A funny thing happened on the way to the communications revolution: we stopped talking

to one another.

I was walking in the park with a friend recently, and his cell phone rang, interrupting our conversation.There we were walking and talking on a beautiful sunny day and…I became invisible, absent from the conversation .

The park was filled with people talking on their cell phones They were passing people wi thout looking at them, say ing hello, noticing their babies or stopping to pat their dogs.It seems that the limitless electronic voice is preferred to human contact.

The telephone used to connect you to the absent.Now it makes people sitting next to you feel absent.Recently I was in a car with three friends.The driver hushed the rest of us because he could not hear the person on the other end of his cell phone.There we were, four friends driving down the highway, unable to talk to each other because of the small thing designed to make communication easier.

why is it that the wore connected we get.The more disconnected I feel？ Every advance in ommunications technology is a setback to the closeness of human interaction(互动).With email and instant message over the internet, we can now communicate without seeing or talking to one another.With voice mail, you can make entire conversations without ever reaching anyone.If my moe has a question, I just leave the answer on her machine.

As almost every contact we can imagine between human beings gets automated(自动化), the emot ional di stance index(疏远指数) goes up.Pumping gas at the station？ Why say good-morning to the assistant when you can swipe you credit card at the pump and save yourself the bother of human contact？ Making a deposit at the bank？ Why talk to the clerk who lives in the neight when you can put your card into the ATM？

More and more, I find myself hiding behind e-mail to do a job meant for conversation.Or being relieved that voice mail picked up because I didn ’t really have time to talk.The techno logy devoted to helping me keep in touch is making me lonelier

I own a mobile phone, an ATM card, a voicemail telephone,and an e-mail account.Giving them up isn' t a choice.They are great for what they are intended to do.It' s their unitended results that make me upset.What good is all this gee-whiz technology if there is no one in the room to hear you crying out“ Gee whiz”？

21.The author’s experience of walking in a park with a frier recently made him feel()

A.unhappy

B.funny

C.wonderful

22.According to the author, human contact in a park means()

A.looking at each other and saying hello when passing

B.noticing their babies and stopping to pat their dogs

C.both A and B

23.According to the author, the more connected we get in communication technology, the () we are

A.more automatic

B.easier

C.more disconnected

24.What are the examples the author gives to explain his idea that every advance in communication technology is a setback to the closeness of human interaction？()

A.With e-mail and instant message over the Internet.We can now communicate without seeing or talking to one another.

B.With voice mail, you can make entire conversations.without ever reaching anyone.

C.Both A and B

25.What is the unintended result of communication technology, according to the author？()

A.It makes communication easier and conversation possible everywhere.

B.It actually reates a distance between people instead of bringing them together.

C.It makes every contact between human beings automatic and makes people feel connected.