Section B

　　Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it.

　　Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the

　　paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph

　　more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by

　　marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.

　　Who’s Really Addicting You to Technology?

　　A. “Nearly everyone I know is addicted in some measure to the Internet,” wrote Tony Schwartz in The New York Times. It’s a common complaint these days. A steady stream of similar headlines accuse the Net and its offspring apps, social media sites and online games of addicting us to distraction.

　　B. There’s little doubt that nearly everyone who comes in contact with the Net has difficulty disconnecting. Many of us, like Schwartz, struggle to stay focused on tasks that require more concentration than it takes to post a status update. As one person ironically put it in the comments section of Schwartz’s online article, “As I was reading this very excellent article, I stopped at least half a dozen times to check my email.”

　　C. There’s something different about this technology: it is both invasive and persuasive. But who’s at fault for its overuse? To find solutions, it’s important to understand what we’re dealing with. There are four parties conspiring to keep you connected: the tech, the boss, your friends, and you.

　　D. The technologies themselves, and their makers, are the easiest suspects to blame for our diminishing attention spans. Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, wrote, “The net is designed to be an interruption system, a machine geared to dividing attention.”

　　E. Online services like Facebook, Twitter and the like, are called out as masters of manipulation — making products so good that people can’t stop using them. After studying these products for several years, I wrote a book about how they do it. I learned it all starts with the business model. Since these services rely on advertising revenue, the more frequently you use them, the more money they make. It’s no wonder these companies employ teams of people focused on engineering their services to be as engaging as possible. These products aren’t habit-forming by chance; it’s by design. They have an incentive to keep us hooked.

　　F. However, as good as these services are, there are simple steps we can take to keep them at bay. For example, we can change how often we receive the distracting notifications that trigger our urge to check. According to Adam Marchick, CEO of mobile marketing company Kahuna, less than 15 percent of smartphone users ever bother to adjust their notification settings — meaning the remaining 85 percent of us default to the app makers’ every preset trigger. Google and Apple have made it far too difficult to adjust these settings so it’s up to us to take steps to ensure we set these triggers to suit our own needs, not the needs of the app makers’.

　　G. While companies like Facebook harvest attention to generate revenue from advertisers, other technologies have no such agenda. Take email, for example. This system couldn’t care less how often you use it. Yet to many, email is the most habit-forming medium of all. We check email at all hours of the day—we’re obsessed. But why? Because that’s what the boss wants. For almost all white-collar jobs, email is the primary tool of corporate communication. A slow response to a message could hurt not only your reputation but also your livelihood.

　　H. Your friends are also responsible for the addiction. Think about this familiar scene. People gathered around a table, enjoying food and each other’s company. There’s laughter and a bit of kidding. Then, during an interval in the conversation, someone takes out their phone to check who knows what. Barely anyone notices and no one says a thing.

　　I. Now, imagine the same dinner, but instead of checking their phone, the person belches(打嗝) — loudly. Everyone notices. Unless the meal takes place in a beer house, this is considered bad manners. The impolite act violates the basic rules of etiquette. One has to wonder: why don’t we apply the same social norms to checking phones during meals, meetings and conversations as we do to other antisocial behaviors? Somehow, we accept it and say nothing when someone offends.

　　J. The reality is, taking one’s phone out at the wrong time is worse than belching because, unlike other minor offense, checking tech is contagious. Once one person looks at their phone, other people feel compelled to do the same, starting a chain reaction. The more people are on their phones, the fewer people are talking until finally you’re the only one left not reading email or checking Twitter. From a societal perspective, phone checking is less like belching in public and more like another bad habit. Our phones are like cigarettes — something to do when we’re anxious, bored or when our fingers need something to toy with. Seeing others enjoy a smoke, or sneak a quick glance, is too tempting to resist and soon everyone is doing it.

　　K. The technology, your boss, and your friends, all influence how often you find yourself using (or overusing) these gadgets. But there’s still someone who deserves scrutiny – the person holding the phone.

　　L. I have a confession. Even though I study habit-forming technology for a living, disconnecting is not easy for me. I’m online far more than I’d like. Like Schwartz and so many others, I often find myself distracted and off task. I wanted to know why so I began self-monitoring to try to understand my behavior. That’s when I discovered an uncomfortable truth. I use technology as an escape. When I’m doing something I’d rather not do, or when I’m someplace I’d rather not be, I use my phone to port myself elsewhere. I found that this ability to instantly shift my attention was often a good thing, like when passing time on public transportation. But frequently my tech use was not so benign. When I faced difficult work, like thinking through an article idea or editing the same draft for the hundredth time, for example, a more sinister screen would draw me in. I could easily escape discomfort, temporarily, by answering email or browsing the web under the pretense of so-called “research.” Though I desperately wanted to lay blame elsewhere, I finally had to admit that my bad habits had less to do with new-age technology and more to do with old-fashioned procrastination(拖延).

　　M. It’s easy to blame technology for being so distracting, but distraction is nothing new. Aristotle and Socrates debated the nature of “akrasia” — our tendency to do things against our interests. If we’re honest with ourselves, tech is just another way to occupy our time and minds. If we weren’t on our devices, we’d likely do something similarly unproductive.

　　N. Personal technology is indeed more engaging than ever, and there’s no doubt companies are engineering their products and services to be more compelling and attractive. But would we want it any other way? The intended result of making something better is that people use it more. That’s not necessarily a problem, that’s progress.

　　O. These improvements don’t mean we shouldn’t attempt to control our use of technology. In order to make sure it doesn’t control us, we should come to terms with the fact that it’s more than the technology itself that’s responsible for our habits. Our workplace culture, social norms and individual behaviors all play a part. To put technology in its place, we must be conscious not only of how technology is changing, but also of how it is changing us.

　　36. Online services are so designed that the more they are used, the more profit they generate.

　　线索服务是太设计精良的以致于他们被用得越多，他们就产生越多的利润。

　　[E] Since these services rely on advertising revenue, the more frequently you use them, the more money they make.

　　E段，因为这些服务依赖于广告收入，你用他们越频繁，他们就创造越多钱。

　　37. The author admits using technology as an escape from the task at hand.

　　作者承认说使用可以作为一个逃离手边工作的方法。

　　[L] I have a confession. Even though I study habit-forming technology for a living, disconnecting is not easy for me. I’m online far more than I’d like. Like Schwartz and so many others, I often find myself distracted and off task.

　　L段，我有一个坦白。即使我研究行为习惯为生，不连接网络对我也不容易。我在线时间远远高于我想要的。像S和很多别人一样，我经常觉得自己被分散了注意力。

　　38. Checking phones at dinners is now accepted as normal but not belching.

　　晚饭时间检查手机已经被习以为常了，但打嗝并没有被认为可以接受。

　　[I] Now, imagine the same dinner, but instead of checking their phone, the person belches(打嗝) — loudly. Everyone notices.

　　吃饭时某人拿出手机检查任何东西。几乎没人会注意，但打嗝则不会。

　　39. To make proper use of technology, we should not only increase our awareness of how it is changing but also how it is impacting us.

　　为了让科技被适当使用，我们不仅应该增加我们的意识，关于科技自己怎样变了，也应该关心它怎样地影响了我们。

　　[O] To put technology in its place, we must be conscious not only of how technology is changing, but also of how it is changing us.

　　O段，为了让科技被适当使用，我们不仅应该增加我们的意识，关于科技自己怎样变了，也应该关心它怎样地影响了我们。

　　40. Most of us find it hard to focus on our immediate tasks because of Internet distractions.

　　我们中的大多数发现由于网络干扰，我们很难把注意力集中在我们手中的紧急任务上。

　　[B] Many of us, like Schwartz, struggle to stay focused on tasks that require more concentration than it takes to post a status update.

　　B段，我们中的很多人，像S，努力去保持注意力集中在一些要求更多注意力的任务上，这些任务比起发一条状态需要更多注意力。

　　41. When one person starts checking their phone, the others will follow suit.

　　当一个人开始检查手机，别人就会跟着。

　　[J] Once one person looks at their phone, other people feel compelled to do the same, starting a chain reaction.

　　一旦一个人看着他们的手机，别人会感觉到被迫要去做一样的是，于是开始了连锁反应。

　　42. The great majority of smartphone users don’t take the trouble to adjust their settings to suit their own purposes.

　　大多数的智能手机用户根本不想麻烦去调整设置去适应他们自己的目的。

　　[F] According to Adam Marchick, CEO of mobile marketing company Kahuna, less than 15 percent of smartphone users ever bother to adjust their notification settings — meaning the remaining 85 percent of us default to the app makers’ every preset trigger.

　　F段，根据AM，市场调查公司K的CEO，少于15%的手机用户会去调整提醒设置——意味着余下85%的我们默认了app制造商的提醒设置。

　　43. The Internet is regarded by some as designed to distract our attention.

　　网络被一些人认为是设计好去分散我们注意力的。

　　[D] The technologies themselves, and their makers, are the easiest suspects to blame for our diminishing attention spans. Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, wrote, “The net is designed to be an interruption system, a machine geared to dividing attention.”

　　D段，科技本身，以及他们的制造商，是最容易被怀疑为减少我们注意力负责的人。NC一本书的作者写道：“网络被设计好作为一个打扰系统，一个分散注意力的机器。”