter life. I wish I could tell him now how much he 55 me.
1.A. trick B. fear C. surprise D. smile
2.A. sadness B. shyness C. weakness D. kindness
3.A. ashamed B. calm C. thrilled D. depressed
4.A. unfriendly B. devoted C. small D. first
5.A. special B. intelligent C. famous D. diligent
6.A. love B. hate C. attend D. miss
7.A. thinking B. reading C. writing D. speaking
8.A. organizing B. collecting C. expressing D. hiding
9.A. train B. recommend C. criticize D. acknowledge
10.A. compared B. shared C. composed D. exchanged
11.A. interesting B. shocking C. challenging D. exciting
12.A. more than B. other than C. instead of D. in spite of
13.A. days B. efforts C. books D. reports
14.A. praise B. urge C. reason D. competition
15.A. believed B. noticed C. supported D. respected
16.A. forget B. compensate C. change D. prove
17.A. developed B. limited C. preserved D. disturbed
18.A. important B. educated C. honest D. optimistic
19.A. sought B. regained C. lost D. ignored
20.A. owed B. influenced C. satisfied D. attracted
— I’ve studied your program, Peter. Could I make some suggestions?
— _________. I am all ears.
A. By no means B. Take it easy C. Go right ahead D. With pleasure
Generally, senior citizens enjoy their freedom and they prefer to live on their own _________ they can.
A. as long as B. as far as C. now that D. even though
In the English language, sentence stress is like word stress and is _________ gives English its rhythm.
A. when B. why C. that D. what
— Hello, Tom. This is Mary speaking.
— What a coincidence! I __________ about you.
A. was just thinking B. just thought
C. have just thought D. would just think
