Once used largely in law enforcement, bodyworn cameras, or bodycams, have become de rigueur for employees who meet the public at

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问题     Once used largely in law enforcement, bodyworn cameras, or bodycams, have become de rigueur for employees who meet the public at their worst. Now they are coming to retail, where abuse by customers was rising before the pandemic and escalated during lockdowns. According to Usdaw, a shopworkers’ union, 90% of workers were verbally abused in 2021 and 65% were threatened with violence, up from 68% and 43%, respectively, in 2019. Customers got angry when shop workers enforced mask mandates, social distancing or limits on purchases of toilet paper.
    In law enforcement, bodycams protect police from spurious complaints and citizens from abusive officers. In retail, they are largely a deterrent. Threatening to turn one on is often enough to calm an irate customer, says Claire, who used to work as a store manager.
    Fans of bodycams brush away privacy concerns. Claire says she threatened to turn hers on pretty much daily during the pandemic, but rarely actually needed to do so. And Britain is already rife with surveillance, having been an early and enthusiastic adopter of CCTV.
    But critics say bodycams are more invasive than CCTV. The camera is closer and the image resolution higher. Bodycams record audio, unlike most CCTV. Companies could use them to monitor staff. They could dip into footage for marketing analytics, or an employee might share footage of a celebrity customer—both privacy violations, says Robin Hopkins of llkbw Chambers, which specializes in commercial law. Abuse of retail staff is a pressing problem, says Sarah Gold of Projects by IF, a data firm. But increasing surveillance, and allowing private firms to hold the data, is a high price for customers to pay.
    Privacy fans may be fighting a losing battle. In 2020 Omdia, a retail pricing company, put the global market for bodycams at $540m, with four-fifths accounted for by law enforcement. By 2024 it expects the market to have grown to $700m, and law enforcement’s share to have fallen to half. Most customers are large retail chains—bodycams are pricey, at £200 — 800 ($260—1,050) each, depending on features, with data storage on top. That is prohibitive for most small retailers, says Andrew Goodacre of the British Independent Retailers Association.
    Pandemic restrictions are now being lifted. But companies are emphasising employee well-being more than before COVID-19 hit, says Marc Curtis of Fujitsu, an electronics group that sells bodycams for law enforcement and is eyeing the retail sector. Retailers are struggling to lure workers back to the storefront, with Brexit-induced labour shortages an added complication. Bodycams may be an invasion of customers’ privacy—but the trade-offs have tilted in shop workers’ favour.
Bodycams are entering retail because________.

选项 A、shop workers need to enforce mask mandates
B、the pandemic boosts online shopping activities
C、the number of retail staff being abused is soaring
D、shopworkers’ unions are requiring retailers to do so

答案C

解析 细节题。根据题干中的entering retail可定位至第一段。第二句说Now they are coming to retail, where abuse by customers was rising before the pandemic and escalated during lockdowns (现在,它们正在进入零售业。在疫情之前,来自顾客的辱骂在不断增加,并在封锁期间不断升级)。C项中的soaring对应原文的rising和escalated,该项是原文的同义改写,故正确。A项属于答非所问,最后一句说当商店店员强制执行口罩规定、要求保持社交距离或限制购买卫生纸时,顾客就会生气,但商店店员强制执行口罩规定并不是随身摄录机正进入零售业的原因,故排除该选项。B项属于无中生有,online shopping activities在原文中未体现,故排除。D项属于主观臆断,第三句说According to Usdaw, a shopworkers’ union (根据商店相关员工工会Usdaw的数据),但无法推知工会对零售商有这样的要求,故排除该选项。故本题答案为C项。
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