Everywhere I look outside my home I see people busy on their high-tech devices, while driving, walking, shopping, even sitting in toilets．When connected electronically, they are away from physical reality．
People have been influenced to become technology addicted．One survey reported that “addicted” was the word most commonly used by people to describe their relationship to iPad and similar devices．One study found that people had a harder time resisting the allure of social media than they did for sleep, cigarettes and alcohol．
The main goal of technology companies is to get people to spend more money and time on their products, not to actually improve our quality of life．They have successfully created a cultural disease．Consumers willingly give up their freedom, money and time to catch up on the latest information, to keep pace with their peers or to appear modern．
I see people trapped in a pathological （病态的） relationship with time-sucking technology, where they serve technology more than technology serves them．I call this technology servitude．I am referring to a loss of personal freedom and independence because of uncontrolled consumption of many kinds of devices that eat up time and money．
What is a healthy use of technology devices? That is the vital question．Who is really in charge of my life? That is what people need to ask themselves if we are to have any chance of breaking up false beliefs about their use of technology．When we can live happily without using so much technology for a day or a week, then we can regain control and personal freedom, become the master of technology and discover what there is to enjoy in life free of technology．Mae West is famous for the wisdom that “too much of a good thing is wonderful．” But it’s time to discover that it does not work for technology．
Richard Fernandez, an executive coach at Google acknowledged that “we can be swept away by our technologies．” To break the grand digital connection people must consider how life long ago could be fantastic without today’s overused technology．
1.The underlined word “allure” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______．
A．advantage B．attraction
C．adaption D．attempt
2.From the passage, technology companies aim to ______．
A．attract people to buy their products
B．provide the latest information
C．improve people’s quality of life
D．deal with cultural diseases
3.It can be inferred from this passage that people ______．
A．consider too much technology wonderful
B．have realized the harm of high-tech devices
C．can regain freedom without high-tech devices
D．may enjoy life better without overused technology
4.What’s the author’s attitude towards the overusing of high-tech devices?
A．Neutral． B．Skeptical．
C．Disapproving． D．Sympathetic．
Dear David,
I’m glad you would like to share your feelings with me．It’s hardly surprising that your feelings of not being “grown up” have come on strongly at this point in your life, just before you’re about to become a father．You are asking: will I make a good father? How will I cope? Should I have brought another little person into the world? Can I provide for it? Heeelp! I think nearly every sensitive about-to-be-parent must have these occasional feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy before the birth and it would be most unusual if you didn’t share them．
It’s difficult, honestly, to feel grown-up unless you have something less grown-up to relate to．The boss with a hen-pecking wife may feel like a seven-year-old when he’s at home．But as he walks through the office door, and knows he’s going to be surrounded by staff looking to him for advice, he grows into a fully mature man．And I think it’s a mistake to imagine that we all feel, as we age, a kind of progression of states, from the baby to the adult．Most people feel, on Tuesday, about three years old, and on a Wednesday, around 80．I remember feeling very grown-up at eight, a time when I was weighed down with responsibility．These days, much older, I can, in the company of people I feel at ease with, feel like a young girl．
There’s a common remark that “all men are little boys”, but it’s not true．It’s truer that men often behave like little boys．But nearly all people, at some moments in their lives, are capable of great maturity．
Once your baby arrives, you’ll soon feel less childlike, or rather, less often．When your child tries to put its fingers into the electric plug, the adult in you will rise up to prevent it．You’ll see you have very little in common with a needy child, particularly if it’s looking to you for comfort and support．
Comfort yourself, David, with two truths．One is that your friends laugh when they talk about this subject because they, like you, feel frightened．And remember that people who haven’t grown up don’t go around talking about the fact that they don’t feel grown-up．
Hope my advice will be helpful and good luck to you and your little one．
Sincerely Yours,
Miss Advice
1.According to the passage, Miss Advice thinks David’s self-doubt is _______．
A．valuable B．natural C．unusual D．bearable
2.From Paragraph 2, we can learn that people’s sense of maturity _______．
A．will increase with age
B．is obviously seen at home
C．changes with different situations
D．becomes stronger with familiar people
3.Miss Advice holds the opinion that _______．
A．all men behave like little boys
B．people tend to laugh at the subject
C．men with a baby feel more grown-up
D．people enjoy talking about their immaturity
4.Miss Advice wrote the letter to _______．
A．offer suggestions to a future father
B．teach people how to grow up
C．encourage people to be responsible
D．solve problems of the less grown-up
“I want to be just like you．You are from uptown, aren’t you?” the young man asked in the local slang with a broad smile unaware of the burning tropical sun．Selling bags of potatoes at the roadside, his extra-large T shirt and faded blue jeans were a proof to the universal influence of American pop culture in Africa．I had accepted a seat at his potato stand to take a break before concluding business in Accra that afternoon．Between busy sales serving customers stuck in traffic, he asked numerous questions about life in America, convinced that having a visa to the United States was like winning the lottery （彩票）．How could I tell him that I envied his simple life and childish innocence when I was guilty of the silent culture that has helped to create a false image of Africans living abroad?
Outwardly, I looked like the poster boy for success visiting from the United States．My white designer shirt and matching pants were straight from the shopping malls in Detroit, where I worked as an engineer．Inwardly, I was caught in a web of ambition and cultural disappointment．My clothes suggested wealthy, yet I could not afford the numerous requests for money or to make gifts of my belongings．Uncles and aunties who were prepared to mortgage （作贷款抵押） their homes to help me leave 10 years ago now expected me to finance cousins hoping to make the same move to the United States．
America had helped me achieve my ambition for furthering my education and professional experience．I had arrived with a high-school diploma, and after 10 years, I hold a graduate degree and have a relatively successful professional career．Every inch of progress, however, had been achieved through exhausting battles．My college education had been financed partly through working multiple minimum-wage jobs．I was fortunate to secure a job upon graduation, but adjusting to corporate culture made me pay another high price．Initially, I found myself putting in twice the effort just to keep up．Scared by a wave of layoffs, I went to graduate school part time because it was the only way I knew that afforded me an edge in job security．It was as though I had run 10 continuous marathons, one for each year abroad, and my body screamed for rest．
1.In the eyes of the young potato seller, the author seemed _____．
A．to be a successful man
B．to have won a lottery
C．to represent American culture
D．to know a lot about the U．S．
2.At the bottom of his heart, the author feels that _____．
A．he wants to exchange places with the young seller
B．he is sorry for his cousins still living in Africa
C．his American dream has come true
D．he is torn between the two cultures
3.The author managed to attend a graduate school because _____．
A．studying graduate courses helped him adapt well to the life in the company
B．a graduate degree was the minimum requirement for his career
C．a graduate degree would give him an advantage over others in the job market
D．he wanted to settle permanently in the U．S
4.Which of the following is closest to the main idea of the passage?
A．An immigrant was accepted by the society after ten years of struggle．
B．An African American returned home with fame and fortune．
C．An immigrant returned home with an exhausted heart．
D．A young African was climbing to the top of his career．
What are the basic elements of good manners? Certainly a strong sense of justice is one; courtesy （谦恭） is often more than a highly developed sense of play．A friend of mine once told me about a time when he was driving along a narrow, unpaved mountain road． was another car that produced clouds of , and it was a long way to the nearest highway．Suddenly, at a wider place, the car ahead off the road． that its owner might have engine trouble, my friend stopped and asked if anything was wrong．“ ,” said the other driver, “but you’ve borne my dust this far, I’ll with yours the rest of the way．”
Another element of courtesy is empathy （善解人意）, a that enables a person to see into the mind or heart of someone else, to understand the pain or there and to do something to it．A man dinning with his girlfriend in a restaurant was trying to open the cap of a beer bottle, but he couldn’t do it because of badly injured ．He asked a young busboy to help him．The boy took the bottle, turned his back momentarily and loosened the cap without difficulty．Then he it again．Turning back to the man, he to make great efforts to open the bottle without success．Finally, he took it into the kitchen and returned shortly, saying that he had to loosen it—but only with a special tool．
another element of politeness is the ability to treat all people , in spite of all status or importance． when you have doubts about some people, act as if they are worthy of your best manners．You may also be to find out what they really are．
1.A．Nothing B．anything C．something D．nobody
2.A．fair B．consistent C．significant D．positive
3.A．Behind B．Ahead C．After D．Beside
4.A．dust B．smoke C．gas D．pollution
5.A．Blocked B．used C．paved D．repaired
6.A．took B．pulled C．drove D．flew
7.A．Hoping B．Seeing C．Recognizing D．Thinking
8.A．Yes B．Sure C．No D．Ok
9.A．do away B．catch up C．put up D．go on
10.A．tool B．thought C．behavior D．quality
11.A．Unhappiness B．pleasure C．feeling D．attitude
12.A．Maximize B．expand C．minimize D．contract
13.A．legs B．arms C．fingers D．mouth
14.A．Loosened B．tried C．capped D．tightened
15.A．seemed B．pretended C．managed D．tried
16.A．offered B．tried C．managed D．failed
17.A．As B．But C．So D．Still
18.A．alike B．separately C．warmly D．nicely
19.A．Ever B．Specially C．Especially D．Even
20.A．Astonished B．frightened C．disappointed D．Depressed
Spend the least time on those things that are completely_______, and figure out what you can do practically to make a difference．
A．out of shape B．out of control
C．out of practice D．out of touch
The novel, which he has been writing in the past five years, is ________ finished．He has only a few small changes to make in it．
A．virtually B．occasionally
C．universally D．Considerably
