Life Connected with Computer After too long on the Net, even a phone call can be a shock. My boyfriend’s Liverpudlian accent suddenly becomes indecipherable after the clarity of his words on screen, a secretary’s tone seems more rejecting than I’d imagined it would be. Time itself becomes fluid—hours become minutes, and alternately seconds stretch into days. Weekends, once a highlight of my week, are now just two ordinary days. For the last three years, since I stopped working as a producer for Charlie Rose, I have done much of my work as a telecommuter. I submit articles and edit them via E-mail and communicate with colleagues on Internet mailing lists. My boyfriend lives in England, so much of our relationship is computer-mediated. If I desired, I could stay inside for weeks without wanting anything. I can order food, and manage my money, love and work. In fact, at times I have spent as long as three weeks alone at home, going out only to get mail and buy newspapers and groceries. I watched most of the blizzard of ’96 on TV. But after a while, life itself begins to feel unreal. I start to feel as though I’ve merged with my machines, taking data in, spitting them back out, just another node on the Net. Others on line report the same symptoms. We start to strongly dislike the outside forms of socializing. It’s like attending an A. A. meeting in a bar with everyone holding a half-sipped drink. We have become the Net Opponents’ worst nightmare. What first seemed like a luxury, crawling from bed to computer, not worrying about hair, and clothes and face, has become an avoidance, a lack of discipline. And once you start replacing real human contact with cyber-interaction, coming back out of the cave can be quite difficult. At times, I turn on the television and just leave it to chatter in the background, something that I’d never done previously. The voices of the programs soothe me, but then I’m jarred by the commercials. I find myself sucked in by soap operas, or compulsively needing to keep up with the latest news and the weather. “Dateline, “ “Frontline, “ “Nightline, “CNN, NewYork 1, every possible angle of every story over and over, even when they are of no possible use to me. Work moves from foreground to background.

The major portion of writer Benjamin Brawley’s work was in social criticism. goal subject part publisher

Psychologists think of attitudes as being predispositions toward objects or events that determine the way people react to different stimuli. prior inclinations prescriptions precautions principal commitments

Her first year at school away from home, she suffered qualms of homesickness. quakes regrets lapses pangs

How to Face Death It is often observed that the aged spend much time thinking and talking about their past lives, rather than about the future. These reminiscences (回忆) are not simply random or trivial memories, (51) is their purpose merely to make conversation. The old person’s recollections of the past help to (52) an identity that is becoming increasingly fragile (脆弱的): (53) any role that brings respect or any goal that might provide orientation to the future, the individual mentions their past as a reminder to listeners, that here was a life (54) living. (55) , the memories form part of a continuing life (56) , in which the old person (57) the events and experiences of the years gone by and reflects on the overall meaning of his or her own almost completed life. As the life cycle (58) to its close, the aged must also learn to accept the reality of their own impending (即将发生的) death. (59) this task is made difficult by the fact that death is almost a (60) subject in the United States. The mere discussion of death is often regarded as (61) As adults many of us find the topic frightening and are reluctant to think about it and certainly not to talk about it (62) the presence of someone who is dying. Death has achieved this taboo (63) only in the modern industrial societies. There seems to be an important reason for our reluctance to (64) the idea of death. It is the very fact that death remains (65) our control; it is almost the only one of the natural processes that is so.

In the 1870’s Alexander Graham Bell developed the first practicable telephone. feasible functional applicable rational

Joan’s prediction that there would be an earthquake dismayed her friends. verification evidence prophecy reflection

There is not enough food, so the people had to be on short rations. sects allotments cults petitions

The papaya is a tropical fruit usually eaten raw. unpeeled uncooked unsweetened unsalted

The man was sent to prison for driving recklessly. cautiously attentively patiently carelessly

Trade Unions 1．Some scholars have associated trade unions with the medieval craft guilds(中世纪的行会), but there are important differences between the two. The guild members were master craftsmen who owned capital and often employed workers. Unions are known as associations of workers with similar skills. 2．In the past, individual workers had no control over the conditions of their working lives; political and economic power was concentrated in the hands of wealthy business owners. Workers found, however, that there was strength in uniting. From their earliest years, union objectives have been higher wages and improved working conditions. 3．Employers resisted, of course. They made great efforts to stop union organizing its activities. Union members were fired, workers were forced to sign contracts in which they promised not to join a union, and companies hired strikebreakers (破坏罢工者) and even gunmen to frighten organizers. 4．One of the earliest successful labor organizations in the United States was the Knights of Labor, founded in 1869. The Knights, which included both skilled and unskilled workers, attempted to organize all workers into one great union. After it successfully struck the Wabash railroad owned by Jay Gould in 1885, its popularity and power grew dramatically. In 1886 the Knights had 700,000 members. 5．The decline of the Knights of Labor, however, came quickly. The strike against Gould was gradually broken, and the Knights’ radical positions on social issues cost them public support. In the end, a lack of unity as well as the rapid inflow of unskilled immigrants weakened the union’s economic power, and the organization came to an end.

How Ford Turn Out Cars When it comes to singling out those who have made a difference in all our lives, you cannot overlook Henry Ford. A historian a century from now might well conclude that it was Ford who most influenced all manufacturing, everywhere, even to this day, by introducing a new way to make cars—one, strange to say, that originated in slaughterhouses. Back in the early 1900’s, slaughterhouses used what could have been called a “disassembly line. “ Ford reversed this process to see if it would speed up production of a part of an automobile engine called a magneto. Rather than have each worker completely assemble a magneto, one of its elements was placed on a conveyer, and each worker, as it passed, added another component to it, the same one each time. Professor David of the University of Delaware, an expert on industrial development, tells what happened: “The previous day, workers carrying out the entire process had averaged one assembly every 20 minutes. But on that day, on the line, the assembly team averaged one every 13 minutes and 10 seconds per person. “ Within a year, the time had been reduced to five minutes. In 1913, Ford went all the way. Hooked together by ropes, partially assembled vehicles were towed past workers who completed them on piece at a time. It wasn’t long before Ford was turning out several hundred thousand cars a year, a remarkable achievement then. And so efficient and economical was this new system that he cut the price of his cars in half, to $ 260, putting them within reach of all those who, up until that time, could not afford them. Soon, auto makers the world over copied him. In fact, he encouraged them to do so by writing a book about all of his innovations, entitled Today and Tomorrow. The Age of the Automobile has arrived. Today, aided by robots and other forms of automation, everything from toasters to perfumes are made on assembly lines.

The firm of Bonnin and Morris in Philadelphia was probably the first American company to manufacture porcelain silverware crystal china linen

People have always been both fascinated by the spectacle of volcanic eruptions and terrified of their power. magic force display purpose

Tung oil is a powerful drying agent used in varnishes and paints. pure potent poisonous permanent

The predominant activities in rural societies are those that involve the production of food and raw materials. principal predictable necessary routine

Home economists recommend buying basic food items in large quantities. stores amounts bags boxes

At the age of 77,computer pioneer Grace Hopper was awarded the military rank of commodore by President Ronald Reagan. prize position benefit presentation

A good teacher must establish rapport with his or her students. report acquaintance understanding conversation

Cosmetic Surgery Surgery that can improve the way a person looks is becoming more and more popular in the United States. This kind of surgery is called cosmetic surgery, and both men and women are turning to this treatment as a way of keeping their appearance young as well as keeping competitive (有竞争力的)in their jobs. Men especially are beginning to turn to face-lifts(面部拉皮手术), liposuction (taking fat out of the body), and implants(putting artificial parts into their bodies )to help them look younger. As companies downsize(缩编)and move younger employees into higher positions, older employees in their late forties and early fifties feel the need to look and act younger in order to stay competitive. These operations are not without dangers, however. One young woman had an eye operation to get rid of the bags under her eyes. She described, her experience as terrible. She said, “When he started cutting, I was fully awake. Even though he’d given me an injection near my eyes, I saw everthing.“ She went on to explain, “I knew I had to keep still because of what he was doing. He was scraping(刮)away fat underneath my eyes. It took about ten minutes. After he finished, I felt I couldn’t walk. I was so faint. “Her troubles did not end after the operation for two weeks. Her eyes were swollen (肿胀的)and almost completely closed, and even dark glasses could not hide the side effects of the operation. Liposuction, taking fat out of the body, is probably the most popular cosmetic operation in the United States. It seems simple enough. First, a small cut is made over the place where the patient wants the fat removed. Next, a small pipe is put into the cut. A machine like a vacuum cleaner is then used to suck the fat out of the body. However, as one doctor explained, some problems can happen after the operation. He warned, “Irregular lumps and loose skin can result from this operation. If it is not evenly done, liposuction can produce a very lumpy result.“ Patients often must have more liposuction to correct the problem.

Show Love by Knitting My mother knew how to knit, but she never taught me. She assumed, as did many women of her generation, that knitting was no longer a skill worth passing down from mother to daughter. A combination of feminism, consumerism and household gadgetry made many women feel that such homely accomplishments were now obsolete. My Grandmother still knitted, though, and every Christmas she made a pair of socks for my brother and me, of red wool. They were the ones we wore under our ice skates, when it was really important to have warm feet. Knitting is a nervous habit that happens to be productive. It helped me quit smoking by giving my hands something else to do. It is wonderful for depression because no matter what else happens, you are creating something beautiful. Time spent in front of the television or just sitting is no longer time wasted. I love breathing life into the patterns. It’s true magic, finding a neglected, dog-eared old book with the perfect snowflake design, buying the same German town knitting worsted my grandmother used in the exact blue to match my daughter’s eyes, taking it on the train with me every day for two months, working feverishly to get it done by Christmas, staying up late after the stockings are filled to sew in the sleeves and weave in the ends. Knitting has taught me patience. I know that if I just keep going, even if it takes months, there will be a reward. When I make a mistake, I know that a temper tantrum will not fix it, that I just have to go back and take out the stitches between and start over again. People often ask if I would do it for money, and the answer is always a definite no. In the first place, you could not pay me enough for the hours I put into a sweater. But more important, this is an activity I keep separate from such considerations. I knit to cover my children and other people I love in warmth and color. I knit to give them something earthly that money could never buy. Knitting gives my life an alternative rhythm to the daily deadline. By day I can write about Northern Ireland or the New York City Police Department and get paid for it, but on the train home, surrounded by people with laptops, I stage my little rebellion. I take out my old knitting bag and join the centuries of women who have knitted for love.

The phrase “coming back out of the cave“ in the fifth paragraph means______

What is the author’s attitude to the computer? ______

What is the main idea of the last paragraph? ______

The passage implies that the author and her boyfriend live in______

Compared to he clear words of her boyfriend on screen, his accent becomes______