A funny thing happened on the way to the communications revolutions: 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 email 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 index goes up. You can't even call a person to get the phone number of another person my more. 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 email account. Giving them up isn't wise…they're a great help to use. 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 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 a phone call

B．you can hardly get in touch with the people sitting beside you

C．modem 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．encouraging

B．disappointing

C．satisfying

D．embarrassing

4.The passage implies that        .

A．modern technology is bridging the people.

B．modern technology is separating the people

C．modern technology is developing too fast

D．modern technology is interrupting our communications

 

As the railroads and the highways shaped the American West in the past centuries, a new electrical generating(发电)and transmission (输送) system for the 21st century will leave a lasting mark on the West, for better or worse. Much of the real significance of railroads and highways is not in their direct physical effect on the scenery, but in the ways that they affect the surrounding community. The same is true of big solar plants and the power lines that will be laid down to move electricity around.
The 19 th century saw land grants(政府拨地) offered to railroad companies to build the transcontinental railroads, leaving public land in between privately owned land. In much of the West, some of the railroad sections were developed while others remained undeveloped, and in both cases the landownership has presented unique challenges to land management. With the completion of the interstate highway system, many of the small towns, which sprang up as railway stops and developed well, have lost their lifeblood and died.
Big solar plants and their power lines will also have effects far beyond their direct footprint in the West. This is not an argument against building them. We need alternative energy badly, and to really take advantage of it we need to be able to move electricity around far more readily than we can now.
So trade-offs will have to be made. Some scenic spots will be sacrificed. Some species(物种) will be forced to move, or will be carefully moved to special accommodations. Deals will be struck to reduce the immediate effects.
The lasting effects of these trade-offs are another matter. The 21st century development of the American West as an ideal place for alternative energy is going to throw off a lot of power and money in the region. There are chances for that power and money to do a lot of good. But it is just as likely that they will be spent wastefully and will leave new problems behind, just like the railroads and the highways.
The money set aside in negotiated trade-offs and the institutions that control it will shape the West far beyond the immediate footprint of power plants and transmission lines. So let’s remember the effects of the railroads and the highways as we construct these new power plants in the West.
【小题1】What was the problem caused by the construction of the railways?

A．Small towns along the railways became abandoned.

B．Land in the West was hard to manage.

C．Some railroad stops remained underused.

D．Land grants went into private hands.

【小题2】What is the major concern in the development of alternative energy according to the last two paragraphs?

A．The use of money and power.

B．The transmission of power.

C．The conservation of solar energy.

D．The selection of an ideal place.

【小题3】What is the author’s attitude towards building solar plants?

A．Disapproving.

B．Approving.

C．Doubtful.

D．Cautious.

【小题4】Which is the best title for the passage?

A．How the Railways Have Affected the West

B．How the Effects of Power Plants Can Be Reduced

C．How Solar Energy Could Reshape the West

D．How the Problems of the Highways Have Been Settled

For years and years people have been saying that the railways are dead. “ We can do without railways.” People say…as if motorcars and planes have made the railways unnecessary. We all keep hearing that trains are slow, that they lose money, and that they’re dying .But this is far from the truth: in these days of expensive oil, the railways have become highly competitive with motorcars and planes. If you want to carry people or goods from place to place, they are cheaper than planes. And they have much in common with planes. A plane goes in a straight line and so does a railway. What is more, it takes you from the heart of a city into the heart of another. It doesn’t leave you up as a plane does, miles and miles from the city center. It doesn’t hold you up as a car does, in endless traffic jams, and a single train carry goods which a plane or a motorcar could never do.
Far from being dead, the railways are very much alive. Modern railway lines give you a smooth, untroubled journey. Where else can you eat well, sleep in comfort, feel safe and enjoy the scene while you are traveling at speed at the same time? And we are only at the beginning, for we have just entered the age of super-fast trains, trains traveling at 150 miles an hour and more. Soon we will be wondering why we spent so much on motorcars we can’t use because we have not enough money to buy the oil and planes we can’t fly for the same reason..
【小题1】Some people think the railways are unnecessary for many reasons except that       .

A．planes and motorcars have taken the place of trains

B．oil is expensive today

C．trains are slow

D．railways lose money

【小题2】According to the writer, which of the following is Not true?

A．It is cheaper to travel by train than by plane.

B．The railway station is usually at the center of the city.

C．When you get off the plane you will find yourself right in the city center.

D．No motorcar or plane can carry as many goods as a train does.

【小题3】The writer thinks that the railways, far from being dead, are very much alive because      .

A．we can have a smooth and untroubled journey

B．we’ll not have enough money to fly in planes

C．we can now travel in super-fast train

D．all of the above

【小题4】The best title for this passage may be”        ”

A．Not the End but the Beginning

B．Which is the Best: Train, Motorcar or Plane

C．Trains are More Competitive than Motorcars or Planes

D．Oh, Super-fast Trains

A funny thing happened on the way to the communication 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 suddenly, 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 communication technology is a tragedy to the closeness of human interaction. With email 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 emotional distance index goes up. You can’t even call a person to get the phone number of another person any more. 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 email 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 e­mail to do a job meant for conversations or being relieved with voice-mail picking up because I don't really have time to talk. The industry devoted to helping me keep in touch is making me lonelier.

1.Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?

A. The Advance of Modern Technology

B. The Consequences of Communication Technology

C. The Story of Communication Revolution

D. The Automation of Modern Communication

2.Which is NOT TURE according to the passage?

A. The author has decided not to use his phone when he is with his friend.

B. Modern technology makes it hard for people to have a face-to-face talk.

C. The limited use of communication device brings much inconvenience to the author.

D. The industry intended to keep people in touch is taking them away from each other.

3.The writer feels that the use of modern communication is ______.

A. satisfying          B. encouraging

C. disappointing       D. embarrassing

4.The passage implies that ______.

A. modern technology is bridging the people   

B. modern technology is separating the people

C. modern technology is developing too fast

D. modern technology is interrupting people

 

阅读下面的短文，并根据短文后的要求答题（请注意问题后的字数要求）。

[1] 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. But I became invisible, absent from the conversation.

[2] The telephone used to connect you to the absent. Now it makes people sitting next to you feel absent. Recently I was in a car with three friends. The driver told us to be quiet because he could not hear the person on the other end of his cell phone. There we were, four friends going down the highway, unable to talk to one another because of a tool designed to make communication easier.

[3]Why is it that the more connected we get, ________________________ ? Every advance in communications technology is a hurt to the closeness of human interaction (互动). 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.

[4] More and more, l 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.

 [5] 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 home.

1. What does the author say about communications technology according to the first two paragraphs? (within 15 words)

_________________________________________________________________________

2.Which sentences in the text is the closest in meaning to the following one?

However, I felt left out as if we were not conducting the conversation.

_________________________________________________________________________

3. Fill in the blanks in Paragraph 3 with proper words. (within 10 words)

_________________________________________________________________________

4. Does the author restrict (约束) his own activity to improving the situation? Give an example. How？(within 15 words)

_________________________________________________________________________

5. Translate the underlined sentences in Paragraph 4 into Chinese.

________________________________________________________________________