I once had a house guest from Cuba. During his visit, I happened to throw an old
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I once had a house guest from Cuba. During his visit, I happened to throw an old broken blender (搅拌机) in the trash. The next day it was sitting on my counter – in working order. In his world, people simply cannot afford to replace an item which doesn"t work properly. They take the time and figure out how to fix it. In Cuba, they are still driving cars from the 1960’s, mainly because they do not have a choice.
In contrast, the U.S. is a “throw-away society.” Statistics show that each American produces six pounds of trash per day. I believe a combination of factors has contributed to this phenomenon.
“Planned obsolescence(废弃)” is not a secret. It is a manufacturing (制造业) philosophy developed in the 1920’s and 1930’s, when mass production became popular. The goal is to make a product or part that will fail, or become less desirable over time or after a certain amount of use. This pressures the consumer to buy again.
Planned obsolescence does keep costs down. Instead of making an expensive product that will last a long time, businesses produce more affordable, disposable(一次性的) items. Some electronic items have become so inexpensive that it is cheaper to replace them than to repair them.
Busy people often value their time and convenience more than money. If a car starts to have mechanical problems, replacing it with a newer, more reliable model may be more appealing than tolerating it being in the garage for a week.
In addition, advertising trains consumers to want what is new and improved. It convinces them that the more they have, the happier they will be.
Unlike people in many developing countries, we live in a world of abundance. A study by Dr. Timothy Jones of the University of Arizona also found that in the U.S., 40-50 percent of all food ready for harvest is wasted. Abundance and waste soon became closely associated in the American way of life.
小题1:In Cuba, people usually fix a broken item instead of buying a new one because __________.| A．wasting is prohibited there | B．they are poor | | C．they are interested in fixing things | D．they live a low-carbon life |
小题2:According to the article, planned obsolescence ___________.| A．began before mass production became popular | | B．is intended to encourage consumers to buy more things | | C．results in higher prices of items | | D．requires factories to produce high-quality products |
小题3:Which of the following is NOT true about the “throw-away society” in the U.S.?| A．People prefer to buy a new blender rather than repair the broken one. | | B．A large quantity of food has been wasted. | | C．People believe that the more they have, the happier they will be. | | D．People all hold the belief that money comes first. |
小题4:What may be the writer’s attitude towards a throw-away society?| A．Supportive. | B．Critical. | C．Tolerant. | D．Optimistic. |
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答案
小题1:B
小题2:B
小题3:D
小题4:B |
解析
试题分析:一次作者在扔掉用坏的搅拌机时，碰巧家里有一位来自古巴的房客，房客第二天把作者扔掉的搅拌机给修理好，拿了回来。由此作者比较古巴和美国两个社会的异同，认识到了在贫穷的国家，人们过的非常节俭，而在美国这个物质极大充足的社会，浪费现象非常严重。
小题1:B细节理解题。根据文章首段 In his world, people simply cannot afford to replace an item which doesn"t work properly.可知在古巴人们买不起东西，才会对用坏的东西进行修理，所以选B。
小题2:B推理判断题。根据文章第三段The goal is to make a product or part that will fail, or become less desirable over time or after a certain amount of use. This pressures the consumer to buy again.可以判断选B。
小题3:D 推理判断题。根据文章第五段Busy people often value their time and convenience more than money.可知忙碌的人们把时间和便捷看的比金钱更重要，所以D选项内容错误。
小题4:B 推理判断题。根据文章末段40-50 percent of all food ready for harvest is wasted. Abundance and waste soon became closely associated in the American way of life.可知作者认为物质的充足造成了浪费现象，所以对于美国这个“a throw-away society”是持批判态度的。 |
举一反三
I have always known my kids use digital communications equipment a lot. But my cellphone bill last month really grabbed my attention. My son had come up to nearly 2,000 incoming text messages, and had sent nearly as many. Of course, he was out of school for the summer and communicating more with friends from a distance. Nevertheless, he found time to keep a summer job and complete a college course in between all that typing with thumb.
I was even more surprised to learn that my son is normal. "Teenagers with cellphones each send and receive 2,272 text messages a month on average, " Nielsen Mobile said.
Some experts regret that all that keyboard jabber(键盘闲聊) is making our kids stupid, unable to read non-verbal cues such as facial expressions, gestures, posture and other silent signals of mood and attitude. Unlike phones, text messaging doesn"t even allow transmission of tone of voice or pauses, says Mark Bauerlein, author called The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future.
Beyond that, though, I"m not sure I see as much harm as critics of this trend. I" ve posted before on how I initially tried to control my kids" texting. But over time, I have seen my son suffer no apparent ill effects, and he gains a big benefit, continuing contact with others.
I don"t think texting make kids stupid. It may make them annoying, when they try to text and talk to you at the same time. And it may make them distracted. when buzzing text message interrupt efforts to noodle out a math problem or finish reading for school.
But I don"t see texting harming teens" ability to communicate. My son is as accustomed to nonverbal cues as any older members of our family. I have found him more engaged and easier to communicate with from a great distance. because he is constantly available by means of text message and responds with faithfulness and speed.
小题1:What is Mark Bauerlein " s attitude to texting?| A．It is convenient for teens to communicate with others. | | B．It is likely to cause trouble in understanding each other. | | C．It is convenient for teens to text and call at the same time. | | D．It will cause damage to the development of teens" intelligence. |
小题2:What would be the best title for this passage?| A．For Teens, Texting Instead of Talking | | B．For Parents, Caring Much for Their Kids | | C．Disadvantages of Texting | | D．The Effect of Communication |
小题3:What does the underlined word "distracted" in the fifth paragraph mean?| A．Confused. | B．Absent-minded. | | C．Comfortable. | D．Bad-tempered. |
小题4: The author"s attitude to texting is ___________ .| A．objective | B．opposed | C．supportive | D．doubtful |
小题5:According to the passage, which of the statements is NOT true?| A．It is normal for a teen to send or receive 60 text messages per day. | | B．Texting is a very popular way of communication among teens. | | C．The writer limited his son to send or receive messages at first. | | D．When texting, teens don"t mind talking with you. |
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Until the 1980s, the American homeless population is mainly made up of older males. Today, homelessness strikes much younger part of society. In fact, a 25-city survey by the U. S. Conference of Mayors in 1987 found that families with children make up the fastest growing part of the homeless population. Many homeless children gather in inner cities; this transient(变化无常的) and frequently frightened student population creates additional problems — both legal and educational — for already overburdened urban school administrators and teachers.
Estimates of the number of homeless Americans range from 350,000 to three million. Likewise, estimates of the number of homeless school children vary radically. A U.S. Department of Education report, based on state estimates, states that there are 220,000 homeless school-age children, about a third of whom do not attend school on a regular basis. But the National Coalition for the Homeless estimates that there are at least two times as many homeless children, and that less than half of them attend school regularly.
One part of the homeless population that is particularly difficult to count consists of the “throwaway” youths who have been cast of their homes. The Elementary School Center in New York City estimates that there are 1.5 million of them, many of whom are not treated as children because they do not stay in family shelters and tend to live by themselves on the streets.
Federal law, the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, includes a section that addresses the educational needs of homeless children. The educational provisions（规定） of the McKinney Act are based on the belief that all homeless children have the right to a free, appropriate education.
小题1:It is implied in the first paragraph that ____.| A．the writer himself is homeless, even in his eighties | | B．many older homeless residents are going on strike in 25 cities | | C．there is a serious shortage of academic facilities | | D．homeless children are denied the opportunity of receiving free education |
小题2:The National Coalition for the homeless believes that the number of homeless children is _____.| A．350,000 | B．1,500,000 | C．440,000 | D．110,000 |
小题3:One part of the homeless population is difficult to estimate. The reason might well be ____.| A．the homeless children are too young to be treated as children | | B．the homeless population is growing rapidly | | C．the homeless children usually stay outside school | | D．some homeless children are deserted by their families |
小题4:The McKinney Act is mentioned in this passage in order to show that ___.| A．the educational problems of homeless children are being recognized | | B．the estimates on homeless children are hard to determine | | C．the address of grade-school children should be located | | D．all homeless people should have free education |
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Are we getting more stupid? According to Gerald Crabtree, a scientist at Stanford University in the US, we are.
You may not want to hear this, but Crabtree believes that human intelligence reached its peak more than 2,000 years ago and ever since then has been going downhill. “If an average Greek from 1,000 BC were transported to modern times, he or she would be one of the brightest among us,” Crabtree told The Guardian.
At the heart of Crabtree’s thinking is a simple idea. In the past, intelligence was critical for survival when our ancestors had to avoid dangerous animals and hunt for food. The difference of being smart or stupid is often life or death. However, after the spread of agriculture, when our ancestors began to live in dense farming communities, the need to keep their intelligence in peak condition gradually reduced.
This is not hard to understand. Most of the time, pressure is what keeps us going – you need the pressure from your teachers to finish your homework; the pressure of looking pretty prompts(促使) you to lose weight when summer comes. And the same is also true of our intelligence – if we think less, we become less smart.
These mutations(变异) are harmful to our intelligence and they were all developed in the past 3,000 years. The other evidence that Crabtree holds is in our genes. He found that among the 2,000 to 5,000 genes that we have that determine human intelligence , there are two or more mutations in each of us.
However, Crabtree’s theory has been criticized by some who say that early humans may have better hunting and surviving abilities, but people today have developed a more diverse intelligence. For example, spearing a tiger doesn’t necessarily require more brainpower than playing chess or writing a poem. Moreover, the power of modern education means a lot more people have the opportunity to learn nowadays.
“You wouldn’t get Stephen Hawking 2,000 years ago. He just wouldn’t exist,” Thomas Hills of the University of Warwick, UK, told Live Science. “But now we have people of his intellectual capacity doing things and making insights(洞察力) that we would never have achieved in our environment of evolutionary adaptation.”
小题1:What is Crabtree’s recent finding according to the article? | A．The Greeks from 1,000 BC could have been the smartest in human history. | | B．Our ancient ancestors had no better surviving abilities than we do nowadays. | | C．Humans have been getting steadily more intelligent since the invention of farming. | | D．Mutations in genes that decide human intelligence have affected the development of intelligence. |
小题2:According to Crabtree, ancient humans _______.| A．had much more genes that determine human intelligence | | B．were forced to be smart due to natural selection pressures | | C．relied more on group intelligence than individual intelligence | | D．developed a diverse intelligence to adapt to the hard realities |
小题3:Some argue that Crabtree’s theory is false because they think _______.| A．people today are under much more pressure than early humans | | B．it’s ridiculous to compare a hunter’s and a poet’s intelligence | | C．modern education is far more advanced than ancient education | | D．human intelligence nowadays is different from that of the distant past |
小题4:What is Thomas Hills’ attitude toward Crabtree’s theory?| A．Supportive | B．Unfavorable | C．Worried | D．Confused |
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Recently I spoke to some of my students about what they wanted to do after they graduated, and what kind of job prospects they thought they had.
Given that I teach students who are trained to be doctors, I was surprised to find that most thought that they would not be able to get the jobs they wanted without “outside help”. “What kind of help is that?” I asked, expecting them to tell me that they would need a relative or family friend to help them out.
“Surgery（外科手术）”, one replied. I was pretty alarmed by that response. It seems that the graduates of today are increasingly willing to go under the knife to get ahead of others when it comes to getting a job. One girl told me that she was considering surgery to increase her height. “They break your legs, put in special extending screws, and slowly expand the gap between the two ends of the bone as it regrows. You can get at least 5 cm taller!”
At that point, I was shocked. I am short. I can’t deny that, but I don’t think I would put myself through months of pain just to be a few centimeters taller. I don’t even bother to wear shoes with thick soles, as I’m not trying to hide the fact that I am just not tall!
It seems to me that there is a trend toward wanting “perfection”, and that is an ideal that just does not exist in reality.
No one is born perfect, yet magazines, TV shows and movies present images of thin, tall, beautiful people as being the norm（标准）. Advertisements for slimming aids, beauty treatments and cosmetic surgery clinics fill the pages of newspapers, further creating an idea that “perfection” is a requirement, and that it must be purchased, no matter what the cost. In my opinion, skills, rather than appearance, should determine how successful a person is in his chosen career.
小题1:We can know from the passage that the author works as ________.| A．a professor | B．a model | C．a teacher | D．a reporter |
小题2:Many graduates today turn to cosmetic surgery to ________.| A．marry a better man/woman | | B．become a model | | C．get an advantage over others in job-hunting | | D．attract more admirers |
小题3:What was the author’s reaction towards the girl’s decision?| A．Excited. | B．Surprised. | C．Happy. | D．Angry. |
小题4:According to the passage, the author believes that ________.| A．everyone should pursue perfection, whatever the cost | | B．it’s right for graduates to ask for others to help them out in hunting for jobs | | C．media are to blame for misleading young people in their seeking for surgery | | D．it is one’s appearance instead of skills that really matters in one’s career |
小题5:What does the author think of his height?| A．He hates to be called a short man. | | B．He tries to increase his height through surgery. | | C．He always wears shoes with thick soles to hide the fact. | | D．He just accepts it as it is. |
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People are being lured(引诱) onto Facebook with the promise of a fun, free service, and don’t realize that they’re paying for it by giving up loads of personal information. Facebook then attempts to make money by selling their data（资料） to advertisers that want to send targeted (目标的)messages.
Most Facebook users don’t realize this is happening. Even if they know what the company is up to, they still have no idea what they’re paying for Facebook, because people don’t really know what their personal details are worth.
The biggest problem, however, is that the company keeps changing the rules. Early on, you could keep everything private. That was the great thing about Facebook—you could create your own little private network. Last year, the company changed its privacy rules so that many things—your city, your photo, your friends’ names—were set, by default（默认）, to be shared with everyone on the Internet.
According to Facebook’s vice president Elliot Schrage, the company is simply making changes to improve its service, and if people don’t share information, they have a “less satisfying experience.”
Some critics think this is more about Facebook looking to make more money. Its original business model, which involved selling ads and putting them at the side of the page, totally failed. Who wants to look at ads when they’re online connecting with their friends?
The privacy issue has already landed Facebook in hot water in Washington. In April, Senator Charles Schumer called on Facebook to change its privacy policy. He also urged the Commission to set guidelines for social-networking sites. “I think the senators rightly communicated that we had not been clear about what the new products were and how people could choose to use them or not to use them,” Schrage admits.
I suspect that whatever Facebook has done so far to invade（侵犯）our privacy, it’s only the beginning，which is why I’m considering deactivating（撤销） my account(账号). Facebook is a handy site, but I’m upset by the idea that my information is in the hands of people I don’t trust. That is too high a price to pay.
小题1:What do we learn about Facebook from the first paragraph?| A．It is a website that sends messages to targeted users. | | B．It makes money by putting on advertisements. | | C．It earns money by selling its user’s personal data | | D．It provides a lot of information to its users |
小题2:What does the author say about most Facebook users?| A．They don’t know their personal data enriches Facebook | | B．They are unwilling to give up their personal information | | C．They don’t identify themselves when using website | | D．They care very little about their personal information |
小题3:Why does Facebook make changes to its rules according to Elliot Schrage?| A．To help its users make more friends | | B．To obey the Federal guidelines | | C．To make money by attracting more users | | D．To offer better service to its users |
小题4:What does Senator Charles Schumer argue for?| A．Setting guidelines for advertising on websites | | B．Setting rules for social-networking sites | | C．Stopping sharing user’s personal information | | D．Removing ads from all social-networking sites |
小题5:Why does the author plan to stop using his Facebook account?| A．He is dissatisfied with its service. | | B．He finds many of its users untrustworthy. | | C．He doesn’t want his personal data badly used. | | D．He is upset by its frequent rule changes. |
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