For years, mobile phones weren’t much to look at. The screens were small, and users needed to press the same key several times to type a single letter in a text. Then, the first iPhone was released. Within six years, most people owned a smartphone—accepting the new technology perhaps faster than ever. It suddenly became very easy to predict what most people would be doing in public places.
Today, smartphones seem indispensable. They connect us to the Internet, give us directions, allow us to quickly fire off texts and can even help you find the last hotel room when your plane is grounded by a dust storm. Yet research has shown that this convenience may be coming at a cost.
In the beginning, smartphone users would stay together, sharing what was on their phones. As time has gone on, there’s been less of that and more of what we call the alone together phenomenon. Then you become attracted by the world on the screens. This is the new normal: Instead of visiting someone, you text them. Instead of getting together for dinner with friends to tell them about your recent vacation, you post the pictures to Facebook. It’s convenient, but it cuts out some of the interaction(互动) that, as social animals, we want.
One study asked college students to report on their mood five times a day. It was found that the more they had used Facebook, the less happy they were. Frequent smartphone users asked to put their phones face down on the table grew increasingly anxious as time passed. According to another study, people whose partners were more frequently distracted(分心的) by their phones were less satisfied with their relationships and were more likely to feel depressed.
Smartphones are a tool, and like most tools, they can be used in positive ways or negative ones. In moderation, smartphones are a convenient technology. Yet a different picture has also appeared over the past decade: Interacting with people face to face usually makes us happy. Electronic communication often doesn’t.
【解题导语】 智能手机的出现使人们的生活更加便捷，但人们对智能手机的过度依赖也会影响自己的身心健康。
1．What’s the meaning of the underlined word in Paragraph 2?
A．Expensive. B．Necessary.
C．Fashionable. D．Unusual.
B 解析：词义猜测题。根据第二段的They connect us to the Internet, give us directions...is grounded by a dust storm.可知，手机给我们带来了诸多便利，在生活中不可或缺，可推测indispensable意为“不可或缺的，必须的”。
2．According to the passage, in the long run, smartphones will ________．
A．make you feel happier
B．have greater benefit than harm
C．change your understanding of the world
D．lead to less face－to－face communication
D 解析：细节理解题。根据第三段的Instead of visiting someone...it cuts out some of the interaction(互动) that, as social animals, we want.可知，长此以往，手机会让人们的面对面交流不断减少。
3．We can learn from Paragraph 4 that frequent use of smartphones can________．
A．be harmful to people’s mental health
B．help improve people’s social skills
C．reduce people’s interest in Facebook
D．make people become independent
A 解析：推理判断题。根据第四段的It was found that the more they had used Facebook...and were more likely to feel depressed.可推断，人们对手机的过度依赖也会影响自己的心理健康。
4．Which idea may the author agree with?
A．Smartphones are not a good invention.
B．Electronic communication is unnecessary.
C．Smartphones should be used reasonably.
D．Technology stands opposite to happiness.
C 解析：推理判断题。根据最后一段第一句Smartphones are a tool, and like most tools, they can be used in positive ways or negative ones.可推断，作者赞成人们合理使用智能手机。
