The Internet, E-commerce and globalization are making a new economic era possible. In the future, capitalist markets will largely be replaced by a new kind of economic system based on networked relationships, contractual arrangements and access rights.
Has the quality of our lives at work, at home and in our communities increased in direct proportion to all the new Internet and business-to-business Internet services being introduced into our lives? I have asked this question of hundreds of CEOS and corporate executives in Europe and the United States. Surprisingly, virtually everyone has said, “No, quite contrary.” The very people responsible for ushering in what some have called a “technological renaissance” say they are working longer hours, feel more stressed, are more impatient, and are even less civil in their dealings with colleagues and friends—not to mention strangers. And what’s more revealing, they place much of the blame on the very same technologies they are so aggressively championing.
The techno gurus promised us that access would make life more convenient and give us more time. Instead, the very technological wonders that were supposed to liberate us have begun to enslave us in a web of connections from which there seems to be no easy escape.
If an earlier generation was preoccupied with the quest to enclose a vast geographic frontier, the .com generation, it seems, is more caught up in the colonization of time. Every spare moment of our time is being filled with some form of commercial connection, making time itself the most scarce of all resources. Our e-mail, voice mail and cell phones, our 24-hour Interact news and entertainment all seize for our attention.
And while we have created every kind of labor-and time-saving device to service our needs, we are beginning to feel like we have less time available to us than any other humans in history. That is because the great proliferation of labor-and-time-saving services only increases the diversity, pace and flow of commodified activity around us. For example, e-mail is a great convenience. However, we now find ourselves spending much of our day frantically responding to each other’s electronic messages. The cell phone is a great time-saver. Except now we are always potentially in reach of someone else who wants our attention.
Social conservatives talk about the decline in civility and blame it on the loss of a moral compass and religious values. Has anyone bothered to ask whether the hyper speed culture is making all of us less patient and less willing to listen and defer, consider and reflect?
Maybe we need to ask what kinds of connections really count and what types of access really matter in the e-economy era. If this new technology revolution is only about hyper efficiency, then we risk losing something even precious than time—our sense of what it means to be a caring human being.
1. According to the passage, corporate executives think that ____
2. Which of the following is NOT true?
3. What is the most valuable resource for the .com generation?
4. In the sixth paragraph, the author implied that ____
5. An appropriate title for the passage might be ____.
问题1选项
A.technology renaissance should be pushed forward
B.technology has a profound impact on their lives
C.technology actually results in a decline in their life quality
D.technology should be aggressively championed
问题2选项
A.Technology was supposed to free people.
B.The .com generation became slaves of technology.
C.New technologies occupy much of our time.
D.It is difficult to avoid the influence of technology wonders.
问题3选项
A.Technological wonders.
B.Access to information.
C.Time.
D.Time saving devices.
问题4选项
A.social conservatives blamed the loss of morality on technology
B.the .com generation was less civil than the earlier generations
C.the hyper speed culture led to the decline in civility
D.technology might make people less impatient
问题5选项
A.The New Internet Life
B.The Drawbacks of too Much Access
C.The Failure of Technological Renaissance
D.The Declining Quality of Life
第1题:C
第2题:B
第3题:C
第4题:D
第5题:B
第1题:
【选项释义】
According to the passage, corporate executives think that ____ 根据这段文章,公司的高管们认为____
A. technology renaissance should be pushed forward A. 技术的复兴应该向前推进
B. technology has a profound impact on their lives B. 科技对他们的生活有着深远的影响
C. technology actually results in a decline in their life quality C. 技术实际上会导致他们的生活质量的下降
D. technology should be aggressively championed D. 技术应该得到积极的支持
【答案】C
【考查点】细节事实题。
【解题思路】根据corporate executives可定位到Para.2的前面几句“我们在工作、家庭和社区的生活质量是否随着所有新的互联网和企业对企业的互联网服务进入我们的生活而直接增加?我曾问过欧洲和美国的数百位首席执行官和公司高管这个问题。令人惊讶的是,几乎每个人都说:‘不,恰恰相反。’”。从每个人的回答“没有,正好相反”可知C选项“技术实际上导致了他们生活质量的下降”符合题意。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“技术的复兴应该向前推进”、B选项“科技对他们的生活有着深远的影响”和D选项“技术应该得到积极的支持”可定位到Para.2,根据公司经理们的回答和接下来讲到的时间更长、压力更大、更不耐烦等可推知他们要强调的是科技给他们带来的负面影响,属于反向干扰。
第2题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following is NOT true? 以下哪一项是不正确的?
A. Technology was supposed to free people. A. 技术本来是可以解放人们的。
B. The .com generation became slaves of technology. B. 网络一代成为了科技的奴隶。
C. New technologies occupy much of our time. C. 新技术占据了我们的大部分时间。
D. It is difficult to avoid the influence of technology wonders. D. 很难避免科技奇迹的影响。
【答案】B
【考查点】细节事实题。
【解题思路】由文章Para.3第二句“相反,本应解放我们的科技奇迹,却开始把我们束缚在一个似乎无法轻易摆脱的联系网中”可知,网络生活开始把我们束缚在一个似乎无法轻易摆脱的联系网中,但并不是说网络一代变成了技术的奴隶,B选项属于曲解原文,故选项B为正确答案。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“技术本来是可以解放人们的”可定位到原文Para.3第二句“相反,那些本应解放(liberate)我们的科技奇迹,却开始把我们束缚在一个似乎很难摆脱的联系网络中。”由此可知,选项A中的free是文中liberate的同义替换,故A选项正确,反向干扰;
C选项“新技术占据了我们的大部分时间”和D选项“很难避免科技奇迹的影响”从Instead 可推知,技术专家们向人们保证“使生活变得更方便,节省更多的时间”的诺言没有实现,相反科技的进步占用了人们更多的时间,故C、D选项正确,反向干扰。
第3题:
【选项释义】
What is the most valuable resource for the .com generation? 对网络一代来说,最有价值的资源是什么?
A. Technological wonders. A. 技术奇迹。
B. Access to information. B. 访问信息。
C. Time. C. 时间。
D. Time saving devices. D. 节省时间的设备。
【答案】C
【考查点】细节事实题。
【解题思路】由文章Para.4第二句“我们的每一个空闲时间都充满了某种形式的商业联系,使时间本身(time)成为所有资源中最稀缺的”可知C选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“技术奇迹”、B选项“访问信息”和D选项“节省时间的设备”属于出处错位,均排除。
第4题:
【选项释义】
In the sixth paragraph, the author implied that ____ 在第六段中,作者暗示说____
A. social conservatives blamed the loss of morality on technology. A. 社会保守派将道德的丧失归咎于技术。
B. the .com generation was less civil than the earlier generations. B. 网络一代没有前几代人那么文明。
C. the hyper speed culture led to the decline in civility. C. 高速文化导致了文明的沦丧。
D. technology might make people less impatient. D. 科技可能会让人们不那么有耐心。
【答案】D
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】文章第六段中最后一个疑问句“是不是这种高速文化使大家失去了耐心,不愿意倾听、服从,不愿意深思熟虑?”可知D选项“科技可能会使人失去耐心”符合题意,故选项D正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“社会保守派将道德的丧失归咎于技术”可定位到Para.6第一句“社会保守派谈论文明的衰落,并将其归咎于道德规范和宗教价值观的丧失”,属于曲解原文;
B选项“网络一代没有前几代人那么文明”是社会保守派的观点,属于张冠李戴;
C选项“高速文化导致了文明的沦丧”这与该段最后一句是有出入的。
第5题:
【选项释义】
An appropriate title for the passage might be ____. 写给这篇文章的一个合适的标题可能是____。
A. The New Internet Life A. 新的互联网生活
B. The Drawbacks of too Much Access B. 访问过多的缺点
C. The Failure of Technological Renaissance C. 技术复兴的失败
D. The Declining Quality of Life D. 生活质量的下降
【答案】B
【考查点】主旨大意题。
【解题思路】文章主要讲述了新的科技革命本着为人类节约时间、节约能量的宗旨,但事实上却给人们带来了很多的负面影响,使人们更加忙碌不堪。B选项“访问过多的缺点”符合题意,故选项B正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“新的网络生活”太过笼统;
C选项“科技复兴的失败”,不符合文意,属于无中生有;
D选项“生活质量的下降”这只是Para.2公司经理们的观点,过于片面,属于以偏概全。