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单击此处编辑母版标题样式,单击此处编辑母版文本样式,第二级,第三级,第四级,第五级,*,Always On,By Seth Stevenson,1/22,1.I first realized I might have a problem while hiking in the Himalayas.There I was 11,000 feet above sea level,strolling narrow dirt lanes among wild cows and beatific,Buddhist monks in saffron robes,when I spotted a sign on a small storefront:“Internet access inside.”,2.Soon,I was reading stupid jokes forwarded via email by buddies back home.Then I felt a pang:Whats wrong with me?Im in maybe the most beautiful place on earth,yet Im huddled i,n a musty room,staring at a computer monitor.Did I really trek all this way to do what I already spend too much time doing back home?Most nights,my girlfriend and I sit on the sofa,watching television on one of hundreds of digital cable channels.We each have a notebook computer linked to the Internet through a wireless network in our laps.To top it off,our cell phones sit within easy reach.At any given moment,we can watch TV,check our email,surf various websites and chat with a friend.(When we get off the sofa,theres a good chance were plugged into our iPod).,2/22,Buddhist monks in saffron robes,佛教僧侣穿着橘黄色僧袍,3/22,3.Call me one of the constantly connected a 21st-century man immersed in a lifestyle that lets me access the Web anywhere,anytime.Living this way is a blessing and a curse.It offers a level of convenience unimaginable a decade ago.But it also encourages some of us to indulge our weaker impulses.The impulse,for example,to seek distraction over peace and quiet.,An Addictive Device,4.A recent America Online survey found that 60 percent of email users check theirs on vacation.Forty percent have clicked on their in-boxes in the middle of the night;23 percent have actually checked email in bed,in their,pjs,.And four percent have checked email in the bathroom!When logging on begins to compete with basic bodily functions,Id say were losing perspective.,4/22,pjs,the abbreviated form of“pyjamas”,睡衣裤,睡衣,裤装睡衣,5/22,5.Some face greater temptations than others.Take my girlfriend.Shes an attorney,and her firm has given her a device called a,BlackBerry,.This so-called personal digital assistant allows her,using the tiny keyboard,to send and receive email,and do research on the Web,all from the palm of her hand.Because the BlackBerry is wireless and works wherever it picks up a signal,the office is pretty much anywhere:a train,an airport,even the beach.One of my girlfriends co-workers brought her BlackBerry on“vacation”to Costa Rica.And those sending the emails usually want answers now because they know you have a BlackBerry.At a friends wedding?Cut short the toast.Enjoying a ball game?Put down that hot dog.,6/22,BlackBerry,黑莓,黑莓手机,黑莓,7/22,6.Would it shock you to learn that the BlackBerry is so addictive its earned the nickname“CrackBerry”?Mark Guilbert,vice president of corporate marketing for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion,says it is especially suited to“a Type A person who wants to be in the loop as fast as possible.Its very satisfying to be able to answer your emails while waiting for an elevator or standing in line for a taxi.”But staying in the loop can take a physical toll:Doctors are seeing some increase in,tendinitis,and,carpal tunnel syndrome,among users.The condition even has a name:BlackBerry Thumb.,7.,Sprained digits aside,heres my worry:Once we all have such devices(if you think it wont happen,just recall how scarce cell phones were in 1994),will we be able to kick the habit?,8/22,tendinitis,肌腱炎,腱炎,腱炎,carpal tunnel syndrome,腕骨综合征,9/22,Capturing Eyeballs,8.On top of eating up our time and attention,all this connectivity is changing the language we use.Take the popular“instant messaging”feature first popularized by AOL that lets you type a note to a friend and have it appear instantly on the friends computer screen.The fast-paced nature of IMing(Instant Messaging)helped spread an online shorthand,which AOL has compiled in a 77-term“dictionary”:LOL(“laughing out loud”);IMO(“in my opinion”);YT?(“You there?”).Dont forget AFAIK(“as far as I know”),and DQMOT(“Dont quote me on this”).Chamath Palihapitiya,AOLs vice president for instant messaging,says he often has five distinct IM conversations going at once while at work.Im sure this greatly enhances his productivity,but come on:Five simultaneous dialogues,each one made up mostly of acronyms?Is this really“conversation”,？,10/22,9.With cell phones already featuring Web browsers,email and streaming video,being connected at all times is already appealing in a diabolical way.So whats next?Wireless networks will grow stronger and reach farther.And new devices will make it even more fun to connect from remote locations.A company called Microvision is developing portable displays that will change how we view information when were away from our desks(if we have desks).Company CEO Rick Rutkowski describes a future in which a pair of Microvision glasses projects high-definition images directly onto your retinas.,(Painful as it sounds,Microvision says there are no adverse health effects.)Instead of surfing the Web on a two-inch cell-phone screen,put on Microvision specs and download movies onto your eyeballs on the equivalent of a 100-inch big screen.,11/22,10.Is that really what we want each of us lost in an artificially created and personally tailored world and totally oblivious to the real world beyond those high-tech lenses?,11.When that happens,I wonder if we may want to do more than just ratchet things back,and instead cut the cords of constant connectivity entirely.I also wonder if it wont be too late by then.I wonder,but I dont have the answer.And,anyway,Im busy I really need to go check my email.,12/22,1.When the author hiked in the Himalayas 11,000 feet above sea level,what did he find?,A.A pavilion.,B.A hotel.,C.A sign for Internet access.,D.A computer.,Answer the following multiple-choice questions:,C,13/22,2.Life in the 21st century,where the Web can be accessed almost anytime and anywhere,could be described by the following terms EXCEPT _?,A.peaceless,B.convenient,C.distracted,D.quiet,D,14/22,3.The BlackBerry allows the authors girlfriend to do all the following EXCEPT _.,A.sending and receiving emails,B.doing research on the Web,C.making her office everywhere,in a train,at an airport,even on the beach,D.enjoying the vacation,D,15/22,4.Which of the following Instant Messaging examples is NOT mentioned in the text?,A.Laughing out loud.,B.Dont quote me on this.,C.As soon as possible.,D.As far as I know.,C,16/22,5.According to Rick Rutkowski,the Microvision CEO,in the future,a pair of Microvision glasses could project high-definition images directly onto _.,A.ones retinas,B.the glasses themselves,C.a screen,D.a wall,A,17/22,1.Why did the author feel a pang in the Himalayas?,Questions for Discussion,As a tourist the author was supposed to enjoy the exotic scenes in the Himalayas,but unfortunately,he found himself checking his emails in an Internet bar.The author had a sudden strong feeling of sadness when he realized that he could not escape the intrusion of technology even in the Himalayas.(Paragraph 2),18/22,2.How does the author view the lifestyle practiced by a 21st-century man?,The author thinks that the typical lifestyle practiced by a 21st-century man is both a blessing and a curse.On the one hand,it offers us a convenience which was unimaginable a decade ago;on the other hand,it also encourages some of us to indulge our weaker impulses.(Paragraph 3),19/22,3.Why is BlackBerry an addictive device?,According to the author,BlackBerry is so convenient a device that you may find it impossible to resist the temptation to bring it with you wherever you go.For example,you may have it with you when you are on vacation,or attending a friends wedding,or even enjoying a ball game.You are addicted to it because you cannot leave it behind any more.(Paragraph 5),20/22,4.What is the most important message that the author wants to convey in this essay?,The author is trying to convey his worries about what changes modern technology has brought about and is going to bring about in our lives.The cellphone and the Internet,as well as many other inventions,have fundamentally changed our lives.We are addicted to them,and we are“always on,”and we are lost in the artificial world,totally oblivious of the real world.In short,the author seems to suggest that modern technology is more of a curse than a blessing to humanity.,21/22,
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