Question

【题目】 Charles Wang has been to e mail hell, and returned to tell the tale. His journey there began innocently enough when, as chairman of Computer Associates International, a software company, he first heard how quickly his employees welcomed their new electronic mail system. They were sending messages to one another like crazy. “I said, ‘Let’s check into how people are using it.’” But instead of a pleasant e mail culture, what had developed was a behavioral nightmare. “It was a disaster,” he says. “My managers were getting 200 to 300 e mails a day each. People were so fond of it that they weren’t talking to each other. They were hibernating, e mailing people in the next room. They were abusing it.” In just a few years, Wang’s high-tech communications system had gone crazy.

To stop that, Wang short circuited the system, taking the astonishing step—considering what his $3.9 billion company does for a living—of banning all e mails from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. These hours are now observed as a sort of electronic quiet time. Says Wang: “It worked wonderfully. People are walking the corridors again talking to other people. ”

Almost everyone agrees that e mail is a wonderful invention. It is a convenient, informal medium for conveying messages that well meets human needs. E mail is perhaps the ideal means by which one can run a global project. “It is one of the greatest innovations of the last 20 years,” says Paul Argenti, a professor of management communications at Dartmouth’s Tuck School. But Argenti and others also say it is a medium whose function is confusing, in parts because the process is so easy and informal that people treat it as they do conversation but informal as it may be, e mail is writing and constitutes a permanent record, and because so much of human conversation is nonverbal, e mail messages, especially critical or complex ones, can easily be misunderstood.

【1】From the first paragraph,we can infer that Charles .

A. was very glad to see the benefits of e mails to his employees

B. thought it unbelievable that his employees used e mails so much

C. doubted the public enthusiasm about e mails for communications

D. considered the e mail application a somewhat happy experience

【2】The underlined word “hibernating” probably refers to those who .

A. get sleepy more easily for no actual work to do

B. have more time for sleep for their high efficiency

C. are not moving around and not talking to each other

D. become indifferent to each other even in the same office

【3】To change the worrisome situation, Charles Wang .

A. restricted the time for e mail correspondence

B. invented other media for communication

C. closed the e mail system in his company

D. closed his company for other business

【4】From the last paragraph, we can see the disadvantage of e mails may be that .

A. it is computer borneB. it doesn’t help global business

C. it may be misunderstoodD. it is a written language

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】C

【3】A

【4】C

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。Charles Wang还是软件公司国际计算机协会董事长时，因为员工们太过于热衷发电子邮件而彼此之间几乎不说话，Wang不得不限制了电子邮件通信的时间。几乎每个人都认为电子邮件是一项了不起的发明。它是一种方便的、非正式的媒介，可以很好地传达满足人类需要的信息。而由于人类的很多交流都是非语言的，所以电子邮件信息，尤其是批评的或复杂的，很容易被误解。

【1】推理判断题。根据第一段中“It was a disaster,” he says. “My managers were getting 200 to 300 e mails a day each. People were so fond of it that they weren’t talking to each other.（“这是一场灾难，”他说。“我的经理们每天收到200到300封电子邮件。人们太喜欢它了，以至于彼此都不说话了。”）可知从第一段我们可以推断，Charles认为他的员工如此频繁地使用电子邮件是不可思议的。故选B。

【2】词义猜测题。根据上文People were so fond of it that they weren’t talking to each other.可知人们太喜欢电子邮件了，以至于彼此都不说话了。专注于给隔壁房间的人发电子邮件。故可推测划线单词意思为“不走动，不说话”。故选C。

【3】细节理解题。根据第二段第一句To stop that, Wang short circuited the system, taking the astonishing step—considering what his $3.9 billion company does for a living—of banning all e mails from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.（为了阻止这种情况的发生，王缩短了系统的运行时间，迈出了令人吃惊的一步——考虑到他价值39亿美元的公司为了生存所做的一切——从早上9点30分到中午12点，从下午1点30分到4点禁止所有的电子邮件。）可知为了改变这种令人担忧的情况，查尔斯·王限制了电子邮件通信的时间。故选A。

【4】细节理解题。根据最后一段中because so much of human conversation is nonverbal, e-mail messages, especially critical or complex ones, can easily be misunderstood.（由于人类的很多交流都是非语言的，所以电子邮件信息，尤其是批评的或复杂的，很容易被误解。）可知电子邮件的缺点可能是它可能被误解。故选C。

词义猜测题做题技巧。

关于词义猜测题做题技巧。词义猜测题是阅读理解中常见的一种题型，主要有对生词的词义猜测，熟词新义以及代词的猜测。其关键是根据上下文的逻辑关系，利用已掌握的信息，有必要的时候，借助生活或者文化常识，确定单词的词义。故第二小题，根据上文People were so fond of it that they weren’t talking to each other.可知人们太喜欢电子邮件了，以至于彼此都不说话了。专注于给隔壁房间的人发电子邮件。故可推测划线单词意思为“不走动，不说话”。故选C。