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
Donald was shaken by thunder on the bed before he could count “one thousand one”. Then he heard the smoke alarm go off. He went downstairs quickly to investigate. When he opened the door to the basement (地下室), flames exploded out.
Donald fled (逃) back upstairs to call 911 but the phone didn’t work. When he tried to go downstairs, he was stopped by a wall of flames. He had to use a towel to cover his mouth. His house was three miles off the main road and so well hidden by trees that Donald knew calling for help would be useless. Actually, he didn’t even try to do that.
About one mile away lived Donald’s closest neighbor, Jeremie. When he heard some sounds, Jeremie jumped out of bed, holding a phone and a flashlight, and went towards the noise. He dialed 911 the instant he saw the flames. When he came close to the house, Jeremie knew he’d better wait until rescuers came. But he didn’t want Donald to die in the fire.
Without hesitation (犹豫), he rushed into the house. He shouted, “Donald, where are you?” Then he had to run outside to catch his breath. After one more attempt (尝试), he gave up and circled around back. He saw Donald on the second-floor balcony, but there was no way to get to him. Suddenly, he noticed a ladder. He dragged it over to the balcony and pulled Donald down just when the second floor fell down.
Within the year, Donald built a new two-story wood house at the site of the fire. Jeremie and Donald don’t run into each other regularly, but Donald knows that if he ever needs help, Jeremie will be there.
1.What was Donald doing when he heard thunder?
A. He was going to sleep on the bed.
B. He was ready to count numbers.
C. He was going downstairs.
D. He was in the basement.
2.Donald didn’t call for help mainly because .
A. his mobile didn’t work.
B. he could put out the fire himself.
C. his house was far from the main road.
D. the flames made him too weak to shout.
3.From the text, we can infer that .
A. it was the firemen who saved Donald that night
B. Jeremie helped Donald build a new wood house
C. Donald had fallen off the second floor before Jeremie found him
D. whatever difficulties Donald meets, Jeremie will help him
John Coltrane was born in North Carolina in 1926 and raised in the small farm town of High Point. As a young boy, he spent a great deal of time listening to the music of the black Southern church. Coltrane’s father sewed clothes and could also play several musical instruments for his own enjoyment. The young Coltrane grew up in such a musical environment. And he discovered jazz by listening to the recordings of such jazz greats as Count Basie and Lester Young.
When John was thirteen, he asked his mother to buy him a saxophone. People realized almost immediately that the young man could play the instrument very well. John learned by listening to the recordings of the great jazz saxophone players, Johnny Hodges and Charlie Parker.
In 1943 John and his family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied music for a short time at the Granoff Studios and at the Ornstein School of Music. He served for a year in a Navy band in Hawaii. When he returned, he began playing the saxophone in several small bands.
In 1948, Coltrane joined trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie’s band. Seven years later, Coltrane joined the jazz group of another trumpet player, Miles Davis.Then he began experimenting with new ways to write and perform jazz music, and explored many new ways of playing the saxophone.Some people did not like this new sound, while others said it was an expression of modern soul and represented an important change. By 1965, Coltrane became one of the most famous jazz musicians in the world. He was famous in Europe and Japan, as well as in the United States. He was always trying to produce a sound that no one had produced before. Some of the sounds he made were beautiful. Others were like loud screams. Miles Davis said Coltrane was the loudest, fastest saxophone player that ever rived.
Many people could not understand his music. But they listened anyway. Coltrane never made his music simpler to become more popular. He continued to perform and record even as he suffered from liver cancer. He died in 1967 at the age of forty in Long Island, New York.
1._______ play(s) the most important role in John Coltrane’s love of music.
A. The musical environment in which he was brought up
B. His father’s musical instruments
C. The church music he listened to
D. The recordings of jazz greats
2.John’s success in music is largely due to his______.
A. hard work B. creativity
C. family D. performing style
3.We can learn from the passage EXCEPT that______.
A. John performed several musical instruments for fun when he was young
B. his mother bought him a saxophone in 1939
C. in his early twenties John joined Gillespie’s band
D. John went on to perform in spite of his illness
4.The correct order of the following events is______.
a. John moved to Philadelphia
b. John joined the group of Miles Davis.
c. John served in a Navy band
d. John became a famous jazz musician
e. John got his first saxophone
A.d—a—e—b—c B.e—d—a—b—c
C.a—d—e—c—b D.e—a—c—b—d
Some people will do just about anything to save money. And I am one of them. Take my family's last vacation. It was my six-year-old son's winter break from school, and we were heading home from Fort Lauderdale after a week long trip. The flight was overbooked, and Delta, the airline, offered us $400 per person in credits to give up our seats and leave the next day. I had meetings in New York, so I had to get back. But that didn't mean my husband and my son couldn't stay. I took my nine-month-old and took off for home.
The next day, my husband and son were offered more credits to take an even later flight. Yes, I encouraged—okay, ordered—them to wait it out at the airport to “earn” more Delta Dollars. Our total take：$1,600.Not bad, huh?
Now some people may think I'm a bad mother and not such a great wife either. But as a big－time bargain hunter, I know the value of a dollar. And these days, a good deal is something few of us can afford to pass up.
I've made a living looking for the best deals and exposing(揭露) the worst tricks. I have been the consumer reporter of NBC's Today show for over a decade. I have written a couple of books including one titled Tricks of the Trade: A Consumer Survival Guide. And I really do what I believe in.
I tell you this because there is no shame in getting your money's worth. I'm also tightfisted when it comes to shoes, clothes for my children, and expensive restaurants. But I wouldn't hesitate to spend on a good haircut. It keeps its shape longer, and it's the first thing people notice. And I will also spend on a classic piece of furniture. Quality lasts.
1.Why did Delta give the author's family credits?
A.They took a later flight.
B.They had early bookings.
C.Their flight had been delayed.
D.Their flight had been cancelled.
2.What can we learn about the author?
A.She rarely misses a good deal.
B.She seldom makes a compromise.
C.She is very strict with her children.
D.She is interested in cheap products.
3.What does the author do?
A.She's a teacher. B.She's a housewife.
C.She's a media person. D.She's a businesswoman.
4.What does the author want to tell us?
A.How to expose bad tricks.
B.How to reserve airline seats.
C.How to spend money wisely.
D.How to make a business deal.
When I was in junior high school, what my friends thought of me was really important to me. During those years, I grew much than most of my peers(同龄人). Being so tall made me feel . In order to keep the focus off my unusual , I went along with the crowd who would other kids at school. It made sure that the tricks were at others, and not at me.
Once before a class, my friends and I pulled a trick on one of the kids on the basketball team, which made him terribly embarrassed. I thought it was going to be funny, it all ended up that no one thought it was.
My parents didn’t always think that my was funny. They reminded me about “The Golden Rule”: to others as I would like to be treated. What I was doing was other kids, and in turn hurting my as someone to be looked up to. My friends were looking up to me I was tall, but what did they see?
My parents wanted me to be a leader who set a good to others. They taught me to set my own goals, and to do the at everything that I set out to do. They told me to be the leader that I was to be-to be a big man in my heart and actions, as well as in my body. I had to myself whether or not I would be the kind of leader and person my parents I was inside, but I knew in my heart that they were .
“Be a leader, Shaquille, not a(n) . Since people already have to look up to you, give them a good reason to do so.”
1.A. stronger B. taller C. wiser D. braver
2.A. independent B. confident C. uncomfortable D. proud
3.A. hair B. eyesight C. weight D. height
4.A. have mercy on B. join hands with C. benefit from D. play tricks on
5.A. punished B. directed C. awarded D. shouted
6.A. music B. football C. basketball D. swimming
7.A. kind B. magic C. clever D. hurtful
8.A. so B. but C. and D. or
9.A. behavior B. dream C. nerve D. belief
10.A. praise B. admire C. treat D. hate
11.A. threatening B. motivating C. entertaining D. hurting
12.A. attitude B. fame C. body D. feeling
13.A. because B. though C. when D. if
14.A. friend B. comfort C. example D. help
15.A. biggest B. least C. worst D. best
16.A. chosen B. meant C. born D. elected
17.A. question B. devote C. write D. risk
18.A. promised B. imagined C. believed D. forgot
19.A. determined B. wrong C. ambitious D. right
20.A. follower B. learner C. organizer D. inventor
----It seems that I shall never achieve my goal, Mum.
----Don’t lose heart, dear. You know___________.
A. failure is the mother of success
B. action speak louder than works
C. great minds think alike
D. a good beginning is half done
