Everywhere I look outside my home I see people busy on their high-tech devices, while driving, walking, shopping, even sitting in toilets. When connected electronically, they are away from physical reality.
People have been influenced to become technology addicted. One survey reported that “addicted” was the word most commonly used by people to describe their relationship to iPad and similar devices. One study found that people had a harder time resisting the allure of social media than they did for sleep, cigarettes and alcohol.
The main goal of technology companies is to get people to spend more money and time on their products, not to actually improve our quality of life. They have successfully created a cultural disease. Consumers willingly give up their freedom, money and time to catch up on the latest information, to keep pace with their peers or to appear modern.
I see people trapped in a pathological（病态的）relationship with time-sucking technology, where they serve technology more than technology serves them. I call this technology servitude. I am referring to a loss of personal freedom and independence because of uncontrolled consumption of many kinds of devices that eat up time and money.
What is a healthy use of technology devices? That is the vital question. Who is really in charge of my life? That is what people need to ask themselves if we are to have any chance of breaking up false beliefs about their use of technology. When we can live happily without using so much technology for a day or a week, then we can regain control and personal freedom, become the master of technology and discover what there is to enjoy in life free of technology. Mae West is famous for proclaiming the wisdom that “too much of a good thing is wonderful.” But it’s time to discover that it does not work for technology.
Richard Fernandez, an executive coach at Google acknowledged that “we can be swept away by our technologies.” To break the grand digital connection people must consider how life long ago could be fantastic without today’s overused technology.The underlined word “allure” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______.
| A．advantage | B．attraction |
| C．adaption | D．attempt |
From the passage, technology companies aim to ______.
| A．attract people to buy their products |
| B．provide the latest information |
| C．improve people’s quality of life |
| D．deal with cultural diseases |
It can be inferred from this passage that people ______.
| A．consider too much technology wonderful |
| B．have realized the harm of high-tech devices |
| C．can regain freedom without high-tech devices |
| D．may enjoy life better without overused technology |
What’s the author’s attitude towards the overusing of high-tech devices?
| A．Neutral. | B．Skeptical. |
| C．Disapproving. | D．Sympathetic. |
Thousands of people living in the Chinese eapital will celebrate the start of the Chinese New Year by heading for the ski resorts(滑雪场).Never mind that Beijing's dry weather seldom produces now. It is cold enough in winter for snow-making machines to make a covering for the hills north to the capital. And the rapid growth of a pleasure-seeking middle class has formed the basis for thisNew craze(热潮).
Since Beijing's first ski resort was opened ten years ago, the sport has enjoyed an astonishing increase.There are now more than a dozen resorts. Clothes markets in the city have added bright colored ski suits to their winter collections. Mr.Wei, a manager of a newly-opened ski resort in Beijing, sees the growth of an industry that could soon lead Chinese to head for the ski resorts of Europe. In recent years ski resorts offering natural snow have opened in China. But many are in faraway areas of the country and can't really match the equipment and services of some ski resortsIn Europe.
Beijing's sking craze is partly a result of the recent increase in private(私有的)cars. This has led to the growth of a leisure industry in the capital's suburbs(郊区).which until the late-1990s were unreachable to ordinary people. According to Mr. Wei,About 40％ of the visitors to his resort some in their own cars. The rest are bused in by schools, businesses or government offices.
The problem is making money.Starting ski resorturequires quite a lot of money:hiring land from the local government,preparing the hills,buying snow machines,making sure there are enoughwater and electricity to run them,and buying ski equipment for hiring out to customers.
The ski resort where Mr.Wei works cost nearly $4m to set up.And,as so often in China when someone comes up with a good idea,many others rush in and price wars break out.Beijing now offers some ofthe cheapest ski training classes in the world,though with most people rather new to the sport, expecting a few more doing the same job.
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What does this text mainly talk about?
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Why are some Chinese likely to go skiing in Burope?
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The underlined words"leisure industry"in Paragraph 3 refer to
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What is the main problem in running a ski resort?
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Coolest Hotels in the World
Ariau Amazon Towers
The Ariau Amazon Towers hotel lets you sleep in a tree house. Eight towers make up this hotel that offers over 300 rooms. If you really want to get into the spirit, book the Tarzan suit which is large enough for a big family. You'll be thirty feet up in the air and can travel between the towers through their wooden walkways.
Prices, starting at $300 one night for each person for a regular room and going all the way up to$3000 for the Tarzan Suite.
For more information, visit the website:http://www.ariautowers.com
The Ice Hotel
Every winter in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden kind of hotel called the Ice Hotel is built Each year,world-famous artists are invited to design and produce works of art from the ice, many of which can be found in the rooms. You'll have your choice between hot or cold romms,but you will be well advised to stay at least one night in a cold room for a true experience.
Prices: starting at $318 one night for each person for either a cold room or a warm one.
For more information, visit the website:http://www.icehotel.com
Propeller Island
Propeller Island City Lodge is a very special hotel that was designed by a German tist. Each room provides you with the promibility of living in a work of art. Every single piece of furmiture in the thirty rooms of the hotel has been hand-made and each room is completely different. You'll be able to choose a room based on your own personal tastes.
Prices:starting at just $91 a night,and an additional person for only 20 extra dollars.
For more information , visit the website:http://www.propeller island.com
For information about other cool hotels in the world ,visit the website:
http://www.bahamabeachclub.com
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What is special about the Ariau Amazon Towers hotel?
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For two persons spending a night in one of these hotels,they have to pay at least
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Which website should you visit if you want to find out whether there exists a hotel the sea?
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Which hotel would invite artists to come to work every year?
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When you're lying on the white sands of the Mexican Riviera, the stresses(压力) of the world seem a million miles away. Hey, stop! This is no vacation-you have to finish something!
Here lies the problem for travel writer and tood critic(评论家),Edie Jarolim "I always loved traveling and always liked to eat, but it never occurred to me that I could make money doing both of those things," Jarolim said. Now you can read her travel advice everywhere in Arts and Antiques, in Brides, or in one of her there books, The Complate Idiot's Travel Guide to Mexican Beach Resarts.
……writing began some eight years ago. After getting a PhD in English in Canada, she took a
Test Frommer's travel guides, passed it, and got the job. After working at Frommer's, Jarolim worked
for a while at Rough Guides in London, then Fodor's, where she fell so in love with a description of the Southwest of the U.S. that she moved there.
Now as a travel writer, she spends one-third of her year on the road. The rest of the time is spent completing her tasks and writing reviews of restaurants at home in Tucson, Arigona.
As adventurous as the job sounds, the hard part is fact-checking all the information. Sure, it's great to write about a tourist attraction, but you'd better get the local(当地的)museum hours correct or you could really ruin someone's vacation.
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Which country does Jarolim live in now?
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What is most difficrlt for Jarolim?
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What do we know about Jarllim from the text?
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What would be the best title for the text?
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E
Humans are naturally drawn to other life forms and the worlds outside of our own. We take delight in the existence of creatures and even whole socicties beyond our everyday lives.
This sense of wonder is universal look at the efforts that scientists have made to find out whether life of some kind exists on Mars, and the popularity of fantasy(幻想) litcrature or movies like The lord of the Rings, This sense of wonder drous us to each other, to the world around us, and to the world of make-believe. But have we gone to far in creating worlds of fantasy that we are missing the phcasure of other worlds that alrewly exist all around us?
Human beings, as biologists have suggested, possess an inborn desire to connect with and understand other life forms, However, people, especially in big cities, often lead rather isolated lices. In a study of British schoolchildren, it was found that 
children bye age eight were much more familiar with hurmans for television shows and cideo games than with common wildlife. Without modern technology ,a amall pond could be an amazing world filled with strange and beautiful plants, insects,birds,and animals. When we lack meaningful interaction (交互) with the world around us, and sometimes ecen with our families and friends , we seek to understand and communicate with things that exist only in our imaginations or on a computer screen
The world of make-believe is not neccsanly bad, But when the world of famsity becomes the only outlet (出路) our sense of wonder ,then we are really missing something, We are missing a connection with the living world. Other wonderful worderful worlds exist all around us. But even more interesting is that if we look closely enough ,we can see that these worlds, in a broad sense , are really part of our own.
72.The popularity of The Lord of the rings proves
A.the close connestion between man and the fantasy world
B.the wonderful achievements of fantasy literature
C.the fine taste of moviegoers around the world
D.the general existence of the sense of curiosity
73.What can we infer from the underlineed sentence in Paragraph 3?
A.People are fra less familiar with the world of fantasy.
B.The world around us could serve as a sound of wonder.
C.The world of fantasy can be mirred by a small and lively pond.
D.Modern technology prevents us from developing our sense of wonder.
74. If our sense of wonder relics totally on the world of make-believe. we will_______.
A.fail to appreciate the joy in our lives
B.be confused by the world of make-believe
C.miss the chance to recognizc the fantas world
D.be tranped by other worlds exsting all around us
75. What is the main purpose of the passage?
A.To show us the hidden beauty in our world.
B.To warn us not to get lost in the fantasy wonder
C.To argue against the misuse of the sense of wonder
D.To discuss the influence of the world of make-believe
Sitting on the peaceful coast of the Calapagon Islands. Ecuador , watching the sun move quietly into the sea, you shouldn't forget the Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882) arrived here in 1835. He famous work. On the Origin of Species. You can certainly follow Darwin's footsteps and enjoy a trip from four to seven days to the islands.
The islands are centainly a paradise (天堂) for wildlife, as there are no natural killers on the islands and the number of beais and visitors is under govenment control.Though you cannot walk freely as Darwin die hour 200 years ago ,esch day is as impressive as it could be.
The most well crown animal of the Calapagos is the giant tortoisc ( 巨型陆龟),which can be seen moving slowly around the highlands of Sanra Cruz,the second largest island in the suchipelago.Some of these creatures are so old that they might have been seen in their youth by Darwin himself.
Despite strict control over activities and timing,you stay on the Galapagos will be remembered as a chain of incomparable pictures;diving with sea how that wim and play within inches of you; feeling small shaks touch you feet as you swim and ,most magically , seeing a with and her bady surface with great breath of air.
Travleing between the islands and observing the wildlife that so inspired Darwin , you will fell as though you are getting a special vi
ew of an untouched world .At night you will sleep on board the ship , leaving the wildlife in complete occupation of the islands, which are as undisturbed now ai they have been since the beginning of time.
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What do we know about Darwin'svisit to the istands.
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Whieh of the fotlowing plavs a role in making the islands "a pradise for wikllife"?
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Your stay on the islands will be most impressive mainly because of.
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Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
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