阅读理解
The problem of robocalls has gotten so bad
that many people now refuse to pick up calls from numbers they don't know. By next
year, half of the calls we receive will be scams(欺诈). We are finally waking up
to the severity of the problem by supporting and developing a group of tools,
apps and approaches intended to prevent scammers from getting through.
Unfortunately, it's too little, too late. By the time these
"solutions"(解决方案) become widely available,
scammers will have moved onto cleverer means. In the near future, it's not just
going to be the number you see on your screen that will be in doubt. Soon you
will also question whether the voice you're hearing is actually real.
That's because there are a
number of powerful voice manipulation(处理) and automation technologies
that are about to become widely available for anyone to use. At this year's I/O
Conference, a company showed a new voice technology able to produce such a
convincing human-sounding voice that it was able to speak to a receptionist and
book a reservation without detection.
These developments are likely
to make our current problems with robocalls much worse. The reason that
robocalls are a headache has less to do with amount than precision. A decade of
data breaches(数据侵入) of personal information has led to a situation where scammers can
easily learn your mother's name, and far more. Armed with this knowledge,
they're able to carry out individually targeted campaigns to cheat people. This
means, for example, that a scammer could call you from what looks to be a
familiar number and talk to you using a voice that sounds exactly like your
bank teller's, tricking you into "confirming" your address, mother's
name, and card number. Scammers follow money, so companies will be the worst
hit. A lot of business is still done over the phone, and much of it is based on
trust and existing relationships. Voice manipulation technologies may weaken
that gradually.
We need to deal with the
insecure nature of our telecom networks. Phone carriers and consumers need to
work together to find ways of determining and communicating what is real. That
might mean either developing a uniform way to mark videos and images, showing
when and who they were made by, or abandoning phone calls altogether and moving
towards data-based communications—using apps like FaceTime or
WhatsApp, which can be tied to your identity.
Credibility is hard to earn but
easy to lose, and the problem is only going to get harder from here on out.
(1)
How does the author feel about the solutions to problem of robocalls?
A . Panicked.
B . Confused.
C . Embarrassed.
D . Disappointed.
(2)
Taking advantage of the new technologies, scammer can .
A . aim at victims precisely
B . damage databases easily
C . start campaigns rapidly
D . spread information widely
(3)
What does the passage imply?
A . Honesty is the best policy.
B . Technologies can be double-edged.
C . There are more solutions than problems.
D . Credibility holds the key to development.
(4)
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A . Where the Problem of Robocalls Is Rooted
B . Who Is to Blame for the Problem of Robocalls
C . Why Robocalls Are About to Get More Dangerous
D . How Robocalls Are Affecting the World of Technology
答案: D
A
B
C