“Life is speeding up. Everyone is getting unwell.”
This may sound like something someone would say today. But in fact, an unknown citizen who lived in Rome in AD 52 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 calm and happy do you feel?
Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have not telephones, no cars, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps because they lead 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 Tomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house. They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phones.
The grandmother, Lyn, said, “It was hard physically, but not mentally.” She believed life was less materialistic. “The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes,” She said. The boys said they fought 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.”
Here are some simple ways to beat the stress often caused by our inventions!
Don’t be available all the time, turn off your mobile phone at certain times of the day. Don’t check your e-mail every day.
Don’t reply to somebody as soon as they leave a text message just because you can. It may be fun at first, but it soon gets annoying.
1.The passage is mainly about .
A．problem with technology
B．improvements of our life with technology
C．the important roles technology plays in our everyday life
D．major changes which will be likely to happen to technology
2.The writer quoted（引用） what a citizen in ancient Rome said at the beginning of the story in order to .
A．share a truth about life
B．tell us what life was like long time ago
C．make us wonder what causes such a thing to happen
D．point out that you experience some big problems and they may be the same
3.Why did the family choose to spend some time in a 1940’s house? Because .
A．they liked to live simple lives
B．they were curious about 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.What do you think the underlined word “available” in the 1st suggestion offered by the writer mean?
A．Busy on line B．Free. C．Be able to D．Be found by others.
I used to live selfishly, I should admit. But one moment changed me.
I was on my lunch break and had 44___the office to get something to eat .
On the way, I ___45__a busker(街头艺人)，with a hat in front of him. I had some ____46___ in my pocket, but I would not give them to him, thinking to myself he would ___47___ use the money to feed his addiction to drugs or alcohol. He___48__like that type-young and ragged. ____49__what was I going to spend the money on? Only to feed my addiction to Coca-Cola or chocolate! I then ____50__I had no right to place myself above ____51__just because he was busking.
I ____52__ and dropped all the coins into his ___53___and he smiled at me, I watched for a while. As ____54__as it sounds, I expected something more to come from that moment—a feeling of ___55___or satisfaction, for example. But nothing happened ___56____, I walked off. “It proved to be a waste of ____57____,”I thought.
On my way home at the end of the___58__, I saw the busker again and he was __59___ . I watched him pick up the hat and walk___60__ a cafe counter. There he poured the _61____contents into a tin collecting __62____ an earthquake fund-raising(募捐) event. He was busking for charity(慈善)！
Now I donate any ____63__ I have to charity tins and enjoy the feeling of giving.
1.A. left B . cleaned C . prepared D . searched
2.A. led B . chose C . saw D . fooled
3.A. chocolates B . coins C . tins D . drugs
4.A. almost B . only C . rather D . still
5.A. acted B . looked C . sounded D . smelt
6.A. Though B . For C . Therefor D . But
7.A. declared B . realized C . expected D . guessed
8.A. it B . all C . him D . them
9.A. waited B . followed C . stopped D . arrived
10.A. rag B . hat C . pocket D . counter
11.A. selfish B . awkward C . innocent D . special
12.A. happiness B . sadness C . love D . hate
13.A. DisappointedlyB.Unfortunately C.Coincidentally D. Comfortably
14.A. words B . effort C . space D . money
15.A. moment B . day C . break D . event
16.A. walking around B. passing by C . packing up D. running off
17.A. around B . in C . behind D . to
18.A. chief B . basic C . actual D . total
19.A.by B . for C . on D . with
20.A.work B . time C . energy D .change
The manager of the company told us that very little_____ was made of the waste material in the past.
A. cost B. value C. use D. matter
An advertisement is useful in_____ it can persuade customers to buy the kinds of goods in the shop.
A．that B．which C．what D．whether
—Why didn’t you apologize to her?
—She drove away ______ I could say a word.
A. before B. after C. until D. unless
____ private cars are bringing us convenience, they may also cause more traffic accidents and pollution.
A. While B. As C. If D. Since
