Question

    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

Answer

1.A

2.B

3.D

4.B

【解析】

这是一篇议论文。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.

词义猜测题。根据第二段第一句“...... 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。所以通过上下文的语境可以判断出第1和第3段中的“meaningless drivel”指的是社交媒体公司让人们签署的法律合同。故选A。

2.

推理判断题。根据第四段中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，我们能不能多注意一下认证标记？“我认为如果你去做了调查，人们会认为他们会去做，”英国南安普敦大学研究公开数据的Nigel Shadbolt说。由此可推知，Nigel Shadbolt怀疑人们是否会像他们认为的那样关注认证标记。故选B。

3.

细节理解题。根据第五段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.可知其他机构，如银行，会要求客户签署他们可能不会读或理解的长期合同，但Miller认为，社交媒体需要特别关注，因为它是太新了。他说：“我们仍然不知道孩子们在社交媒体上放的不明智的东西会产生多大的长期影响，而20年后这些东西又会回来伤害到他们。”由此可知，Andrew Miller认为社交媒体比银行需要更多的关注，主要是因为用户的数据将如何被利用仍然是个未知数。故选D。

4.

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.可知如果管理得当，一个关于条款和条件的认证标记可以帮助人们知道他们到底签了什么。尽管他们仍然需要真正阅读它们。由此可知，作者建议社交媒体用户阅读条款和条件，即使有一个认证标记。故选B。