《英语流行话题阅读:语境识词3500》Unit48:互联网威胁个人隐私

　　Unit 48
Internet Threatens Privacy
In the past, if a shop manager wanted to know you better, he had to rely on a good memory for detail. They cane¹ out from behind the counter to give you personalized service, browsed³ the shelves with you and made recommendations. Sometimes their recommendations were made with uncanny accuracy, based on hints they picked up about who you are and what you might want.
They are old tricks for winning loyal customers. Now take those tricks, add massive computing⁴ power and multiply the effect by a million. That's what is happening these days on the World Wide Web. On the Web, businesses are making great effort to know you better than you may know yourself. It's called personalization. Many e-commerce firms are betting their future on it.
In this digital marketplace, the "shop manager" may actually be a machine. It searches in its memory of information about you, analyzes⁵ it and creates a clear portrait of what you are likely to buy and do in the future. Not all companies approach personalization in the same way. For some websites, the approach is direct: they ask you to take a survey about what you like, and then make offers that match your interests. Another way is through IP addresses, the electronic place from which you browse² the Web. The addresses provide websites with an easy way to target a particular person or household.
Amazon.com and many other sites also compare individual's browsing⁶ and buying habits to those of thousand and millions of other consumers in their databases. Using a technique called collaborative filtering, they can find out your likely interests. This is based on what they know about what like-minded people buy or do. A clothing store, for instance, would make a very different recommendation to a customer who is 39, married, intent on looking young and willing to spend US$500 than it will to a recent college graduate.
But this new use of Internet begins to trouble some computer users. They worry that advertisers can track you without your knowledge, and that files about them might be put to ill use somehow, or shared with wrong people. Sometimes they just don't like being watched.

1 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

2 browse   

vi.随意翻阅，浏览；(牛、羊等)吃草

参考例句：

• I had a browse through the books on her shelf.我浏览了一下她书架上的书。
• It is a good idea to browse through it first.最好先通篇浏览一遍。

3 browsed   

v.吃草( browse的过去式和过去分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息

参考例句：

• I browsed through some magazines while I waited. 我边等边浏览几本杂志。 来自辞典例句
• I browsed through the book, looking at page after page. 我翻开了一下全书，一页又一页。 来自互联网

4 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• to work in computing 从事信息处理
• Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代（约1980年），他们就创办了软件公司。

5 analyzes   

v.分析( analyze的第三人称单数 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• This approach analyzes management by studying experience usually through cases. 这个学派通常从实例获得经验，用以分析管理。 来自辞典例句
• The econometrician analyzes statistical data. 经济计量学者要分析统计材料。 来自辞典例句

6 browsing   

v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息

参考例句：

• He sits browsing over[through] a book. 他坐着翻阅书籍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cattle is browsing in the field. 牛正在田里吃草。 来自《简明英汉词典》