A
(2019·赣州十四县/市联考)Some people are so rude!
Who sends an email or a text message that just says “Thank you” ? Who leaves a voice mail message rather than texts you? Who asks for a fact easily found on Google? Don’t these people realize that they’re wasting your time?
Maybe I’m the rude one for not appreciating life’s little politeness. But many social agreed standards just don’t make sense to people drowning in digital communication.
In texts, you don’t have to declare who you are or even say hello.Email, too, is slower than a text. Voice mail is a now impolite way of trying to connect.
My father learned this lesson after leaving me a dozen voice mail messages, none of which I listened to. Exasperated，he called my sister to express his dissatisfaction that I never returned his phone calls. “Why are you leaving him voice mail？” my sister asked. “Just text him.”
In the age of the smartphone, there is no reason to ask onceacceptable questions about: the weather forecast, a business’s phone number, or directions to a house, a restaurant, which can be easily found on Google Maps. But people still ask these things. And when you answer, they respond with a thankyou email.
How to handle these differing standards? Easy: Consider your audience. Some people, especially older ones, appreciate a thankyou message. Others, like me, want no reply.
The anthropologist(人类学家) Margaret Mead once said that in traditional societies, the young learn from the old. But in modern societies, the old can also learn from the young. Here’s hoping that politeness never goes out of fashion but that timewasting forms of communication do.
【解题导语】 本文是一篇议论文，主要讨论了如今在智能手机时代，人们应该选择何种方式进行沟通。
1．What does the underlined word “Exasperated” mean in the fifth paragraph?
A．Worried. B．Surprised.
C．Annoyed. D．Tired.
C 解析：词义猜测题。根据第五段第二句中的“he called my sister to express his dissatisfaction that I never returned his phone calls.”可知，作者的父亲对作者不给自己回电话很不满，由此可推知Exasperated意思是 “恼怒的，生气的”，故选C。
2．Why didn’t the writer reply to his father?
A．He liked text messages better.
B．He enjoyed checking his voice mail.
C．He didn’t receive any voice mail messages.
D．He didn’t want to talk with his father.
A 解析：推理判断题。根据第五段中的“‘Why are you leaving him voice mail？’my sister asked.‘Just text him.’”可推知，作者不喜欢用语音信箱，更偏爱发短信，故选A。
3．Which of the following does the writer agree to?
A．People needn’t learn from one another in traditional societies.
B．Dealing with voice mail should vary with each individual.
C．People needn’t turn to Google for help when in trouble.
D．Declaring who you are or saying hello in texts is necessary.
B 解析：推理判断题。根据第七段的内容可推知，标准是变化的，处理方式应该因人而异，而不是一刀切，语音信箱的使用亦是如此，故选B。
4．What’s the best title of this passage?
A．Nowadays：What Should We Do with Text Messages?
B．Nowadays：Do You Like Leaving Others a Voice Message?
C．Nowadays：What Means Should We Use in Communication?
D．Nowadays：Do You Need a Thankyou Message?
C 解析：标题归纳题。根据对文章内容的整体理解可知，第三段引入本文话题，最后两段点题总结，本文主要讨论的是如今(在智能手机时代)我们应该用何种方式沟通，故选C项。
