摘要： 阅读理解There is a restaurant in my Maine town that has done little to update itself over the past 80 years. This is part of its charm, as is the wooden phone
There is a restaurant in my Maine town that has done little to update itself over the past 80 years. This is part of its charm, as is the wooden phone booth that sits neglected (忽略) in the age of the cellphone. Ah, the phone booth. We need it now more than ever.
For me it symbolizes that phone calls were once private affairs, even if the information being shared was not sensitive in any way. It was simply assumed that a phone conversation was meant for two people, and two people only.
Growing up in the 1960s, we had only phone in the house. As a kid, I didn’t get, or make many calls because all my friends live within earshot and I could just yell out the window if I wanted their attention. I do, however, remember answering the phone, asking for the identity of the caller, and then handing the phone to my mom. She’d take it, say “Hello, Mrs…one moment please,” and then as she placed her hand over the receiver, she turned to me, and directed, “This is for me. Why don’t you go outside and play?”
Flash forward to what cellphones have done to our life. Within the space of a few years, overhearing private conversations seems to be normal. Not long ago I was sitting in Boston’s South Station, near a man who was on his cellphone, waiting for my train.
The following is what the man had to say, “Yes, that’s right. The red and yellow roses.” Then he continued to recite his card number and expiration date. I stared at the fellow. He glanced at me and asked, “What?” My response was immediate: I recited his card number back to him, along with the expiration date.
There is no longer a sense of personal borders or limits. The cellphone has become a megaphone (扩音器), and I have been privy (私下知情) to details of people’s lives that I would rather not know. Maybe phone booths could serve as cellphone harbors today.
14. What feature does the restaurant in Maine town have?
A. It is very popular. B. It is old-fashioned.
C. It will close down. D. It has been neglected.
15. As a kid, the author __________.
A. had few friends
B. often called his friends
C. was not allowed to answer the phone
D. learned that phone conversations are private
16. What is the author’s attitude towards cellphone?
A. Critical. B. Tolerate. C. Optimistic. D. Approving.
17. What did the author do in Boston’s South Station?
A. He talked to an old friend.
B. He bought some colorful roses.
C. He overheard a man’s personal information.
D. He helped a stranger who was making a call.
【答案】14. B 15. D 16. A 17. C
【解析】
