After too long on the Net, even a phone call can be a shock. My boyfriend’s Liverpudlian accent suddenly becomes too difficult to understand after his clear 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 tele-commuter. I submit（提交） articles and edit them by 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(暴风雪) of ’96 on TV.
But after a while, life itself begins to feel unreal. I start to feel as though I’ve merged（融合） with my machines, taking data in, spitting them back out, just another node（波节） 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（逃避），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 relax me, but then I’m jarred by the commercials. I find myself sucked in by soap operas, or needing to keep up with the latest news and the weather.　“Dateline”, “Frontline” , “Nightline,” CNN, every possible angle of every story over and over and over, even when they are of no possible use to me. Work moves from foreground to background.
【小题1】Compared to the clear words of her boyfriend on screen, his accent becomes______.

After too long on the Net, even a phone call can be a shock. My boyfriend’s Liverpudlian accent suddenly becomes too difficult to understand after his clear 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 tele-commuter. I submit（提交） articles and edit them by 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(暴风雪) of ’96 on TV.

But after a while, life itself begins to feel unreal. I start to feel as though I’ve merged（融合） with my machines, taking data in, spitting them back out, just another node（波节） 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（逃避），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 relax me, but then I’m jarred by the commercials. I find myself sucked in by soap operas, or needing to keep up with the latest news and the weather.　“Dateline”, “Frontline” , “Nightline,” CNN, every possible angle of every story over and over and over, even when they are of no possible use to me. Work moves from foreground to background.

1.Compared to the clear words of her boyfriend on screen, his accent becomes______.

A. unreal       B. unbearable

C. misleading       D. not understandable

2.The passage implies that the author and her boyfriend live in______.

A. the same city                  B. the same country

C. different countries              D. different cities in England

3.What does the last paragraph mean?

A. Having worked on the computer for too long, she became a bit strange.

B. Sometimes TV programs give her comfort and even makes her forget her work.

C. She watches TV a lot in order to keep up with the latest news and the weather.

D. She turns on TV now and then in order to get some valuable information.

4.What is the author’s attitude to the computer?

A. At first she likes it but later becomes tired of it.

B. She likes it because it is very convenient.

C. She dislikes it because TV is more attractive.

D. She likes it because it provides an imaginary world.

5.The underlined phrase “coming back out of the cave” probably means______.

A. going back to the dreaming world

B. coming back home from the outside world

C. bringing back direct human contact

D. getting away from living a strange life

 “You must be mad！” said my friends. “Giving up your job now， when there isn't much chance of finding another one， ever！”

But I had already come to my lonely decision. To wake up in the morning with a sense of fear， to force a hasty breakfast down an unwilling throat and then to set off for work with pounding heart and frozen face had become habitual， and I had turned to tranquilizers(镇定剂) to help me along.

It hadn't always been as bad as this. Ten years before I had managed quite well.

I， in common with most other teachers， am rather self??critical， and I knew now I was no longer “managing”.My classes were noisy， the children were not learning very much， and my attempts to cope with changing teaching methods produced very little effect. At one time my very presence in the doorway would be enough to ensure a partial silence. Now they give a vague(含糊的) “Hello， Miss”， and carry on. I had run out of enjoyment and enthusiasm. It was time to stop.

Was it all my own failure？ In fairness to myself， I don't think it was. I had plenty of ideas， I loved my subject， and I liked children.

I had been idealistic. But the reality I faced was bored children， over??stimulated(刺激)by video??watching the night before and tired out by a late bedtime. They were given the wrong food at the wrong time， who came without breakfast to school and then stuffed themselves with gum and chocolates bought on the way； who were “high” with hunger in class and talked restlessly as the cooking smell from the school kitchen came drifting (漂) to all floors.

I had been trying to create the basic conditions in which teaching becomes possible， but I had failed， and no longer had the stomach for the job.

64.The reason why the writer decided to give up her job was probably that　　　　.

A.teaching children wasn't challenging

B.she took no pride in her work

C.teaching had become too much for her

D.she disliked the new teaching method

65.“My very presence in the doorway would be enough to ensure a partial silence” means“　　　　”.

A.I'd very well make some students stop talking simply by standing in the doorway

B.when I came to the doorway， the class would immediately quiet down

C.all the students would become silent on my turning up in the doorway

D.my appearance in the doorway could at least comfort the class

66.The following are all reasons that children couldn't concentrate in class EXCEPT　　　　.

A.they were tired out because they went to bed too late

B.they were burdened with too much homework

C.they were not properly fed by their parents

D.they were over excited by video??watching the night before

67.We can infer from the passage that the writer　　　　.

A.had no love for children at all

B.never truly enjoyed teaching

C.found it difficult to give up her job

D.felt extremely nervous about each coming day