After too long on the Net, even a phone call can be a shock. My boyfriend’s Liverpudlian accent suddenly becomes too difficult to understand after his clear words on screen; a secretary’s tone seems more rejecting than I’d imagined it would be. Time itself becomes fluid—hours becomes minutes, and alternately seconds stretch into days. Week ends, once a highlight of my week, are now just two ordinary days.

　　For the last three years, since I stopped working as a producer for Charlie Rose, I have done much of my work as a telecommuter. I submit(提交) articles and edit them by E-mail and communicate with colleagues on Internet mailing lists. My boyfriend lives in England, so much of our relationship is computer-mediated. If I desired, I could stay inside for weeks without wanting anything. I can order food, and manage my money, love and work. In fact, at times I have spent as long as three weeks alone at home, going out only to get mail and buy newspapers and groceries. I watched most of the blizzard of 96 on TV.

　　But after a while, life itself begins to feel unreal. I start to feel as though I’ve merged(融合) with my machines, taking data in, spitting them back out, just another node(波節) on the Net. Others on line report the same symptoms(癥狀). We start to strongly dislike the outside forms of socializing. It’s like attending an A. A. meeting in a bar with everyone holding a half-sipped drink. We have become the Net opponents’ worst nightmare.

　　What first seemed like a luxury, crawling from bed to computer, not worrying about hair, and clothes and face, has becomes avoidance(逃避), a lack of discipline. And once you start replacing real human contact with cyber interaction, coming back out of the cave can be quite difficult.

　　At times, I turn on the television and just leave it to chatter in the background, something that I’d never done previously. The voices of the programs relax me, but then I’m jarred by the commercials. I find myself sucked in by soap operas, or needing to keep up with the latest news and the weather. “Dateline”, “Frontline”, “Nightline”, CNN, New York 1, every possible angle of every story over and over, and over, even when they are of no possible use to me. Work moves from foreground to background.

　　1. Compared to the clear words of her boyfriend on screen, his accent becomes _______.

　　A. unreal                        B. unbearable

　　C. misleading                        D. not understandable

　　2. What does the last paragraph mean?

　　A. Having worked on the computer for too long, she became a bit strange.

　　B. She is so interested in TV programs that she often forgets her work.

　　C. She watches TV a lot in order to keep up with the latest news and the weather.

　　D. She turns on TV now and then in order to get some comfort from TV program.

　　3. What is the author’s attitude to the computer?

　　A. At first she likes it but later becomes tired of it.

　　B. She likes it because it is very convenient.

　　C. She dislikes it because TV is more attractive.

　　D. She dislikes it because it cuts off her relation with the outside world.

　　4. The underlined phrase “coming back out of cave” probably means _______.

　　A. going back to the dreaming world

　　B. coming back home from the outside world

　　C. bringing back direct human

　　D. getting away from living a strange life

　　【答案與解析】本文是作者對自己長時間對著電腦的生活的描述。

　　1. D。細節題。根據My boyfriend’s Liverpudlian accent suddenly becomes too difficult to understand after his clear words on screen可知答案為D。

　　2. D。推斷題。根據The voices of the programs relax me, but then I’m jarred by the commercials 可知她有時打開電視，聽到節目的聲音只是使自己得到放松，故答案D。

　　3. A。推斷題。文中第1，2段描述作者對電腦開始還是喜歡的，再根據But after a while, life itself begins to feel unreal. I start to feel as thought I’ve merged with my machines, taking data in可知答案為A。

　　4. C。句意理解題。根據And once you start replacing real human contact with cyber interaction, coming back out of the cave can be quite difficult可知答案為C。