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 (重壓) 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 (時髦的), beer-drinking granny, to one who cooked things.

　　根據以上短文內容，然后從每題所給的四個選項中選擇最佳選項。

　　1. The writer uses the quote (引證) 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

　　【答案與解析】

　　1. 選A。短文第2段說，那句話聽起來很像現代人說的，但事實上卻是遠古時期(53AD)的一個不知名的人寫的，可看出那句話從古至今都是正確的，所以實際上它是在揭示關于我們生活的truth(真理)。

　　2. 選D。根據第4段所描述的場景，我們可以知道，新發明——電腦有時會讓我們的處境更糟，所以作者想借此告訴我們，new inventions可能會給人們帶來麻煩。

　　3. 選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，選項A是正確的；根據最后1段內容可知，那個住在1940s房子里的家庭中的成員都發生了一定的變化，所以選項C也是正確的；根據第5段中的Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave up feeling stressed and tired.可知，選項D也是正確的；而由短文1、2段我們可以知道，an unknown Roman覺得我們的生活質量是變差了，因為他寫道Everyone is getting unwell。

　　4. 選B。由短文的首句Life is speeding up. Everyone is getting unwell.我們可知，B選項的句子An unknown Roman was sure that the quality of life would get better.與原文內容相反。故B選項不對。

　　5. 選A。通讀全文，短文講述科技發展，新發明的出現給人們帶來的問題。