People who put a smiley face at the end of a message, in an attempt to show feeling, show no feeling. I wish there was a symbol for two fingers in the air.
I had some bad news this week. My manager informed me of this news via email. It was like hearing about the death of a loved one via pigeon. Bad news should only ever be delivered face to face or voice to voice.
We seem to celebrate our numerous methods of communication, but really there is no communication at all. I talk to my plants more than I talk to my neighbors, I get text messages that take me three hours to read because they’re written like this: “Hi, I ope you av a gr8 day. Call me La8tr.” I had an email from someone this week that read, “Da ut ov 2day are really annoying me!” Ut? I had to say this 20 times before I understood it. Youth has now become ut. Haven’t we taken enough from them—now we have to take their letters?
I had an email recently from a girl who used to live over the road from me as a child. She wrote, “Hi Shazia, howz u? Im sure u used 2 live across the road from me. We sumtimes played tennis 2 gever at the park and you was in your eliment. I am married now wif 3 daughters.” Then, to my horror, she ended the email with: “Im now teachin in Leeds. Luv Clare.”
Teaching? With English like this. It’s like saying you’re a train driver when you’ve never seen a train. It was like reading modern Morse code.
Getting bad news via email makes it seem so much worse than it actually is. Just a few lines, no emotion, no comfort, not really an explanation. Just a few cold hard words. It’s an excuse. Just write a few words and the problem of delivering it is no longer yours. A close friend recently told me she was very happy to announce she was getting married—and made the announcement by email. I don’t know how she didn’t fall off her chair with excitement while writing it. If you are really happy or really sad to announce something important, wouldn’t you like a human reaction? Some euphoria, elation, tears, a punch in the face?
I receive long text messages every day with information and explanations that I don’t bother reading. They’re boring, and annoy me. In the time it took someone to write me three laborious texts, they could have called, spoken to me, made some tea. People who put a smiley face at the end of a sentence, in an attempt to show feeling, show no feeling. I wish there was a symbol for two fingers in the air, because that’s the one I’d send back.
The telegram has been responsible for reporting world-shattering events when there were very few other options(選擇權(quán)). Now we have options, and people opt for the least humane one. My mum, in an attempt to get down with the ut of today, asked me to teach her to text. Now she constantly texts me in block capitals, so it looks as if she is still angry and annoyed with me after all these years.
People don’t even write by hand any more. My doctor prints out prescriptions from his computer; even my mechanic prints out a receipt. I get typed Christmas cards and my friends send me emails. I get very excited when hand-written letters come through my door, only because they rarely do.
When I was at school, the girls used to write letters to each other, even though we sat side by side and spoke to one another all day. I think it was a way of expressing private things we were afraid to say when we were 14 and too shy. We used to write things like, “You are my best friend, can’t wait to sit next to you in math.”
I miss the personal method of communication. Once the pen was mightier than the sword, now it seems the keyboard is mightier than the pen.

1. 1.

   We can learn from paragraph 3 and paragraph 4 that the writer wants to say ________.

   1. A.
      the spelling mistakes in the messages make her very annoyed
   2. B.
      only writing letters will bring friends and neighbors much closer
   3. C.
      she talks to plants more because no one shares her joys and sorrows
   4. D.
      gestures and the pen can express a lot more than the cold keyboard
2. 2.

   According to the writer, which of the following can support her opinion?

   1. A.
      She has been separated from all his classmates many years.
   2. B.
      No doctors write prescriptions by hand because of computers.
   3. C.
      In communication, we should write more letters than send messages.
   4. D.
      Less shy than school girls, boys rarely write letters to their friends.
3. 3.

   According to the passage, we can conclude that ________.

   1. A.
      the writer is a person full of emotions and treasures friendship and affections
   2. B.
      the writer becomes excited when she gets priceless gifts from other people
   3. C.
      her classmates would write to each other because they couldn’t send messages
   4. D.
      people put a smiley face at the end of a message just to show they are happy
4. 4.

   What message is conveyed in the passage?

   1. A.
      The writer wastes much time in reading many rubbish text messages every day.
   2. B.
      Few people can write letters well in modern society owing to texting messages.
   3. C.
      Now people are too busy to communicate with each other face to face often.
   4. D.
      The writer prefers personal communication rather than electronic equipment.
5. 5.

   Why does the writer mention the telegram?

   1. A.
      Because she thinks the annoyance of reading text messages is originated from it.
   2. B.
      Because we have more options to keep in touch with each other than ever before.
   3. C.
      Because advanced technology partly takes the blame for lacking the human touch.
   4. D.
      Because she thinks humans today become colder with the development of society.
6. 6.

   Which of the following best describe the tone of this passage?

   1. A.
      Optimistic.
   2. B.
      Critic.
   3. C.
      Sympathetic.
   4. D.
      Pessimistic.

People who put a smiley face at the end of a message, in an attempt to show feeling, show no feeling. I wish there was a symbol for two fingers in the air.
I had some bad news this week. My manager informed me of this news via email. It was like hearing about the death of a loved one via pigeon. Bad news should only ever be delivered face to face or voice to voice.
We seem to celebrate our numerous methods of communication, but really there is no communication at all. I talk to my plants more than I talk to my neighbors, I get text messages that take me three hours to read because they’re written like this: “Hi, I ope you av a gr8 day. Call me La8tr.” I had an email from someone this week that read, “Da ut ov 2day are really annoying me!” Ut? I had to say this 20 times before I understood it. Youth has now become ut. Haven’t we taken enough from them—now we have to take their letters?
I had an email recently from a girl who used to live over the road from me as a child. She wrote, “Hi Shazia, howz u? Im sure u used 2 live across the road from me. We sumtimes played tennis 2 gever at the park and you was in your eliment. I am married now wif 3 daughters.” Then, to my horror, she ended the email with: “Im now teachin in Leeds. Luv Clare.”
Teaching? With English like this. It’s like saying you’re a train driver when you’ve never seen a train. It was like reading modern Morse code.
Getting bad news via email makes it seem so much worse than it actually is. Just a few lines, no emotion, no comfort, not really an explanation. Just a few cold hard words. It’s an excuse. Just write a few words and the problem of delivering it is no longer yours. A close friend recently told me she was very happy to announce she was getting married—and made the announcement by email. I don’t know how she didn’t fall off her chair with excitement while writing it. If you are really happy or really sad to announce something important, wouldn’t you like a human reaction? Some euphoria, elation, tears, a punch in the face?
I receive long text messages every day with information and explanations that I don’t bother reading. They’re boring, and annoy me. In the time it took someone to write me three laborious texts, they could have called, spoken to me, made some tea. People who put a smiley face at the end of a sentence, in an attempt to show feeling, show no feeling. I wish there was a symbol for two fingers in the air, because that’s the one I’d send back.
The telegram has been responsible for reporting world-shattering events when there were very few other options(選擇權(quán)). Now we have options, and people opt for the least humane one. My mum, in an attempt to get down with the ut of today, asked me to teach her to text. Now she constantly texts me in block capitals, so it looks as if she is still angry and annoyed with me after all these years.
People don’t even write by hand any more. My doctor prints out prescriptions from his computer; even my mechanic prints out a receipt. I get typed Christmas cards and my friends send me emails. I get very excited when hand-written letters come through my door, only because they rarely do.
When I was at school, the girls used to write letters to each other, even though we sat side by side and spoke to one another all day. I think it was a way of expressing private things we were afraid to say when we were 14 and too shy. We used to write things like, “You are my best friend, can’t wait to sit next to you in math.”
I miss the personal method of communication. Once the pen was mightier than the sword, now it seems the keyboard is mightier than the pen.
【小題1】We can learn from paragraph 3 and paragraph 4 that the writer wants to say ________.

Technology helps people do everything from planning to meet for a movie to keeping in touch with a friend who lives in a different country.

When planning to get together with friends，Julian said，“If I want to go and see a movie with a few friends，I usually send them text messages.By telephone，you have to call every single friend one by one.But text messaging allows you to send the same message to as many people as you’d like，which saves a lot of time.”

Email，IM，and other low­cost methods of communication also help people keep long­distance friendships in ways they couldn’t have even a few years ago.

Mike told us，“I had this friend when I was 8 or 9，and then she moved away to the country.We promised to stay friends and to send letters，and at the start we did.Then the letters got fewer and fewer and we at last stopped writing to each other.I think if we had had email，we would still be in touch.”

James found out about cost the hard way.He said，“I called my friend in New Zealand，which is halfway around the world，and it cost me over $200！So now I just stay up  late to see if I can catch him on MSN or I write an email.”

Email，IM，and other low­cost ways of keeping in touch also allow people to develop brief acquaintances (與人相識(shí)) into long­lasting friendships.Andrea told us，“I met this really cool girl.We sometimes email each other.We’ve been in touch over half a year and it’s nice to talk to her.”

64．What is this passage mainly about?

A．Technology has improved greatly.          

B．Technology can help our social lives.

C．Technology keeps far­away friends close.    

D．Text messages bring advantages to our life.

65．How does Julian usually get in touch with a group of friends?

A．By emailing them.

B．By chatting with them on MSN.

C．By sending them text messages.

D．By giving them a phone call.

66．What does James most probably think of calling his friend in New Zealand?

A．Convenient.                                        B．Costly. 

C．Difficult.                                            D．Necessary.

67. The writer uses Andrea’s story to show that________.

A．everyone can make good use of technology

B．long­lasting friendships can be gained anywhere

C．there are many kinds of ways of keeping in touch

D．it is easier to make new friends than before due to technology 

Technology helps people do everything from planning to meet for a movie to keeping in touch with a friend who lives in a different country.

When planning to get together with friends，Julian said，“If I want to go and see a movie with a few friends，I usually send them text messages.By telephone，you have to call every single friend one by one.But text messaging allows you to send the same message to as many people as you’d like，which saves a lot of time.”

Email，IM，and other low­cost methods of communication also help people keep long­distance friendships in ways they couldn’t have even a few years ago.

Mike told us，“I had this friend when I was 8 or 9，and then she moved away to the country.We promised to stay friends and to send letters，and at the start we did.Then the letters got fewer and fewer and we at last stopped writing to each other.I think if we had had email，we would still be in touch.”

James found out about cost the hard way.He said，“I called my friend in New Zealand，which is halfway around the world，and it cost me over $200！So now I just stay up  late to see if I can catch him on MSN or I write an email.”

Email，IM，and other low­cost ways of keeping in touch also allow people to develop brief acquaintances (與人相識(shí)) into long­lasting friendships.Andrea told us，“I met this really cool girl.We sometimes email each other.We’ve been in touch over half a year and it’s nice to talk to her.”

54．What is this passage mainly about?

A．Technology has improved greatly.

B．Technology can help our social lives.

C．Technology keeps far­away friends close.

D．Text messages bring advantages to our life.

55．How does Julian usually get in touch with a group of friends?

A．By emailing them.

B．By chatting with them on MSN.

C．By sending them text messages.

D．By giving them a phone call.

56．What does James most probably think of calling his friend in New Zealand?

A．Convenient.  B．Costly.  C．Difficult.  D．Necessary.

57. The writer uses Andrea’s story to show that________.

A．everyone can make good use of technology

B．long­lasting friendships can be gained anywhere

C．there are many kinds of ways of keeping in touch

D．it is easier to make new friends than before due to technology 

I think you'll grow ________ im when you know him better．

1. A.
   liking
2. B.
   to be like
3. C.
   to like
4. D.
   to be liking