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.
现在，由于垃圾电话问题变得如此严重，许多人现在拒绝接听他们不认识的号码。到明年，我们接到的电话中有一半将是诈骗电话。我们终于开始意识到问题的严重性，支持并开发了一系列旨在阻止骗子接通电话的工具、应用程序和方法。不幸的是，这一切都为时已晚。等到这些“解决方案”普及时，骗子们将已经转向更聪明的手段。在不久的将来，你屏幕上看到的号码将不再是唯一值得怀疑的。很快，你也会开始质疑你听到的声音是否真的存在。

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.
这是因为有许多强大的语音处理和自动化技术即将普及，供任何人使用。在今年的I/O大会上，一家公司展示了一项新的语音技术，能够产生如此令人信服的人类声音，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。

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.
这些发展可能会使我们当前的垃圾电话问题变得更糟。垃圾电话之所以令人头疼，与其说是因为数量，不如说是因为精确度。十年的个人信息数据泄露导致了一种情况，即骗子可以轻松地了解你母亲的名字，甚至更多。有了这些知识，他们能够开展针对性的个人诈骗活动。这意味着，例如，一个骗子可以从一个看起来熟悉的号码打电话给你，并使用一个听起来完全像你的银行出纳员的声音与你交谈，诱骗你“确认”你的地址、母亲的名字和卡号。骗子跟着钱走，所以公司将受到最严重的打击。许多业务仍然是通过电话进行的，而且很多业务都是建立在信任和现有关系的基础上的。语音处理技术可能会逐渐削弱这种信任。

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.
我们需要解决电信网络的不安全性问题。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。这可能意味着开发一种统一的方式来标记视频和图像，显示它们的制作时间和制作人，或者完全放弃电话通话，转向基于数据的通信——使用像FaceTime或WhatsApp这样的应用程序，这些应用程序可以与您的身份绑定。

Credibility is hard to earn but easy to lose, and the problem is only going to get harder from here on out.
信誉来之不易，却容易丧失，而且问题只会从此变得更加困难。

1. How does the author feel about the solutions to problem of robocalls?
   A. Panicked. B. Confused. C. Embarrassed. D. Disappointed.
   答案：D

2. Taking advantage of the new technologies, scammers can _.
   A. aim at victims precisely B. damage databases easily
   C. start campaigns rapidly D. spread information widely
   答案：A

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.
   答案：B

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：C