Question

【题目】Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in the each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

The problem of robocalls has become so severe 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” become widely available, scammers will have moved onto cleverer means. 【1】 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 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 receptionist and book a reservation without detection.

【2】 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 cark 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. 【3】.

We need to deal with the insecure nature of our telecom networks. 【4】 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.

A. Voice manipulation technologies may weaken that gradually.

B. There are many challenges in robotics that need to be addressed in order to solve the voice manipulation and assembly problems.

C. In the near future, it’s not just going to be the number you see on your screen that will be in doubt.

D. It’s high time that the government should spare no effort to tackle the problem immediately.

AB. Phone carriers and consumers need to work together to find ways of determining and communicating what is real.

AC. Those developments are likely to make our current problems with robocalls much worse.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】AC

【3】A

【4】AB

【解析】

本文是说明文。文章指出语音操作于自动化技术的出现，使得机器人电话可以以假乱真，欺诈现象更加严重，解决这个问题需要电话运营商和消费者共同努力。

【1】根据下文Soon you will also question whether the voice you’re hearing is actually real.（很快你也会质疑你听到的声音是否是真的）可知，C项In the near future, it’s not just going to be the number you see on your screen that will be in doubt.（在不久的将来，不仅仅是出现在你的手机屏幕上的电话号码令人怀疑），符合文意。其中also是解题关键。故选C。

【2】根据上文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 receptionist and book a reservation without detection.（在今年的I/O大会上，一家公司展示了一种新的语音技术，这种技术能够产生如此令人信服的人声，以至于它能够在不被察觉的情况下与接待员通话并预订房间）可知，技术的发展会让自动电话问题变得更糟。AC项Those developments are likely to make our current problems with robocalls much worse.（那些发展可能会使我们目前的自动电话问题变得更糟），符合文意。故选AC。

【3】根据上文A lot of business is still done over the phone, and much of it is based on trust and existing relationships.（许多业务仍然是通过电话完成的，其中许多是基于信任和现有的关系）可知，骗子使用语音操纵技术进行行骗，会削弱人与人之间的信任关系。A项Voice manipulation technologies may weaken that gradually.（语音操纵技术可能会逐渐削弱这一点），符合文意。故选A。

【4】根据下文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.（这可能意味着，要么开发一种统一的方式来标记视频和图像，显示它们是何时、由谁制作的，要么完全放弃电话，转向基于数据的通信——使用FaceTime或WhatsApp等可以与你的身份绑定的应用程序）可知，解决电信网络的不安全问题需要电话运营商和消费者需要共同努力。AB项Phone carriers and consumers need to work together to find ways of determining and communicating what is real.（电话运营商和消费者需要共同努力，找到确定和沟通什么是真实的方法），符合文意。故选AB。