You get anxious if there's no wi-fi in the hotel or mobile phone signal up the mountain. You feel upset if your phone is getting low on power, and you secretly worry things will go wrong at work if you're not there. All these can be called "always on" stress caused by smart phone addiction. For some people, smart phones have liberated them from the nine-to-five work. Flexible working has given them more autonomy in their working lives and enabled them to spend more time with their friends and families. For many others though, smart phones have become tyrants in their pockets, never allowing them to turn them off, relax and recharge their batteries. Pittsburgh-based developer Kevin Holesh was worried about how much he was ignoring his family and friends in favour of his iPhone. So he developed an app -- Moment -- to monitor his usage. The app enables users to see how much time they're spending on the device and set up warnings if the usage limits are breached . "Moment's goal is to promote balance in your life," his website explains. "Some time on your phone, some time off it enjoying your loving family and friends around you." Dr Christine Grant, an occupational psychologist at Coventry University, said, "The effects of this 'always on' culture are that your mind is never resting, and you're not giving your body time to recover, so you're always stressed. And the more tired and stressed we get, the more mistakes we make. Physical and mental health can suffer." And as the number of connected smart phones is increasing, so is the amount of data. This is leading to a sort of decision paralysis and is creating more stress in the workplace because people have to receive a broader range of data and communications which are often difficult to manage. "It actually makes it more difficult to make decisions and many do less because they're controlled by it all and feel they can never escape the office," said Dr Christine Grant. Kevin Holesh developed Moment to _ . A) research how people use their mobile phones B) help people control their use of mobile phones C) make people better use mobile phones D) increase the fun of using mobile phones
B
The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is a wake-up call. It is a call for every American to pay attention to the destruction we risk by allowing human-induced climate change to continue. It is impossible to prove that Hurricane Katrina was caused by global warming, or even that human activities made the storm more severe. However, a paper published in the scholarly journal Nature reports that the force of dangerous hurricanes has increased by 50% during the last 50 years. It also reports that a global warming-induced rise in temperature near the ocean's surface has probably contributed to this increase in dangerous storms, and thus to property damage and human death. On August 30, the Los Angeles Times summed up the view of many scientists who agree that if the frequency of hurricanes does not decrease in the next few years, then we will be fairly certain that humans, and not natural storm cycle, are at the root of the problem. I believe there is at least a chance that by reducing U.S. reliance on fossil fuels for energy, we can prevent future tragedies like Hurricane Katrina. Let the change begin now. There are many ways to reduce the volume of greenhouse gas emissions. My family drives the most fuel-efficient car we can afford, but I prefer to take public transportation whenever possible. My family buys locally grown food instead of produce that was transported thousands of miles on fuel-burning vehicles. We also replaced our incandescent light bulbs with more energy-efficient compact fluorescents . This might sound like a trivial move, but the Union of Concerned Scientists reports that if every household in the United States replaced one incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent, it would have the same effect on U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions as removing 7.5 million cars from the roads. Now think if every household replaced not just one but all of their incandescent bulbs! The United States, with just five percent of the world's population, is responsible for close to one quarter of greenhouse... According to the writer, _ in reducing the volume of greenhouse gas emissions. A) Europe does a better job. B) Europe should follow the example of America. C) he, as an European, wants to see more efforts made by Americans. D) Europeans should shoulder a greater responsibility.
A
Q: An old woman diverted ( ) attention from the book when I was sitting in my car. She walked slowly towards my parked car with a large shoulder bag. She stopped and put a hand out to rest against the car. She gently closed her eyes, took a deep breath and wiped the sweat off her forehead. Was there a way I could do anything to help her? But I wondered if the lady noticed me sitting inside the car, she would feel embarrassed and walk away. I stilled my body while my mind searched for answers. I turned my head towards my driver, wanting him to ask the lady if we could give her a ride. Because of my head movement, she noticed me and moved her hand away from the car. Her calm expression changed to a cautious one. I grabbed the water bottle next to me, smile, gently opened the door and offered the bottle to her. She looked at me hesitatingly, shook her head with downcast eyes and walked away. I was so annoyed with myself. I should have been more careful not to move. However, she was back I opened the door and patted the seat next to me. She sat down, opened her bag and offered me a banana. I took it and offered her the water bottle again. She took it. I ate, she drank and we smiled. She rested for a couple of minutes. Those minutes brought such tranquility to me. She took my head in both her hands and kissed my forehead, and then she left. I was trying to help someone in distress(,). In turn, I became distressed and she took away my distress and replace it with tranquility. Why did the old woman choose to rest against the author's car? A) Because she was too tired to walk further. B) Because it was a comfortable place to stay. C) Because she thought there was nobody in the car. D) Because she could put her large shoulder bag on the car.
A: C
Q: SAN FRANCISCO--A phone app in San Francisco gives information about open parking spots.City officials in San Francisco introduced the app to try to reduce traffic jams in the city, but some say it raises safety concerns. In this city, drivers searching for parking spots lead to 30 percent of all downtown jams, city officials think.Now San Francisco has found a solution -- a phone app for spot-seekers that shows information about areas with available spaces.The system, introduced last month, relies on wireless sensors fixed in streets and city garages that can tell within seconds if a spot has opened up. But the system could come with serious consequences.Some people say that drivers searching for parking could end up focusing on their phones, not the road."It could be really distracting ," said Daniel Simons, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois. City officials admitted the hidden problem.They are urging drivers to pull over before they use the city's iPhone app, or to do so before they leave home. Nathaniel Ford, executive director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, said safety could actually improve if drivers quickly found a spot instead of circling and getting frustrated. San Francisco has put sensors into 7,000 parking spots and 12,250 spots in city garages.If spaces in an area open up, the sensors communicate wirelessly with computers that in turn make the information available to app users within a minute, said Mr. Ford, of the transportation agency.On the app, a map shows which blocks have lots of places(blue)and which are full(red). More than 12,000 people have downloaded San Francisco's app, which is available now only for the iPhone. What's the main idea of the passage? A) A phone app has been introduced to relieve the pressure on traffic in the city. B) Safety concerns are voiced about a phone app aimed at helping drivers find parking spots. C) Looking for parking spots contributes greatly to downtown traffic jams. D) Drivers' attention is distracted in one way or another when they are driving.
A: A