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(选择权). 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.
【小题1】We can learn from paragraph 3 and paragraph 4 that the writer wants to say ________.

A.the spelling mistakes in the messages make her very annoyed
B.only writing letters will bring friends and neighbors much closer
C.she talks to plants more because no one shares her joys and sorrows
D.gestures and the pen can express a lot more than the cold keyboard
【小题2】According to the writer, which of the following can support her opinion?
A.She has been separated from all his classmates many years.
B.No doctors write prescriptions by hand because of computers.
C.In communication, we should write more letters than send messages.
D.Less shy than school girls, boys rarely write letters to their friends.
【小题3】According to the passage, we can conclude that ________.
A.the writer is a person full of emotions and treasures friendship and affections
B.the writer becomes excited when she gets priceless gifts from other people
C.her classmates would write to each other because they couldn’t send messages
D.people put a smiley face at the end of a message just to show they are happy
【小题4】What message is conveyed in the passage?
A.The writer wastes much time in reading many rubbish text messages every day.
B.Few people can write letters well in modern society owing to texting messages.
C.Now people are too busy to communicate with each other face to face often.
D.The writer prefers personal communication rather than electronic equipment.
【小题5】Why does the writer mention the telegram?
A.Because she thinks the annoyance of reading text messages is originated from it.
B.Because we have more options to keep in touch with each other than ever before.
C.Because advanced technology partly takes the blame for lacking the human touch.
D.Because she thinks humans today become colder with the development of society.
【小题6】Which of the following best describe the tone of this passage?
A.Optimistic.B.Critic.C.Sympathetic.D.Pessimistic.

A T-shirt a day has kept unemployment away for an American man who is making about $85,000 a year by selling advertising space on his shirt.

Jason Sadler, 26, was once a former marketing expert from Florida. In 2008, he founded his own company, “iwearyourshirt”, with the idea to wear a T-shirt supplied by any company and then use social media tools to develop the company . Sadler charges the “face value”of  the day for his human billboard (广告牌) service. So January 1 costs $1, while December 31 costs $365. He said this may not sound like a lot, but it adds up to $66,795 a year if he sells out every day, which he did this year. He also sells monthly sponsorships(赞助) for $1,500, adding another $18,000 to his income.

“I walk around, take photos, wear the shirt all day … I blog about those photos, I put them up on Twitter, I change my Facebook introduction…and then I do a Youtube video. I made about $83,000 this year,” he told Reuters Television. The average U.S income is about $615 a week or about $32,000 a year ,according to the U.S government.

Sadler has already begun to plan for his year 2010. He is making services larger by hiring another person to wear a shirt a day on the west coast of the United States.

1.What is Sadler’s “face value” of the day December 30?

A.$364.       B.$365.       C.$615.       D.$1,500.

2.It can be inferred that Sadler didn’t advertise on ________.

A.Twitter     B.Facebook  C.Youtube   D.Reuters

3.Jason Sadler has a new plan to  ________ for the year 2010.

A.employ another person to replace him    B.start his business on the west coast

C.stay at home on the east coast  D.double the charge for the service

4.The passage is mainly about ________ in a new way.

A.taking photos    B.writing blogs    C.making money D.selling T-shirts

 

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it were your last, someday you’ ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?”

Remembering that I’ ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choice in life.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that was incurable, and that I would live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is my doctors’ code for preparing yourself to die.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. I was completely in despair. Later that evening, I had another examination and my wife told me that tumor turned to be curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’ m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death. To tell the truth, no one wants to die. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. It clears out the old to make room for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.

Your time is so limited that you shouldn’t waste it repeating someone else’s life. Don’ t be trapped by dogma(教条)—which is living with the results of other people’ s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart. It somehow already knows what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

1.The doctor advised the author to go home and get his affairs in order because_________.

A. he had to rest at home               B. his disease couldn’t be cured

C. his disease was not serious at all       D. he had to wait for the result of the test

2.How did the author feel after the diagnosis?

A.Hopeless      B. Excited       C. Optimistic   D. Angry 

3.What does the author think of death?

A.He thinks it is impossible to avoid.  

B.He thinks it is not the end of life.

C.He thinks it is nothing to be scared of.

D.He thinks it is the beginning of a new life

4.In the author’ s opinion, we should ____________.

A.follow others’ advice               B.take no notice of diseases

C.take exercise and keep healthy       D.have the courage to follow our heart

 

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