阅读理解
"THE SERVANT" (1963) is one of those films that it is impossible to forget. The servant exploits his master's weaknesses until he turns the tables: the story ends with the a cringing master ministering to a lordly servant. It is hard to watch it today without thinking of another awkward relationship—the one between businessfolk and their smartphones.
Smart devices are sometimes empowering. They put a world of information at our fingertips. But for most people the servant has become the master. Not long ago only doctors were on call all the time. Now everybody is. Bosses think nothing of invading their employees' free time. Work invades the home far more than domestic chores invade the office.
Hyperconnectivity exaggerates the decline of certainty and the general cult of flexibility. Smartphones make it easier for managers to change their minds at the last moment. Employees find it ever harder to distinguish between "on-time" and "off-time" —and indeed between real work and make-work. None of this is good for businesspeople's marriages or mental health. It may be bad for business, too. When bosses change their minds at the last minute, it is hard to plan for the future.
How can we reap the benefits of connectivity without becoming its slaves? One solution is digital dieting. Banning browsing before breakfast can reintroduce a small amount of civilization. Banning texting at weekends or, say, on Thursdays, can really show the iPhone who is boss.
The problem with this approach is that it works only if you live on a desert island or at the bottom of a lake. Leslie Perlow of Harvard Business School argues that for most people the only way to break the 24/7 habit is to act collectively rather than individually. One of the world's most hardworking organisations, the Boston Consulting Group, introduced rules about when people were expected to be offline, and encouraged them to work together to make this possible. Eventually it forced people to work more productively while reducing burnout.
Ms Perlow's advice should be taken seriously. The problem of hyperconnectivity will only get worse, as smartphones become smarter and young digital natives take over the workforce. But ultimately it is up to companies to outsmart the smartphones by insisting that everyone turn them off from time to time.
Smart devices are sometimes empowering. They put a world of information at our fingertips. But for most people the servant has become the master. Not long ago only doctors were on call all the time. Now everybody is. Bosses think nothing of invading their employees' free time. Work invades the home far more than domestic chores invade the office.
Hyperconnectivity exaggerates the decline of certainty and the general cult of flexibility. Smartphones make it easier for managers to change their minds at the last moment. Employees find it ever harder to distinguish between "on-time" and "off-time" —and indeed between real work and make-work. None of this is good for businesspeople's marriages or mental health. It may be bad for business, too. When bosses change their minds at the last minute, it is hard to plan for the future.
How can we reap the benefits of connectivity without becoming its slaves? One solution is digital dieting. Banning browsing before breakfast can reintroduce a small amount of civilization. Banning texting at weekends or, say, on Thursdays, can really show the iPhone who is boss.
The problem with this approach is that it works only if you live on a desert island or at the bottom of a lake. Leslie Perlow of Harvard Business School argues that for most people the only way to break the 24/7 habit is to act collectively rather than individually. One of the world's most hardworking organisations, the Boston Consulting Group, introduced rules about when people were expected to be offline, and encouraged them to work together to make this possible. Eventually it forced people to work more productively while reducing burnout.
Ms Perlow's advice should be taken seriously. The problem of hyperconnectivity will only get worse, as smartphones become smarter and young digital natives take over the workforce. But ultimately it is up to companies to outsmart the smartphones by insisting that everyone turn them off from time to time.
单选题
11.The author mentions the film in the first paragraph in order to______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】推断题。本题实际考查文章行文脉络。议论文中通过例子。热点等引出议论的话题是常见的做法。本文第一段提到并介绍了《仆人》这部电影的主要内容，就是因为文章主要讨论的智能设备与人们的关系与此类似，智能设备本是“仆人”，生活中却逐渐上升为“主人”，因为它俨然控制了人们的生活。因此选B项。
单选题
12.Smart devices have become the master mainly because______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】细节题。此题为最佳选择题。首先根据关键词become the master定位到第二段，然后发现选项里也有第三段的内容，并且四个选项都在原文中有体现。但根据第二段中Not long ago…all the time和Now everybody is可判断人们现在都像医生一样随叫随到，成为了仆人。因此A项为正确答案。事实上，原文先指出everybody is on call all the time，然后才详细阐述，所以A项相当于是总括句。
单选题
13.Digital dieting refers to all of the following EXCEPT______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】细节题。根据题干关键词定位到第四段。原文提到banning texting on Thursdays意为“在每周四不发短信”，而D项at weekdays指“工作日”，与原文有出入，原文也没有类似的含义。因此D项属于过度推断，不正确。
单选题
14.The example of Boston Consulting Group is used to illustrate that______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】细节题。根据题干关键词定位到第五段。该段先指出数字节食的方法并不实用，接着介绍了珀洛的观点“对多数人而言，打破全天待命工作状态的习惯需要大家的共同努力而不是单独行动”，接着举了Boston ConsultingGroup的例子。因此举例是为了验证上述观点，B项正确。
单选题
15.Judging from the text, how to solve the problem of hyperconnectivity?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】推断题。本题询问解决超度连接的办法。在第四段中，作者提到one solution is digital dieting，但第五段开头又否决了，因为“问题是，除非你生活在荒岛上或者是湖底，不然这种方法无法奏效”。接下来又提到“对多数人而言，打破全天待命工作状态的习惯需要大家的共同努力……”，并举例说明。最后一段开头提到“珀洛女士的建议应该受到重视”，末尾“想摆脱智能手机的奴役，归根结底还是要依靠公司的计谋：坚决要求员工们偶尔关关机”。由此可见由公司制定规则来保证大家都能执行，才是根本的解决办法，因此D项正确。