The only way to travel is on foot

The past ages of man have all been carefully labeled by anthropologists.

escriptions like 'Paleolithic Man', 'Neolithic Man', etc., neatly sum up whole periods. When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twentieth century, they will surely choose the label 'Legless Man'. Histories of the time will go something like this: 'in the twentieth century, people forgot how to use their legs.

Men and women moved about in cars, buses and trains from a very early age. There were lifts and escalators in all large buildings to prevent people from walking. This situation was forced upon earth dwellers of that time because of miles each day.

But the surprising thing is that they didn't use their legs even when they went on holiday. They built cable railways, ski-lifts and roads to the top of every huge mountain. All the beauty spots on earth were mangled by the presence of large car parks. '

The future history books might also record that we were deprived of the use of our eyes. In our hurry to get from one place to another, we failed to see anything on the way. Air travel gives you a bird's-eye view of the world - or even less if the wing of the aircraft happens to get in your way.

When you travel by car or train a blurred image of the countryside constantly smears the windows. Car drivers, in particular, are forever obsessed with the urge to go on and on: they never want to stop. Is it the lure of the great motorways, or what? And as for sea travel, it hardly deserves mention.

It is perfectly summed up in the words of the old song: 'I joined the navy to see the world, and what did I see? I saw the sea.' The typical twentieth-century traveler is the man who always says 'I've been there. ' You mention the remotest, most evocative place-names in the world like El Dorado, Kabul, Irkutsk and someone is bound to say 'I've been there' - meaning, 'I drove through it at 100 miles an hour on the way to somewhere else. '

When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing: you live mainly in the future because you spend most of your time looking forward to arriving at some other place. But actual arrival, when it is achieved, is meaningless. You want to move on again.

By traveling like this, you suspend all experience; the present ceases to be a reality: you might just as well be dead. The traveler on foot, on the other hand, lives constantly in the present.

For him traveling and arriving is one and the same thing: he arrives somewhere with every step he makes. He experiences the present moment with his eyes, his ears and the whole of his body. At the end of his journey he feels a delicious physical weariness. He knows that sound. Satisfying sleep will be his: the just reward of all true travelers.

Anthropologists label nowadays men 'Legless' because            .

    A people forget how to use his legs.

    B people prefer cars, buses and trains.

    C lifts and escalators prevent people from walking.

    D there are a lot of transportation devices.

Traveling at high speed means                .

    A people's focus on the future.

    B  a pleasure.

    C satisfying drivers' great thrill.

    D a necessity of life.

Why does the author say 'we are deprived of the use of our eyes' ?

    A People won't use their eyes.

    B In traveling at high speed, eyes become useless.

    C People can't see anything on his way of travel.

    D People want to sleep during traveling.

What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?

    A Legs become weaker.

    B Modern means of transportation make the world a small place.

    C There is no need to use eyes.

    D The best way to travel is on foot.

What does 'a bird's-eye view' mean?

    A See view with bird's eyes.

    B A bird looks at a beautiful view.

    C It is a general view from a high position looking down.

    D A scenic place.

The energy crisis (危机) has made people aware of how the careless use of the earth’s energy has brought the whole world to the edge of disaster. The over – development of motor transport, with its increase of more cars, more traveling, has contributed to the near – destruction of our cities and the pollution not only of local air but also of the earth’s atmosphere.

Our present situation is unlike natural disasters of the past. Worldwide energy use has brought us to a state where long – range planning is vital. What we need is not a continuation of our present serious state, which endangers the future of our country, our children, and our earth, but a movement forward in order to work rapidly and effectively on planetary problems.

This country has been falling back under the continuing exposures of loss of morality and the revelation (揭露) that lawbreaking has reached into the highest place in the land. There is a strong demand for morality to turn for the better and for some devotion that is vast enough and yet personal enough to enlist the devotion of all. In the past it has been only in a way in defense of their own country and their own benefits that people have been able to devote themselves wholeheartedly.

This is the first time that we have been asked to defend ourselves and what we hold dear in cooperation with all the other people of this planet, who share with us the same endangered air and the same endangered oceans. There is a common need to reassess our present course, to change that course and to employ new methods through which the world can survive. This is a priceless opportunity.

To grasp it, we need a widespread understanding of nature if the crisis we and the world are facing is no passing inconvenience, no byproduct of the ambitions of the oil – producing countries, no environmentalists’ only fears, no byproduct of any present system of government. What we face is the result of the invention of the last four hundred years. What we need is transformed life style. This new life style can flow directly from science and technology, but its acceptance depends on a sincere devotion to finding a higher quality of life for the world’s children and future generation.

Which of the following has nearly destroyed our cities?

       A.The loss of beliefs and ideas.  B.More of law – breaking.

       C.Natural disasters in many areas.      D.The rapid growth of motors.

By comparing past problems with present ones, the author draws our attention to the        .

       A.seriousness of this crisis  B.ineffectiveness of laws

       C.similarity of the past to the present D.hopelessness of the situation

Which of the following is used as an example to show the loss of morality?

       A.Disregard for law.          B.Lack of devotion.

       C.Lack of understanding.    D.Destruction of cities.

The author wrote the passage in order to         .

       A.make a recommendation for a transformed life style

       B.limit ambitions of the people of the whole world

       C.demand devotion to nature and future generation

       D.encourage awareness of the decline of morality

Modern inventions have speeded up people’s lives amazingly. Motor-cars cover a hundred miles in little more than an hour, aircraft cross the world inside a day, while computers operate at lightning speed. Indeed, this love of speed seems never-ending. Every year motor-cars are produced which go even faster and each new computer boasts (吹嘘) of saving precious seconds in handling tasks.

    All this saves time, but at a price. When we lose or gain half a day in speeding across the world in an airplane, our bodies tell us so. We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet-lag; our bodies feel that they have been left behind in another time zone. Again, spending too long at computer results in painful wrists and fingers. Mobile phones also have their dangers, according to some scientists; too much use may transmit harmful radiation into our brains, a consequence we do not like to think about.

    However, what do we do with the time we have saved? Certainly not relax, or so it seems. We are so accustomed to constant activity that we find it difficult to sit and do nothing, or even just one thing at a time. Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen quietly to a story on the radio, letting imagination take us into another world.

    There was a time when some people’s lives were devoted simply to the cultivation of the land or the care of cattle. No multi-tasking there; their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern. There is much that we might envy about a way of life like this. Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard tasks our ancestors faced: they farmed with bare hands, often lived close to hunger, and had to fashion tools from wood and stone. Modern machinery has freed people from that primitive existence.

1. The new products become more and more time-saving because       .

A. the manufacturers boast a lot            B. time is limited

C. the prices are increasingly high          D. our love of speed seems never-ending

2. What does “the days” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A. Simple life in the past.                B. Imaginary life.

C. Times of inventions.                  D. Time for constant activity.

3.. What is the author’s attitude towards the modern technology?

A. Critical.         B. Optimistic.      C. Objective.         D. Negative.

4.. What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. The present and past times.        B. Modern technology and its influence.

C. Imaginations and inventions.     D. Machinery and human beings.

 

Modern inventions have speeded up people’s loves amazingly. Motor-cars cover a hundred miles in little more than an hour, aircraft cross the world inside a day, while computers operate at lightning speed. Indeed, this love of speed seems never-ending. Every year motor-cars are produced which go even faster and each new computer boasts (吹嘘) of saving precious seconds in handling tasks.

All this saves time, but at a price. When we lose or gain half a day in speeding across the world in an airplane, our bodies tell us so.  We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet-lag; our bodies feel that they have been left behind on another time zone. Again, spending too long at computers results in painful wrists and fingers. Mobile phones also have their dangers, according to some scientists; too much use may transmit harmful radiation into our brains, a consequence we do not like to think about.

However, what do we do with the time we have saved? Certainly not relax, or so it seems. We are so accustomed to constant activity that we find it difficult to sit and do nothing or even just one thing at a time. Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen quietly to a story on the radio, letting imagination take us into another world.

There was a time when some people’s lives were devoted simply to the cultivation of the land or the care of cattle. No multi-tasking there; their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern. There is much that we might envy about a way of life like this. Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard tasks our ancestor faced: they farmed with bare hands, often lived close to hunger, and had to fashion tools from wood and stone. Modern machinery has freed people from that primitive existence.

1.The new products become more and more time-saving because         .

A. our love of speed seems never-ending            B. time is limited.

C. the prices are increasingly high.                 D. the manufactures boast a lot.

2. What does “the days” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A. Imaginary life                              B. Simple life in the past.

C. Times of inventions                          D. Time for constant activity.

3. What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. The present and past times.                   B. Machinery and human beings.

C. Modern technology and its influence.           D. Imaginations and inventions.        

 

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