Question

“Yes, but what did we use to do before there was television?” How often we hear statements like this! Television hasn’t been with us all that long, but we are already beginning to forget what the world was like without it. Before we admit the one-eyed monster into our homes, we never found it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used to enjoy civilized pleasures. For instance, we used to have hobbies, we used to entertain our friends and be entertained by them, we used to go outside for our amusements to theatres, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events. We even used to read books and listen to music and broadcast talk occasionally. All that belongs to the past. Now all our free time is regulated by the “goggle-box”. We rush home or gulp down（吞咽）our meals to be in time for this or that program. We have even given up sitting at table and have a leisurely evening meal, exchanging the news of the day. A sandwich and a glass of beer will do ― anything providing it doesn’t interfere with the program. The monster demands and obtains absolute silence and attention. If any member of the family dares to open his mouth during a program, he is quickly silenced.

The whole generations are growing up addicted to the telly（television）. Food is left uneaten, homework undone and sleep is lost. The telly is universal pacifier（撫慰者）. It is now standard practice for mother to keep the children quiet by putting them in the living-room and turning on the set. It doesn’t matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials or violence ― so long as they are quiet.

There is little limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world. Every day, television consumes vast quantities of creative work. That is why most of programs are bad: It is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well. When millions watch the same programs, the whole world becomes a village, and society is reduced to the conditions which obtain in preliterate（無文字的）communities. We become completely dependent on the two most primitive media of communication: pictures and the spoken word.

Television encourages passive enjoyment. We become content with secondhand experiences. It is so easy to sit in our armchairs watching others working. Little by little, television cuts us off from the real world. We got so lazy; we choose to spend a fine day in semi-darkness, glued to our sets, rather than go out into the world itself. Television may be a splendid medium of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with each other. We only become aware how totally irrelevant（不相關(guān)的）television is to real living when we spend a holiday by the sea or in the mountain, far away from civilization. In quiet, natural surroundings, we quickly discover how little we miss the repetitive oppression of King Telly.

 

68. According to this passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. We used to have hobbies and go to theatres and sporting events.

B. We have a leisurely evening meal and exchange the news when we watch TV.

C. We quickly finish our meals so as to be in time for TV programs.

D. We are usually silent and attentive in front of TV.

69. The main idea of the second paragraph is to show that______.

A. children are very noisy                   B. TV is full of rubbishy commercials or violence

C. television disturbs our sleep            D. the whole generations are fascinated with TV

70. According to this passage, television brings in a lot of harms EXCEPT______.

A. television makes us lazy               

B. TV prevents us from communicating with each other

C. TV may be a splendid medium of communication

D. the same TV programs bring the society into the preliterate conditions

71. Which is the best title for this passage?

A. Television Encourages Passive Enjoyment      B. Television Is Doing Irreparable Harm

C. Television Is a Universal Pacifier                   D. We Can’t Live Without TV

72. This passage is an article of______.

A. narration                  B. description               C. criticism           D. argumentation

Answer 1

BDCBC