"To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul." Simone Weil argued in the mid-twentieth century. Even our virtual playgrounds pay homage to the deeply felt need for place: MySpace was, until recently, called “a place for friends"; Second Life mimics real-life places with its homes, offices, and restaurants. What is different about mobile playgrounds is that mobile devices force real life and virtual life (and real places and virtual places) to try to coexist in a way they never have before.
We want to see this as a good, enabling thing—I can fire off that e-mail to the office and then get back to relaxing on my vacation!—but it is instructive to go to a playground today: even on a weekend, you will see parents engrossed in their iPhones and BlackBerrys while their children make increasingly loud bids for their attention. The November 2, 2009 cover of The New Yorker sadly and beautifully satirized this trend: it shows an illustration of children out trick-or-treating, basked in the glow of houselights, while their parents bask in the glow of the smart-phone in which they are rapt. Even our leisure time, it seems, has been colonized by our need to stay connected and it is a constant struggle to set limits on our engagement with the virtual world so that we can attend to the real one in front of us.
And when we decide to leave home entirely, we find it difficult to leave the demands of work behind. Consider the cruise ship industry: every year, more than three million people board a Carnival Cruise ship to take a vacation. They spend a great deal of time eating and gambling, and then eating some more. The perpetual buffets that have long been a staple of the cruise ship lifestyle cater to one kind of hunger; Carnival now caters to another one that seems counterintuitive in vacationers eager to get away from it all: staying connected. With their twenty-four-hour Internet cafes, onboard WiFi, and an advertising campaign that features bikini-clad patrons lounging on deck chairs with laptop computers, Carnival Cruise Lines has enthusiastically responded to the demands of patrons who seek an ideal of maritime escape but still want to check their e-mail several times a day.
This, too, is the strange new world of leisure: never disconnected, and never really free from the demands of daily life. Notwithstanding all the talk of mobility, we find ourselves tethered in novel ways—not to a hometown, or to a particular social background, but to our devices themselves and the feeling of connection they provide, which we seemingly cannot sit still without.
1.According to the first paragraph, what can we learn about MySpace and Second Life?
2.When saying it is instructive to go to a playground today, the author means that （ ）.
3.The following statements are TRUE except （ ）.
4.The word "tethered" in the last paragraph probably means （ ）.
5.This passage is intended to （ ）.
问题1选项
A.They function as real life venues for entertainment.
B.They deserve credit for reflecting the human soul.
C.As virtual playgrounds, they resemble reality in terms of place.
D.Through mobile devices, they represent engagement with society.
问题2选项
A.smart phones are the culprit for the poor relations between parents and children
B.responsible parents are supposed to engage their children with outdoor activities
C.playgrounds are the places for parents and children to spend time together
D.people's indulgence in staying connected can be witnessed there
问题3选项
A.people vacationing on Carnival Cruise ships have access to the Internet today
B.eating and gambling are the exclusive things people can enjoy on cruise ships
C.Carnival Cruise Lines cater to vacationers' demands to stay in contact with others
D.people's desire to remain connected makes it difficult for them to escape from work
问题4选项
A.confined
B.disconnected
C.immune
D.indifferent
问题5选项
A.analyze the various reasons for humans to settle down
B.advocate the necessity of virtual connection in leisure time
C.enumerate the enormous benefits of mobile devices for work and life
D.highlight the transformation of mobility through ubiquitous connection
第1题:C
第2题:D
第3题:B
第4题:A
第5题:D
第1题:
【选项释义】
According to the first paragraph, what can we learn about My Space and Second Life? 根据第一段，我们可以从My Space和Second Life中了解到什么？
A. They function as real-life venues for entertainment. A. 它们是现实生活中的娱乐场所。
B. They deserve credit for reflecting the human soul. B. 它们反映了人类的灵魂，值得赞扬。
C. As virtual playgrounds, they resemble reality in terms of place. C. 作为虚拟游乐场，它们在地点上与现实相似。
D. Through mobile devices, they represent engagement with society. D. 通过移动设备，他们代表着与社会的接触。
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词My Space以及Second Life定位文章首段第二句Even our virtual playgrounds pay homage to the deeply felt need for place: My Space was, until recently, called “a place for friends”; Second Life mimics real-life places with its homes, offices, and restaurants.（甚至我们的虚拟游乐场也在向人们对场所的强烈需求致敬：直到最近，我的空间还被称为“朋友的地方”；第二人生模拟了现实生活中的住宅、办公室和餐厅）可知C选项“作为虚拟游乐场，它们在地点上与现实相似”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“它们是现实生活中的娱乐场所”，根据文章首段可知二者都是虚拟游乐场，属于曲解原文；
B选项“它们反映了人类的灵魂，值得赞扬”指的是文章首句中提到的to be rooted（扎根），与题干中的虚拟游乐场无关，属于答非所问；
D选项均未在文中体现，属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
When saying it is instructive to go to a playground today, the author means that ( ). 当说今天去游乐场是有益的，作者的意思是（ ）。
A. smartphones are the culprit for the poor relations between parents and children A. 智能手机是导致父母和孩子关系恶化的罪魁祸首
B. responsible parents are supposed to engage their children with outdoor activities B. 负责任的父母应该让孩子参加户外活动
C. playgrounds are the places for parents and children to spend time together C. 游乐场是父母和孩子一起度过时光的地方
D. people’s indulgence in staying connected can be witnessed there D. 在那里可以看到，人们沉溺于与外界保持联系
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词it is instructive to go to a playground today定位文章第二段，由该段尾句Even our leisure time, it seems, has been colonized by our need to stay connected and it is a constant struggle to set limits on our engagement with the virtual world so that we can attend to the real one in front of us.（即使是我们的休闲时间，似乎也已经被我们保持联系的需求所占据，我们一直在努力限制我们与虚拟世界的接触，以便我们能够关注我们面前的真实世界）可推知作者认为人们太沉溺于虚拟世界，而忽略现实世界，因此提出如今去游乐场是很有启发性的，因此D选项“在那里可以看到，人们沉溺于与外界保持联系”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、B选项均未在文中体现，属于无中生有；
C选项“游乐场是父母和孩子一起度过时光的地方”并不是作者在第二段提及游乐场的目的，其目的是为了说明人们过于沉溺于和外界的联系，属于曲解原文。
第3题:
【选项释义】
The following statements are TRUE except ( ). 下列选项除（ ）外，都是正确的。
A. people vacationing on Carnival Cruise ships have access to the Internet today A. 在嘉年华游轮上度假的人现在可以上网了
B. eating and gambling are the exclusive things people can enjoy on cruise ships B. 吃和赌博是人们在游轮上唯一可以享受的东西
C. Carnival Cruise Lines cater to vacationers’ demands to stay in contact with others C. 嘉年华邮轮公司迎合了度假者与他人保持联系的需求
D. people’s desire to remain connected makes it difficult for them to escape from work D. 人们保持联系的愿望使得他们很难逃离工作
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】该题可采用排除法。根据文章第三段第五句With their twenty-four-hour Internet cafes, onboard WiFi, and an advertising campaign that features bikini-clad patrons lounging on deck chairs with laptop computers, Carnival Cruise Lines has enthusiastically responded to the demands of patrons who seek an ideal of maritime escape but still want to check their e-mail several times a day.（嘉年华邮轮公司推出了24小时营业的网吧、船上WiFi以及以比基尼顾客躺在躺椅上使用笔记本电脑为主题的广告宣传活动，热情地满足了那些追求海上逃逸理想但又希望每天查看几次电子邮件的顾客的需求）可知A、C、D选项均符合文章表述，故排除；结合上述内容可知吃和赌博并不是人们在游轮上唯一可以享受的东西，因此B选项“吃和赌博是人们在游轮上唯一可以享受的东西”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、C、D选项均符合文章表述，属于反向干扰。
第4题:
【选项释义】
The word “tethered” in the last paragraph probably means ( ). 最后一段中的“tethered”可能是指（ ）。
A. confined A. 受限制的
B. disconnected B. 断开连接的
C. immune C. 免疫的
D. indifferent D. 漠不关心的
【考查点】词汇推断题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词tethered定位文章尾句Notwithstanding all the talk of mobility, we find ourselves tethered in novel ways—not to a hometown, or to a particular social background, but to our devices themselves and the feeling of connection they provide, which we seemingly cannot sit still without.（尽管人们都在谈论移动性，但我们发现自己以一种新的方式被tethered了——不是被家乡或特定的社会背景tethered了，而是被我们的设备本身以及它们提供的联系感tethered了，没有这种联系，我们似乎无法安静地坐着），由“移动性”以及上文提到的“即使我们在闲暇时候，我们也总是会在意与外界的联系”可知此处表示我们其实被智能手机本身以及它所带给我们的与外界的联系感束缚住了，因此A选项“受限制的”正确。
【干扰项排除】
B、C、D选项，根据文章内容可知我们通过移动设备来保持与外界的联系，因此移动设备并没有让我们与外界断联，我们也不会对此产生免疫，态度也不会是漠不关心的，反而热衷于使用移动设备，以至于正如文章所说的“被束缚住了”，均属于曲解原文。
第5题:
【选项释义】
This passage is intended to ( ). 这篇文章旨在（ ）。
A. analyze the various reasons for humans to settle down A. 分析人类定居的各种原因
B. advocate the necessity of virtual connection in leisure time B. 提倡在闲暇时间进行虚拟联系的必要性
C. enumerate the enormous benefits of mobile devices for work and life C. 列举移动设备对工作和生活的巨大好处
D. highlight the transformation of mobility through ubiquitous connection D. 强调通过无处不在的连接来实现移动性的转变
【考查点】主旨大意题。
【解题思路】文章主要讲述了移动设备让人们时刻保持联系以及对生活的影响，强调无处不在的联系带来的影响，因此D选项“强调通过无处不在的连接来实现移动性的转变”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、C选项均未在文中体现，属于无中生有；
B选项“提倡在闲暇时间进行虚拟联系的必要性”，通读全文可知，这并不是作者所提倡的，相反，作者认为对虚拟联系的过度在意会束缚住我们，属于曲解原文。
