Passage Three
In the case of mobile phones, change is everything. [32]Recent research indicates that the mobile phone is changing not only our culture, but our very bodies as well.
First, let's talk about culture. The difference between the mobile phone and its parent, the fixed-line phone is, you get whoever answers it. This has several implications. The most common one, however, and perhaps the thing that has changed our culture forever, is the "meeting" influence. [33]People no longer need to make firm plans about when and where to meet. Twenty years ago, a Friday night would need to be arranged in advance. [33]Now, however, a night out can be arranged on the run. Texting changes people as well. In their paper "Insights into the Social and Psychological Effects of SMS Text Messaging", two British researchers distinguished between two types of mobile phone users: the "talkers" and the "texters"-those who prefer voice to text message and those who prefer text to voice. [34]They found that the mobile phone's individuality and privacy gave texters the ability to express a whole new outer personality. Texters were likely to report that their family would be surprised if they were to read their texts.
Another scientist wrote of the changes that mobiles have brought to body language. There are two kinds that people use while speaking on the phone. There is the "speakeasy": the head is held high, in a self-confident way, chatting away. [35]And there is the "spacemaker": these people focus on themselves and keep out other people.
Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
32. What does recent research indicate about the mobile phone?
正确答案:C
解析:细节题。短文开头提到,移动电话不仅改变了我们的文化,而且也改变了我们的身体。由此可知,C为正确答案。
33. What may people do when they plan to meet nowadays?
正确答案:B
解析:推断题。文章提到,人们现在不再需要事先定好会面的时间和地点……晚上的活动临时安排也行。听到其中的任何一个句子都不难得出,B为正确答案。C是强干扰项,文中说的“人们不再需要事先定好会面的确切时间和地点”并非表示“他们不需要决定会面的时间和地点”,而只是强调可以临时决定,故C不正确。过于绝对化的选项一般不会是答案。A与D意义相近,可同时排除。
34. What do we learn from the passage about the texts sent by texters?
正确答案:A
解析:推断题。文中提到,移动电话的个体性与隐私性使得发手机短信的人可以表达一种全新的外在个性,这样的短信内容如果让发短信者的家人得知可能会令他们很震惊。A中的revealing对应文中的express,而characters则对应文中的personality,符合“同义替换”的解题原则。故A为正确答案。
35. According to the passage, who is afraid of being heard while talking on the mobile?
正确答案:C
解析:推断题。文中提到两类人:speakeasy与spacemaker,并说后者在讲电话时需要有自己的空间,不让别人听到的那一类人,故C正确。