单选题 Being able to multitask is hailed by most people as a welcome skill, but not according to a recent study which claims that young people between the ages of eight and eighteen of the so-called Generation M are spending a considerable amount of their time in fruitless efforts as they multitask. It argues that, in fact, these young people are frittering (浪费) away as much as half of their time as they would if they performed the very same tasks one after the other.
Some young people are using an ever larger number of electronic devices as they study. At the same time they are working, young adults are also surfing on the Internet, or sending out emails to their friends, and/or answering the telephone and listening to music on their iPods or on another computer. As some new device comes along, it is also added to the list rather than replacing one of the existing devices. Other research has indicated that this multitasking is even affecting the way families themselves function as young people are too wrapped up in (沉湎于) their own isolated worlds to interact with the other people around them. They can no longer greet family members when they enter the house nor can they eat at the family table.
All this electronic wizardry (魔力) is supposedly also seriously affecting young people"s performance at university and in the workplace. When asked about their opinions of the impact of modern gadgets (小装置) on their performance of tasks, the great majority of young people gave a favorable response.
The response from the academic and business worlds was not quite as positive. The former feel that multitasking with electronic gadgets by children affects later development of study skills, resulting in a decline in the quality of writing, for example, because of the lack of concentration on task completion. They feel that many undergraduates now urgently need remedial (补救的) help with study skills. Similarly, employers feel that young people entering the workforce need to be taught all over again, as they have become deskilled.
While all this may be true, it must be borne in mind that more and more is expected of young people nowadays; in fact, too much praise rather than criticism is due in respect of the way today"s youth are able to cope despite what the older generation throw at them.
单选题 What is probably true about the multitasking Generation M?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。用关键词Generation M回到原文定位,答案在第一段第一句,所谓的M一代在做多任务的同时花费了大量的时间做无用功,因此可知B为正确选项。
单选题 With the introduction of new gadgets, what happens to the Generation M"s present e-devices?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。用关键词gadgets回到原文定位,文章第三段第二句话有相关信息,“如果要问这些新装置对他们完成任务的影响,大多数的年轻人还是很赞许它们的”。因此D(他们选择了这些新装置)为正确选项。
单选题 Multitasking makes the Generation M ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。根据关键词multitasking定位到第二段,“其他的研究结果表明,多任务不仅使得年轻人沉湎于自己的孤立小世界,更是影响了家庭之间的关系,以至于他们不怎么和家人沟通”,所以C选项(和家庭疏远)是正确选项。
单选题 The academics feel that many undergraduates badly need to ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 词汇题。根据关键词academic定位到第四段:“他们认为现在的大学生急需学习技巧的补充”,很显然,C选项为正确答案。
单选题 What attitude should the older generation adopt towards the multitasking youth?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 态度题。相关信息在最后一段:“事实上对待现在的年轻人我们应该多一点夸奖少一点批评”,故选D。