A funny thing happened on the way to the communications revolution: we stopped
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A funny thing happened on the way to the communications revolution: we stopped talking to one another.
I was walking in the park with a friend recently, and his cell phone rang, interrupting our conversation. There we were walking and talking on a beautiful sunny day and... I became invisible, absent from the conversation. The telephone used to connect you to the absent. Now it makes people sitting next to you feel absent. Why is it that the more connected we get, the more disconnected I feel? Every advance in communications technology is a tragedy to the closeness of human interaction（互动）. With email and instant messaging over the internet, we can now communicate without seeing or talking to one another. With voice mail, you can conduct entire conversations without ever reaching anyone. If my mom has a question, I just leave the answer on her machine.
As almost every contact we can imagine between human beings gets automated（自动化）, the alienation index（疏远指数） goes up. You can"t even call a person to get the phone number of another person any more. Directory assistance is almost always fully automated.
I am not against modern technology. I own a cell phone, an ATM card, a voice mail system, and an email account. Giving them up isn"t wise... they"re a great help to us. It"s some of their possible consequences that make me feel uneasy.
More and more. I find myself hiding behind email to do a job meant for conversation. Or being relieved that voice mail picked up because I didn"t really have time to talk. The industry devoted to helping me keep in touch is making me lonelier ...or at least facilitating my antisocial instincts.
So I"ve put myself on technology restriction: no instant messaging with people who live near me, no cell phoning in the presence of friends, no letting the voice mail pick up when I"m at home.
小题1:Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?| A．The Advance of Communications Technology | | B．The Consequences of modern Technology | | C．The Story of Communications Revolution | | D．The Automation of Modern Communications |
小题2:The sentence “Now it makes people sitting next to you feel absent” means that ________.| A．the people sitting beside you have to go away to receive a phone call | | B．you can hardly get in touch with the people sitting beside you | | C．modern technology makes it hard for people to have a face-to-face talk | | D．people can now go to work without going to the office |
小题3:The writer feels that the use of modern communications is ________.| A．satisfying | B．encouraging | C．disappointing | D．embarrassing |
小题4:The passage implies that ________.| A．modern technology is bridging the people | | B．modern technology is separating the people | | C．modern technology is developing too fast | | D．modern technology is interrupting our communication |
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答案
小题1:B
小题2:C
小题3:D
小题4:B |
解析
试题分析：文章大意：本文主要论述现代技术的消极影响——现代技术的使用在疏远人与人之间的距离。。
小题1:B主旨大意题。本文主要论述了现代技的影响。故B正确。
小题2:C句意理解题。第一段作者提出：通讯革命使我们不再面对面地交谈；第二段作者举自己生活的一例来予以说明； 第三段作者感慨“Now it makes people sitting next to you feel absent”，即其意应为：现在技术使人们很难有面对面的交谈。故C正确。
小题3:D推理判断题。根据第五段可知，作者并不反对现代技术，也认为它极有帮助，只是某一些结果让他感到不安，比如第二段中他所举的生活例子。由此判断他会认为使用现代技术有时令人感到尴尬。故D正确。
小题4:B 推理判断题。根据第四段可推断现代技术正在疏远人们之间的关系。故B正确。 |
举一反三
Some say college is wasted on the young. So many of us look back at our own college years and realize what we could have done differently to make the most of them. While we can’t go back, we certainly can offer our sons and daughters our best advice to help them make the right choices in college. Hopefully, they will have fewer regrets than we do. Following are five guidelines parents can share with their college-bound kids to put the whole experience in perspective.
EDUCATION IS YOUR FIRST PRIORITY
As soon as you arrive on campus, there will be competing interests. Feel free to check them out but always remember that you are there first and foremost for your education. Go to class prepared and on time. Be engaged during class. Make sure your professor knows you and realizes that you care.
BE RESPONSIBLE
There are many layers of responsibility. Do what you say you will do and, if you can’t, own up to it early and communicate clearly. But being responsible isn’t just about meeting your commitments; it is also about taking care of you, your body, and your friends. For example, more than 1800 college students die annually from alcohol-related injuries. Look out for yourself and other people. Make moderate, sensible decisions so you aren’t reeling from the consequences later.
TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY
Incredible opportunities will present themselves: studying abroad, interning at a unique place, trying new things. Don’t let fear prevent you from taking advantage of them. There may never be so much time or as many resources devoted to your betterment again in your life. Say yes to opportunities that will help you grow.
FIND AND BE A MENTOR
Some of the best lessons available to us can come outside of the classroom in the form of a mentor. One of the most powerful growth opportunities is being a mentor. Early on, find someone on campus who you feel can help you grow and develop a relationship with him or her. Also find someone for you to mentor. You will reinforce and enrich your own learning experience by teaching someone else.
GET THE JOB DONE
It is natural to occasionally feel you want to quit, when it makes more sense to you to go find a full-time job. Resist that urge. As Jocelyn Negron-Rios, a mother of two, who is currently completing her degree, advises, “No matter how difficult it seems, keep at it because however insurmountable it feels now multiply that by 10,000 and that is how it feels when you are in your thirties with a full-time job and a family and are trying to pursue a degree.”
小题1:According to the passage, the most important thing for college students is ______.| A．taking part in different activities | | B．working hard to get a degree | | C．seizing every chance to try new things | | D．improving themselves by learning from the others |
小题2:Which of the following about college life is true?| A．Passing on what you’ve learned in college can help you enrich your learning experience. | | B．Make sure that you are responsible for yourself rather than others. | | C．Professors will not assess your performances in class but the grades you get in exams. | | D．You can make full use of the opportunity whenever you want. |
小题3:What can we infer from the words said by Jocelyn in the last paragraph?| A．Persistence is the key to success when you meet with difficulties in your learning process. | | B．It is better if you gain more working experience before you finish your education. | | C．As long as you work hard, you can gain a degree even when you are in your thirties. | | D．Youth is the best time to learn since you have less burden. |
小题4:What is the main purpose of the passage?| A．To give some rules for the college students. | | B．To call on the students to make full use of college years. | | C．To summarize some tips for parents to share with their children. | | D．To analyze the benefits and difficulties of college life. |
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Thoughts claim our attention continuously, and waste our time and energy on unimportant and useless matters. They actually rule our life. We have become so used to this slavery, that we take it for granted, and have become unconscious of this habit, except on certain occasions.
While breathing, we do not need to pay attention to each inhalation and exhalation. We become conscious of the process of breathing only when we have some difficulty with breathing, such as when our nose is blocked, due to a cold, or when we are in an unventilated(不通风的) room.
It is the same with thinking. We become conscious of the constant onslaught of our thoughts, and of our inability to calm them down, only when we need to concentrate, solve a problem or study. We are also aware of them when we have worries or fears.
Look at the following familiar situation. You need to study something for an exam. You sit comfortably on the sofa with the book in your hands and start reading. After a while you feel hungry and go to the kitchen to eat something.
You return to read, and then hear your people talking outside. You listen to them for several moments and then bring your attention back to the book.
After a while you feel restless and switch on the radio to listen to some music. You continue to read for a little while, and then remember something that happened yesterday, and you start thinking about it.
When you look at your watch, you are amazed to find out that one complete hour has passed and you have hardly read anything. And at this time, you feel you’re thinking.
This is what happens when one lacks concentration. Imagine what you could have accomplished if you could control your attention and focus your mind!
小题1:When can you feel you are thinking?| A．While breathing. | B．While not reading. | | C．When you need to concentrate. | D．When you waste your time. |
小题2:Why does the author put forward the exam situation?| A．To explain the course of thinking awareness. | | B．To show how to get ready for an exam. | | C．To present an example of concentration. | | D．To emphasize the importance of reading. |
小题3:Where can you most probably find the above passage?| A．In a guidebook of natural science. | | B．In the front page of a newspaper. | | C．In an advertisement part of a magazine. | | D．In the section of psychology of a magazine. |
小题4:This passage is mainly about _______.| A．the relationship between thoughts and breathing | | B．how people’s thought and mind work | | C．what happens when one wants to think | | D．the ways to increase your thought |
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Everybody knows that colors are connected with certain feelings. For example, why do some people paint the walls of their rooms yellow and others pink? The same is true in stores. They want us to feel something when we look at their products.
Green, for example, tries to show the quality of a product: how good it is for us or for our environment. It also suggests that the product is healthier, has less fat and maybe fewer calories. Red, on the other hand is an aggressive color that is often used for packaging food. Red wants us to become hungry or thirsty. Purple is a kind of color that is often seen as royal. It indicates that it is something special. Producers use purple to show that something is of good quality. Blue is not very often found in food packaging because there are not very many foods that have a blue color.
Colors can also have different meaning in different cultures and countries. For example, while the color white is used in many Western countries to represent purity and innocence, it is seen as a symbol of mourning in many Eastern countries. The Egyptian pharaohs(法老) wore white crowns. A white sale is a sale of sheets, towels, and other bed and bath items. A white flag is the universal symbol for truce(休战). A white elephant is a rare, pale elephant sacred(神圣的) to the people of India, Thailand, Burma, and Sri Lanka. In these countries, something that is a white elephant is either a possession that costs more than it is worth to keep or an item that the owner doesn’t want but can’t get rid of.
Consumers are aware that certain foods must have certain colors. When Pepsi brought out a crystal clear cola in 1992, it thought that consumers would buy it because clear meant pure and healthy. After a few months Pepsi found out that a cola had to be dark-colored. Crystal Pepsi failed and the company pulled it off the market.
Advertising professionals often need to look at a product through the consumers’ eyes when choosing a color. The right packaging colors can truly improve the sales of a product but choosing a wrong color could end in failure.
小题1:According to the passage, blue is rarely used in food packaging because ____.| A．most consumers dislike it | | B．it matches very few foods | | C．it brings people low spirits | | D．it doesn’t catch people’s eyes |
小题2:According to the passage, in India if something is expensive but useless, it can be called ____.| A．a white flag | B．a white elephant | | C．a white sale | D．a white crown |
小题3:Pepsi’s example is used to show ____.| A．Pepsi’s success comes from failures | | B．health is the main concern in drink making | | C．crystal clear drinks can’t attract consumers | | D．people have fixed ideas about products and colors |
小题4:What would be the best title for the passage?| A．Colors in advertising | | B．Colors in food packaging | | C．Our everyday life and colors | | D．Foods in different colors |
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Apologizing is both an Art and a Science. The Art lies in the manner in which the apology is delivered while the Science is the recipe that forms the apology itself. A proper apology should always include several ingredients. Now let’s take a closer look at these ingredients.
Give a detailed account of the offense, and make sure both you and the other person are talking about the same thing. Whether you make it in secret or public doesn’t matter, but your apology should be focused on the particular event.
Next, by acknowledging the hurt or damage done, you are making the recipient (接受者) begin to sense that you understand the situation. It is important to rebuild your relationship because it makes them feel their anger is understandable.
Don’t try to defend yourself by offering any excuses, which is important to let them know that you understand the event and you actions do cause them harm. The apology is all about THEM and how they feel. It doesn’t matter if the actions were intentional or not, the end result is the same and that is what needs to be focused on when learning how to say, “I’m sorry”.
Give a sincere statement of regret such as “I apologize” or “I’m sorry”. Above all, tell them it won’t happen again. After all, there is no value in apologizing for something that you will do again and again.
Finally, asking for forgiveness at the end of the apology gives the power back to the recipient. It tells them, that you have done all that you can do by apologizing and providing whatever form of restitution(补偿)you can. The next move is up to them.
By including all these ingredients and applying them to your situation, you will know exactly how to say “I’m sorry” next time you need to.
小题1:The passage mainly tells readers ____.| A．the importance of apologizing | | B．the process of apologizing | | C．how to apologize effectively | | D．how to repair a broken friendship |
小题2:How will the recipient react when you admit hurting them?| A．They will be sorry for being angry with you. | | B．They will treat you differently right away. | | C．They will understand the situation better. | | D．They will think their former reaction normal. |
小题3:When you make an apology, you should concentrate on ____.| A．finding out better excuses | | B．taking responsibility for the event | | C．defending yourself from more harm | | D．understanding the current situation |
小题4:What is the key to any apology?| A．A sincere statement of regret. | | B．Giving the recipient more power. | | C．A promise that you won’t repeat your wrongdoings. | | D．Giving the recipient a detailed account of the event. |
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US military is attempting to develop a new style “insect robot” to replace the human soldier to go wherever he can’t. The greatest trouble this project has fallen across is how to enable the robot to fly freely like an insect， said an official of the Pentagon(五角大楼).
The Pentagon is seeking for the cooperation with scientists in hope of developing a new technique by which people can control the insect’s flight direction and pass on the information its eyes or other organs catch through the equipment set in its body， the official said.
It is thus designed that a tiny controlling chip will be equipped in an insect’s body when it is in chrysalis(蛹). As the insect grows， the cut made when fixing in the chip will be recovered. The chip will exist in forever. Scientists believe this won’t influence the insect， sound growth or the functions of internal organs.
The terminal target of the project is to set up a global system， in which the insect robots will be stationed in all parts of the world and stick to their posts till a new instruction is received. At that time the military can receive from all over the world clear image information within about 5 meters of the insects and that of a special target within 100 meters.
Years ago， Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of US DOD(国防部) spent $3,000,000 carrying out a plan for training bees to detect landmines. But， no new progress has so far been made.
“According to the scientists， there is still enormous difficulty in technology in turning it into reality， such as the insects reproduction(繁殖)， their adaptation to the surroundings and temperature and so on. However， this project is really challenging. If successful， it is equal to making countless small drone(无人机)，”said the official of DOD.
小题1:According to the description of the passage， what is an insect robot like？| A．An insect made of a certain metal. | | B．A robot looking like an insect. | | C．An insect with a chip in its body. | | D．A tiny flying robot. |
小题2:As for the design that an insect robot can receive and send information， how do you infer(推测) it works？| A．There must be a controlling chip well connected with the insect’s brain. | | B．The insect’s eyes and other organs must be replaced by some special equipment. | | C．All the insect’s concerned organs must be controlled by a chip. | | D．The insect must be so well trained as to make full use of its organs. |
小题3:When the project is completed， US military will .| A．have a clear picture of almost every part of the world | | B．have insect robots from all over the world | | C．see clearly the things within 10 to 100 meters | | D．get many insects which obey their orders |
小题4:Of the following technical problems， which is the one the scientists can’t solve so far？| A．They can’t keep sound growth of the insects. | | B．They can’t ensure the insects to produce their young. | | C．They can’t fix a chip in an insect. | | D．They can’t make sure the internal organs function well. |
小题5:What does the underlined word “terminal” in the fourth paragraph mean？| A．Leading. | B．Vital. | C．Moral. | D．Final. |
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