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 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 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 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. 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
B
(Question)
Several weeks ago, a mysterious Christmas card dropped through our mailbox. The envelope was addressed to a man named Raoul, who, I was ly certain, did not live with us. The envelope wasn't sealed, so I opened it. The inside of the card was blank. Ed, my husband, explained that the card was both from and to the newspaper deliveryman. His name was apparently Raoul, and Raoul wanted a holiday tip. We were meant to put a check inside the card and then drop the envelope in the mail. When your services are finished at 4 a.m., you can't simply hang around, like a hotel bellboy expecting a tip. You have to be direct. So I wrote a nice holiday greeting to this man who, in my imagination, fires The New York Times from his bike aimed at our front door, causing more noise with mere newsprint than most people manage with sophisticated black market fireworks. With a start, I realized that perhaps the reason for the 4 a.m. wake-up noise was not ordinary rudeness but carefully executed spite : I had not tipped Raoul in Christmas past. I honestly hadn't realized I was supposed to. This was the first time he'd used the card tactic . So I got out my checkbook. Somewhere along the line, holiday tipping went from an optional thank-you for a year of services to a Mafia-style protection racket . Several days later, I was bringing our garbage bins back when I noticed an envelope taped to one of the lids. The outside of the envelope said MICKEY. It had to be another tip request, this time from our garbage collector. Unlike Raoul, Mickey hadn't enclosed his own Christmas card from me. In a way, I appreciated the directness. "I know you don't care how merry my Christmas is, and that's fine," the gesture said. "I want $30, or I'll 'forget' to empty your garbage bin some hot summer day." I put a check in the envelope and taped it back to the bin. The next morning, Ed noticed that the envelope was gone, though the trash hadn't yet been picked up: "Someone stole Mickey's tip!" Ed was quite certain. He made me call the bank and cancel... Ed's encounter with the recycling team shows that _ . A) Ed was desperate to correct his mistake B) Ed only wanted to give money to Raoul C) Ed was unwilling to tip the truck driver D) Ed no longer wanted to give them money
(Answer)
A
Ques: Hobbs was an orphan . He worked in a factory and every day he got a little money. Hard work changed him thin and weak. He wanted to borrow a lot of money to learn to paint pictures, but he did not think he could pay off the debts.One day the lawyer said to him, "One thousand dollars, and here is the money." As Hobbs took the package of notes, he was very dumbfounded . He didn't know where the money came from and how to spend it. He said to himself, "I could go to find a hotel and live like a rich man for a few days; or I give up my work in the factory and do what I'd like to do: painting pictures I could do that for a few weeks, but what would I do after that? I should have lost my place of the factory and have no money to live on. If it were a little less money, I would buy a new coat, or a radio, or give a dinner to my friends. If it were more, I could give up the work and pay for painting pictures. But it's too much for one and too little for the other." "Here is the reading of your uncle's will ," said the lawyer, "telling what is to be done with this money after his death. I must ask you to remember one point. Your uncle has said you must bring me a paper showing exactly what you did with his money, as soon as you have spent it." "Yes, I see. I'll do that." said the young man. With the money he got, first Hobbs _ . A) planned to have a happy life for a few days B) decided to give up his work in the office C) was to give a dinner to his friends D) had no idea what to do
Ans: D
Ques: It was a winter morning, just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2005.While most people were warming up their cars, Trevor, my husband, had to get up early to ride his bike four kilometers away from home to work.On arrival, he parked his bike outside the back door as he usually does.After putting in 10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone. The bike, a black Kona 18 speed, was our only transport.Trevor used it to get to work, putting in 60-hour weeks to support his young family.And the bike was also used to get groceries , saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live. I was so sad that someone would steal our bike that I wrote to the newspaper and told them our story.Shortly after that, several people in our area offered to help.One wonderful stranger even bought a bike, then called my husband to pick it up.Once again my husband had a way to get to and from his job.It really is an honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before. People say that a smile can be passed from one person to another, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so.This experience has had a spreading effect in our lives because it strengthened our faith in humanity as a whole.And it has influenced us to be more mindful of ways we, too, can share with others.No matter how big or how small, an act of kindness shows that someone cares.And the results can be everlasting. How did people get to know the couple's problem? A) From radio broadcasts. B) From a newspaper. C) From TV news. D) From a stranger.
Ans:
B