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发表于 2017-12-27 00:44:47
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Section B
Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten
statements attached to it.
Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs.
Identify the
paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a
paragraph
more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the
questions by
marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.
Who’s Really Addicting You to Technology?
A. “Nearly everyone I know is addicted in some measure to the Internet,”
wrote Tony Schwartz in The New York Times. It’s a common complaint these days. A
steady stream of similar headlines accuse the Net and its offspring apps, social
media sites and online games of addicting us to distraction.
B. There’s little doubt that nearly everyone who comes in contact with the
Net has difficulty disconnecting. Many of us, like Schwartz, struggle to stay
focused on tasks that require more concentration than it takes to post a status
update. As one person ironically put it in the comments section of Schwartz’s
online article, “As I was reading this very excellent article, I stopped at
least half a dozen times to check my email.”
C. There’s something different about this technology: it is both invasive
and persuasive. But who’s at fault for its overuse? To find solutions, it’s
important to understand what we’re dealing with. There are four parties
conspiring to keep you connected: the tech, the boss, your friends, and you.
D. The technologies themselves, and their makers, are the easiest suspects
to blame for our diminishing attention spans. Nicholas Carr, author of The
Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, wrote, “The net is designed
to be an interruption system, a machine geared to dividing attention.”
E. Online services like Facebook, Twitter and the like, are called out as
masters of manipulation — making products so good that people can’t stop using
them. After studying these products for several years, I wrote a book about how
they do it. I learned it all starts with the business model. Since these
services rely on advertising revenue, the more frequently you use them, the more
money they make. It’s no wonder these companies employ teams of people focused
on engineering their services to be as engaging as possible. These products
aren’t habit-forming by chance; it’s by design. They have an incentive to keep
us hooked.
F. However, as good as these services are, there are simple steps we can
take to keep them at bay. For example, we can change how often we receive the
distracting notifications that trigger our urge to check. According to Adam
Marchick, CEO of mobile marketing company Kahuna, less than 15 percent of
smartphone users ever bother to adjust their notification settings — meaning the
remaining 85 percent of us default to the app makers’ every preset trigger.
Google and Apple have made it far too difficult to adjust these settings so it’s
up to us to take steps to ensure we set these triggers to suit our own needs,
not the needs of the app makers’.
G. While companies like Facebook harvest attention to generate revenue from
advertisers, other technologies have no such agenda. Take email, for example.
This system couldn’t care less how often you use it. Yet to many, email is the
most habit-forming medium of all. We check email at all hours of the day—we’re
obsessed. But why? Because that’s what the boss wants. For almost all
white-collar jobs, email is the primary tool of corporate communication. A slow
response to a message could hurt not only your reputation but also your
livelihood.
H. Your friends are also responsible for the addiction. Think about this
familiar scene. People gathered around a table, enjoying food and each other’s
company. There’s laughter and a bit of kidding. Then, during an interval in the
conversation, someone takes out their phone to check who knows what. Barely
anyone notices and no one says a thing.
I. Now, imagine the same dinner, but instead of checking their phone, the
person belches(打嗝) — loudly. Everyone notices. Unless the meal takes place in a
beer house, this is considered bad manners. The impolite act violates the basic
rules of etiquette. One has to wonder: why don’t we apply the same social norms
to checking phones during meals, meetings and conversations as we do to other
antisocial behaviors? Somehow, we accept it and say nothing when someone
offends.
J. The reality is, taking one’s phone out at the wrong time is worse than
belching because, unlike other minor offense, checking tech is contagious. Once
one person looks at their phone, other people feel compelled to do the same,
starting a chain reaction. The more people are on their phones, the fewer people
are talking until finally you’re the only one left not reading email or checking
Twitter. From a societal perspective, phone checking is less like belching in
public and more like another bad habit. Our phones are like cigarettes —
something to do when we’re anxious, bored or when our fingers need something to
toy with. Seeing others enjoy a smoke, or sneak a quick glance, is too tempting
to resist and soon everyone is doing it.
K. The technology, your boss, and your friends, all influence how often you
find yourself using (or overusing) these gadgets. But there’s still someone who
deserves scrutiny – the person holding the phone.
L. I have a confession. Even though I study habit-forming technology for a
living, disconnecting is not easy for me. I’m online far more than I’d like.
Like Schwartz and so many others, I often find myself distracted and off task. I
wanted to know why so I began self-monitoring to try to understand my behavior.
That’s when I discovered an uncomfortable truth. I use technology as an escape.
When I’m doing something I’d rather not do, or when I’m someplace I’d rather not
be, I use my phone to port myself elsewhere. I found that this ability to
instantly shift my attention was often a good thing, like when passing time on
public transportation. But frequently my tech use was not so benign. When I
faced difficult work, like thinking through an article idea or editing the same
draft for the hundredth time, for example, a more sinister screen would draw me
in. I could easily escape discomfort, temporarily, by answering email or
browsing the web under the pretense of so-called “research.” Though I
desperately wanted to lay blame elsewhere, I finally had to admit that my bad
habits had less to do with new-age technology and more to do with old-fashioned
procrastination(拖延).
M. It’s easy to blame technology for being so distracting, but distraction
is nothing new. Aristotle and Socrates debated the nature of “akrasia” — our
tendency to do things against our interests. If we’re honest with ourselves,
tech is just another way to occupy our time and minds. If we weren’t on our
devices, we’d likely do something similarly unproductive.
N. Personal technology is indeed more engaging than ever, and there’s no
doubt companies are engineering their products and services to be more
compelling and attractive. But would we want it any other way? The intended
result of making something better is that people use it more. That’s not
necessarily a problem, that’s progress.
O. These improvements don’t mean we shouldn’t attempt to control our use of
technology. In order to make sure it doesn’t control us, we should come to terms
with the fact that it’s more than the technology itself that’s responsible for
our habits. Our workplace culture, social norms and individual behaviors all
play a part. To put technology in its place, we must be conscious not only of
how technology is changing, but also of how it is changing us.
36. Online services are so designed that the more they are used, the more
profit they generate.
线索服务是太设计精良的以致于他们被用得越多，他们就产生越多的利润。
[E] Since these services rely on advertising revenue, the more frequently
you use them, the more money they make.
E段，因为这些服务依赖于广告收入，你用他们越频繁，他们就创造越多钱。
37. The author admits using technology as an escape from the task at
hand.
作者承认说使用可以作为一个逃离手边工作的方法。
[L] I have a confession. Even though I study habit-forming technology for a
living, disconnecting is not easy for me. I’m online far more than I’d like.
Like Schwartz and so many others, I often find myself distracted and off
task.
L段，我有一个坦白。即使我研究行为习惯为生，不连接网络对我也不容易。我在线时间远远高于我想要的。像S和很多别人一样，我经常觉得自己被分散了注意力。
38. Checking phones at dinners is now accepted as normal but not
belching.
晚饭时间检查手机已经被习以为常了，但打嗝并没有被认为可以接受。
[I] Now, imagine the same dinner, but instead of checking their phone, the
person belches(打嗝) — loudly. Everyone notices.
吃饭时某人拿出手机检查任何东西。几乎没人会注意，但打嗝则不会。
39. To make proper use of technology, we should not only increase our
awareness of how it is changing but also how it is impacting us.
为了让科技被适当使用，我们不仅应该增加我们的意识，关于科技自己怎样变了，也应该关心它怎样地影响了我们。
[O] To put technology in its place, we must be conscious not only of how
technology is changing, but also of how it is changing us.
O段，为了让科技被适当使用，我们不仅应该增加我们的意识，关于科技自己怎样变了，也应该关心它怎样地影响了我们。
40. Most of us find it hard to focus on our immediate tasks because of
Internet distractions.
我们中的大多数发现由于网络干扰，我们很难把注意力集中在我们手中的紧急任务上。
[B] Many of us, like Schwartz, struggle to stay focused on tasks that
require more concentration than it takes to post a status update.
B段，我们中的很多人，像S，努力去保持注意力集中在一些要求更多注意力的任务上，这些任务比起发一条状态需要更多注意力。
41. When one person starts checking their phone, the others will follow
suit.
当一个人开始检查手机，别人就会跟着。
[J] Once one person looks at their phone, other people feel compelled to do
the same, starting a chain reaction.
一旦一个人看着他们的手机，别人会感觉到被迫要去做一样的是，于是开始了连锁反应。
42. The great majority of smartphone users don’t take the trouble to adjust
their settings to suit their own purposes.
大多数的智能手机用户根本不想麻烦去调整设置去适应他们自己的目的。
[F] According to Adam Marchick, CEO of mobile marketing company Kahuna,
less than 15 percent of smartphone users ever bother to adjust their
notification settings — meaning the remaining 85 percent of us default to the
app makers’ every preset trigger.
F段，根据AM，市场调查公司K的CEO，少于15%的手机用户会去调整提醒设置——意味着余下85%的我们默认了app制造商的提醒设置。
43. The Internet is regarded by some as designed to distract our
attention.
网络被一些人认为是设计好去分散我们注意力的。
[D] The technologies themselves, and their makers, are the easiest suspects
to blame for our diminishing attention spans. Nicholas Carr, author of The
Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, wrote, “The net is designed
to be an interruption system, a machine geared to dividing attention.”
D段，科技本身，以及他们的制造商，是最容易被怀疑为减少我们注意力负责的人。NC一本书的作者写道：“网络被设计好作为一个打扰系统，一个分散注意力的机器。”
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