No.14

　　“Life is speeding up. Everyone is getting unwell.”

　　This may sound like something someone would say today. But in fact, an unknown person who lived in Rome in 53 AD wrote it.
　　We all love new inventions. They are exciting, amazing and can even change our lives.     But have all these developments really improved the quality of our lives?

　　Picture this. You’re rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings, a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen, the noise from the television is getting louder and louder. Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work. Now you have to stay up all night to get it done. How happy do you feel?

　　Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave up feeling stressed (重压) and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have no telephones, no car, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps because they live simpler lives.

　　One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10 and Thomans, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house. They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phones.

　　The grandmother, Lyn, said, “The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes.” The boys said they fought less. Probably, they said, because there was less to fight over, such as their computer. Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a trendy (时髦的), beer-drinking granny, to one who cooked things.

　　根据以上短文内容，然后从每题所给的四个选项中选择最佳选项。

　　1. The writer uses the quote (引证) at the beginning of the story to _______.

　　A. tell us a truth about our live　　　　　　　　　　B. tell us what life was like long time ago

　　C. point out what causes such a thing to happen　　　D. point out that you experience some big problems and they may be the same

　　2. In the passage the writer describes a picture to show that new inventions _______.

　　A. have speeded up our lives                B. have improve the quality of our lives

　　C. may make people feel very happy     D. may bring people some trouble

　　3. The family chose to spend some time in a 1940s house because _______.

　　A. they loved to live simple lives　　　　　　　　　　B. they wanted to know how people lived without modern inventions

　　C. they were troubled by modern inventions　　　　　　D. living in a different time would be a lot of fun for them

　　4. According to the passage, which is NOT right?

　　A. People who live far away from noisy cities often seem to be happier

　　B. An unknown Roman was sure that the quality of life would get better

　　C. The family had some changes when they lived in a 1940s house

　　D. With the improvement of our lives, we often feel stressed and tired

　　5. The passage is mainly about _______.

　　A. problems with technology               　　　　　　B. improvements of our lives with technology

　　C. changes happening to technology     　　　　　　　 D. the importance of technology

　　【答案与解析】

　　1. 选A。短文第2段说，那句话听起来很像现代人说的，但事实上却是远古时期(53AD)的一个不知名的人写的，可看出那句话从古至今都是正确的，所以实际上它是在揭示关于我们生活的truth(真理)。

　　2. 选D。根据第4段所描述的场景，我们可以知道，新发明——电脑有时会让我们的处境更糟，所以作者想借此告诉我们，new inventions可能会给人们带来麻烦。

　　3. 选B。由第5段中的句子Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have no telephones, no cars, not even any electricity often seem to be happier.可知，选项A是正确的；根据最后1段内容可知，那个住在1940s房子里的家庭中的成员都发生了一定的变化，所以选项C也是正确的；根据第5段中的Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave up feeling stressed and tired.可知，选项D也是正确的；而由短文1、2段我们可以知道，an unknown Roman觉得我们的生活质量是变差了，因为他写道Everyone is getting unwell。

　　4. 选B。由短文的首句Life is speeding up. Everyone is getting unwell.我们可知，B选项的句子An unknown Roman was sure that the quality of life would get better.与原文内容相反。故B选项不对。

　　5. 选A。通读全文，短文讲述科技发展，新发明的出现给人们带来的问题。