Part A: Reading Comprehension

Directions: Read the following text. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)

Text 2

An old saying has it that half of all advertising budgets are wasted—the trouble is, no one knows which half. In the internet age, at least in theory, this fraction can be much reduced. By watching what people search for, click on and say online, companies can aim “behavioural” ads at those most likely to buy.

In the past couple of weeks a quarrel has illustrated the value to advertisers of such fine-grained information: Should advertisers assume that people are happy to be tracked and sent behavioural ads? Or should they have explicit permission?

In December 2010 America’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed adding a “do not track” (DNT) option to internet browsers, so that users could tell advertisers that they did not want to be followed. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Apple’s Safari both offer DNT; Google’s Chrome is due to do so this year. In February the FTC and the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) agreed that the industry would get cracking on responding to DNT requests.

On May 31st Microsoft set off the row. It said that Internet Explorer 10, the version due to appear with Windows 8, would have DNT as a default.

Advertisers are horrified. Human nature being what it is, most people stick with default settings. Few switch DNT on now, but if tracking is off it will stay off. Bob Liodice, the chief executive of the Association of National Advertisers, says consumers will be worse off if the industry cannot collect information about their preferences. People will not get fewer ads, he says. “They’ll get less meaningful, less targeted ads.”

It is not yet clear how advertisers will respond. Getting a DNT signal does not oblige anyone to stop tracking, although some companies have promised to do so. Unable to tell whether someone really objects to behavioural ads or whether they are sticking with Microsoft’s default, some may ignore a DNT signal and press on anyway.

Also unclear is why Microsoft has gone it alone. After all, it has an ad business too, which it says will comply with DNT requests, though it is still working out how. If it is trying to upset Google, which relies almost wholly on advertising, it has chosen an indirect method: There is no guarantee that DNT by default will become the norm. DNT does not seem an obviously huge selling point for Windows 8—though the firm has compared some of its other products favourably with Google’s on that count before. Brendon Lynch, Microsoft’s chief privacy officer, blogged: “We believe consumers should have more control.” Could it really be that simple?

26. It is suggested in Paragraph 1 that “behavioural” ads help advertisers to

[A]

provide better online services. 

[B]

ease competition among themselves. 

[C]

avoid complaints from consumers. 

[D]

lower their operational costs. 

27. “The industry” (Line 5, Para.3) refers to

[A]

internet browser developers. 

[B]

digital information analysts. 

[C]

e-commerce conductors. 

[D]

online advertisers. 

28. Bob Liodice holds that setting DNT as a default

[A]

may cut the number of junk ads. 

[B]

fails to affect the ad industry. 

[C]

will not benefit consumers. 

[D]

goes against human nature. 

29. Which of the following is true according to Paragraph 6?

[A]

Advertisers are willing to implement DNT. 

[B]

DNT may not serve its intended purpose. 

[C]

DNT is losing its popularity among consumers. 

[D]

Advertisers are obliged to offer behavioural ads. 

30. The author’s attitude towards what Brendon Lynch said in his blog is one of

[A]

indulgence. 

[B]

understanding. 

[C]

appreciation. 

[D]

skepticism. 

Answers & Explanations (答案与深度解析)

试题精解

26. [D] lower their operational costs.
【解析】细节推断题。第一段首句说“广告预算有一半被浪费了”，第二句紧接着说“在互联网时代，这一浪费的比例可以大大减少（this fraction can be much reduced）”。通过“行为广告（behavioural ads）”，公司可以精准定位可能购买的客户，这意味着减少了无效投放，从而“降低了运营成本（lower operational costs）”。

27. [D] online advertisers. （注：您提供的参考答案A为录入错误，官方答案为D）
【解析】词义指代题。第三段最后一句提到：“FTC（联邦贸易委员会）和 DAA（数字广告联盟）达成一致，the industry（该行业）将开始对 DNT 请求作出回应。” DAA 代表的是广告商的利益，且全文主要讨论的是“广告商”如何应对浏览器的 DNT 选项。因此，这里的 the industry 毫无疑问指的是“在线广告商（online advertisers）”。A选项（互联网浏览器开发者）如微软、苹果，是提出DNT功能的人，而不是被要求做出回应的“the industry”。

28. [C] will not benefit consumers.
【解析】细节题。第五段中，全国广告商协会的首席执行官 Bob Liodice 说：“如果该行业无法收集有关消费者偏好的信息，consumers will be worse off（消费者的境况会更糟）”。worse off 完美对应选项 C 的 will not benefit consumers（不会使消费者受益）。

29. [B] DNT may not serve its intended purpose.
【解析】细节推理题。第六段指出：收到 DNT 信号并不能强制任何人停止追踪（does not oblige anyone to stop tracking）；而且由于无法分辨用户是真的拒绝追踪还是仅仅使用了微软的默认设置，一些公司可能会“忽略 DNT 信号并继续追踪（ignore a DNT signal and press on anyway）”。这说明 DNT 功能在实际中可能无法达到它保护隐私的“预期目的（intended purpose）”。故选 B。

30. [D] skepticism.
【解析】态度题。最后一段末尾，作者引用了微软首席隐私官 Brendon Lynch 在博客上的话：“我们认为消费者应该拥有更多控制权。”紧接着，作者反问了一句：“Could it really be that simple?（事情真的有这么简单吗？）”。这种反问明确表达了作者不相信微软仅仅是出于“保护消费者”这么简单高尚的目的，背后必然有打击竞争对手（如谷歌）的商业考量。因此，作者的态度是“怀疑的（skepticism）”。

考研核心句型与长难句

【长难句剖析】

1. 独立主格结构：
"Human nature being what it is, most people stick with default settings."
【解析】Human nature being what it is 是一个独立主格结构，表原因。意为“因为人的本性就是如此（懒惰/顺从），所以大多数人都会坚持使用默认设置。”

2. 并列宾语从句：
"Unable to tell whether someone really objects to behavioural ads or whether they are sticking with Microsoft’s default, some may ignore a DNT signal and press on anyway."
【解析】Unable to tell... 是形容词短语作状语。tell 后接了两个由 whether 引导的并列宾语从句，表达广告商无法分辨用户的真实意图，进而为他们“无视 DNT 信号”提供了借口。