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 boats (吹噓) 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 scientist; 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.
【小題1】 The new products become more and more time-saving because        .

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 (吹噓) 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.

James Stallman Rockefeller, the oldest-known U. S. Olympic medal winner and the former head of the bank that became Citigroup, died Tuesday. He was 102. Records of the U. S. Olympic Committee show that Rockefeller was the oldest American medal winner. He was the captain of Yale University’s eight-man rowing team with coxswain that won gold at the 1924 Paris Olympics - beating the Canadian team by less than 16 seconds. The oars from the winning race and the gold medal were prominently displayed in Rockefeller’s house. “I think he was really proud of that - probably more than the bank career,” said his grandson.

Rockefeller suffered a stroke on Thursday, said his grandson, who lived with him at his Greenwich home for two years, attributed his long life to a regimented（嚴(yán)密組織的） lifestyle: breakfast at eight a. m. , lunch at 1 p. m. , cocktails at 6 p. m. and dinner promptly at 7 p. m. . He liked plain food, without sauces or cheese, and plenty of fresh vegetables, including those grown in the garden of his estate. Rockefeller was in good health until shortly before he died. He drove his car up until last year and would review documents from the various charities and businesses he helped lead.

Rockefeller, born on June 8, 1902, was a grandson of William Rockefeller, who founded Standard Oil with his brother, John D. Rockefeller. He graduated from Yale in 1924 and served in the Airborne Command during World War II. He started at the bank, and then called the National City Bank, in 1930, following his uncle and grandfather, who were leaders of the bank. He became president in 1952, chairman in 1959 and retired in 1967. In 1955, under Rockefeller’s leadership, the bank merged with the First National Bank of New York to form Citigroup. Rockefeller also was a director of numerous companies, including Pan American Airways, Northern Pacific Railroad, NCR and Monsanto, and served on the boards of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the American Museum of Natural History.

Rockefeller and his wife. Nancy Carnegie Rockefeller, had four children. His wife died in 1994.

1.

Rockefeller lost his wife when he was____   ___.

2.

We can learn from the passage that ____   ___.

3.

What we can infer from the passage is that ______.

Seconds ________ in an emergency．

1. A.
   are valued
2. B.
   cost
3. C.
   worth
4. D.
   count

James Stallman Rockefeller, the oldest-known U．S．Olympic medal winner and the former head of the bank that became Citigroup, died Tuesday．He was 102．Records of the U．S．Olympic Committee show that Rockefeller was the oldest American medal winner．He was the captain of Yale University's eight-man rowing team with coxswain that won gold at the 1924 Paris Olympics - beating the Canadian team by less than 16 seconds．The oars from the winning race and the gold medal were prominently displayed in Rockefeller's house．"I think he was really proud of that - probably more than the bank career," said his grandson.

Rockefeller suffered a stroke on Thursday, said his grandson, who lived with him at his Greenwich home for two years, attributed his long life to a regimented（嚴(yán)密組織的） lifestyle: breakfast at eight a．m．, lunch at 1 p．m．, cocktails at 6 p．m．a(chǎn)nd dinner promptly at 7 p.m.. He liked plain food, without sauces or cheese, and plenty of fresh vegetables, including those grown in the garden of his estate．Rockefeller was in good health until shortly before he died．He drove his car up until last year and would review documents from the various charities and businesses he helped lead．

Rockefeller, born on June 8, 1902, was a grandson of William Rockefeller, who founded Standard Oil with his brother, John D．Rockefeller．He graduated from Yale in 1924 and served in the Airborne Command during World War II．He started at the bank, and then called the National City Bank, in 1930, following his uncle and grandfather, who were leaders of the bank． He became president in 1952, chairman in 1959 and retired in 1967．In 1955, under Rockefeller's leadership, the bank merged with the First National Bank of New York to form Citigroup．Rockefeller also was a director of numerous companies, including Pan American Airways, Northern Pacific Railroad, NCR and Monsanto, and served on the boards of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the American Museum of Natural History．

Rockefeller and his wife．Nancy Carnegie Rockefeller, had four children．His wife died in 1994．

1.Rockefeller lost his wife when he was____    ___．

    A．a(chǎn)t the age of 91                     B．in his eighties               

    C．in his early nineties                D．in his 1994

2.We can learn from the passage that ____    ___．

    A．the American rowing team beat the Canadian team in less than 16 seconds in 1924．

    B．Rockefeller was the first American medal winner．

    C．James Stallman Rockefeller founded the National City Bank and was the first president．

    D．His grandson thought Rockefeller had long life because of a regimented lifestyle．

3.What we can infer from the passage is that ______．

    A．James Stallman Rockefeller is a great Olympic medal winner．

    B．James Stallman Rockefeller was in good health until he died．

    C．James Stallman Rockefeller was very active in American society．

    D．James Stallman Rockefeller was the only grandson of William Rockefeller．