Question

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. With e-mail 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, the alienation(疏远) index goes up. You can't even call a person to get the phone number of another person anymore. 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 e-mail 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 e-mail 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.

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 the Communications Revolution

D. The Automation of Modern Communications

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 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

3.The writer feels that the use of modern communications is _________.

A. satisfying B. encouraging

C. disappointing D. embarrassing

4.The passage implies that________.

A. modern technology is bridging people

B. modern technology is separating people

C. modern technology is developing too fast

D. modern technology is interrupting our communication

 

Answer 1

1.B

2.C

3.D

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：现代科技的发展给人们的生活带来了极大的便利，人们逐渐习惯与使用电子邮件、电话等途径进行交谈、交流。然而，科技带给人们便利的同时，也在逐渐地让人们之间的距离变得疏远。

1.I became invisible, absent from the conversation.”和第三段“Every advance in communications technology is a tragedy to the closeness of human interaction.”可知，科技带给人们不好的影响是让人们逐渐变得疏远，文章着重讲的是现代科技的负面作用，故选B。

2.and his cell phone rang,...I became invisible, absent from the conversation”和第三段“we can now communicate without seeing or talking to one another”可知，当朋友接电话的时候，作者仿佛成了摆设，随着科技的发展，人们通过电话、邮件等途径进行交谈，这使得面对面的交谈变得很难，故选C。

3.It's some of their possible consequences that make me feel uneasy.”可知，本该让人们的生活变得更方便的现代科技却在使人们之间的距离变得疏远，现代科技的一些不好的影响是让作者感到不舒服的地方，故选D。

4.As almost every contact we can imagine between human beings gets automated, the alienation(疏远) index goes up.”和第六段“The industry devoted to helping me keep in touch is making me lonelier, or at least facilitating my antisocial instincts.”可知，每当科技有了新发展，人们的联系方式变得更自动化，人与人之间的疏远指数就会上升，帮助人们保持联系的科技却让人变得孤独，助长了人们不喜欢社交的本能，故选B。

考点：生活类短文阅读