Are you a media addict who would go mad after two hours without TV, friend requests, exciting online games and your mobile – or would you easily survive?
Recently, university students around the world were asked to volunteer in a global experiment called Unplugged. It was designed to see how young people would react if they were asked to observe a total media ban by unplugging all forms of media devices for 24 hours.
Unplugged is being run by Dr Roman Gerodimos, a lecturer in Communication and Journalism at Bournemouth University. The experiment is now over but he doesn’t yet know the full findings. However, during the experiment, Dr Gerodimos said there were already signs of how much the exercise affected volunteers. He said: “They’re reporting withdrawal symptoms(症状), overeating, feeling nervous, isolated and disconnected.” During their 24-hour painful experience, three of the experiment’s guinea pigs had to endure one intrusion(侵扰) from the media: a BBC reporter plus cameraman who followed them around for the day. They were asked to write down 100 lines about their day offline, but of course, they all waited until the next day when they had access to their laptops. Elliot Day wrote: “Today, my whole morning routine was thrown up into the air. Despite being aware of the social importance of the media, I was surprised by how empty my life felt without the radio or newspapers.” From Caroline Scott, we read: “I didn’t expect it, but being prevented from the media for 24 hours resulted in my day-to-day activities becoming so much harder to carry out than usual… I didn’t break out in a cold sweat like our lecturer expected us all to, but it’s not something I would like to do again!” And Charlotte Gay wrote: “I have to say the most difficult item for me to be without has been my mobile; not only is it a social tool, it’s my main access point of communication.”
Earlier in the year, a UK government study found that in the UK we spend about half our waking hours using the media, often plugged into several things at once. And a recent study by Nielson found that on average, US teenagers send and receive over 3,000 texts per month ---that’s about six texts per waking hour. So, with technology continuing to develop at an alarming rate, how much time will you set aside for sleep in the future?
小题1:What’s the purpose of the first paragraph?
| A．To ask for information. | B．To entertain the readers. |
| C．To lead to the topic. | D．To present an idea. |
小题2:About Dr. Roman Gerodimos’ experiment, we know that ________.
| A．volunteers felt uncomfortable in it. |
| B．volunteers didn’t want to eat anything. |
| C．the experiment was still going on. |
| D．volunteers were allowed to take their laptops. |
小题3:Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Three pigs were included in the experiment. |
| B．A BBC reporter discussed the experiment. |
| C．During the 24 hours’ experiment the volunteers wrote out their experiences. |
| D．The lecturer had expected sweat would suddenly appear on the volunteers through fear. |
小题4:What does the sentence “…was thrown up into the air” most probably means?
| A．went on normally. | B．was completely disturbed. |
| C．turned out perfect. | D．was badly designed. |
小题5:Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage?
| A．Surviving without the Media. | B．Unplugging Your Life. |
| C．Valuing Social Communication. | D．Setting Aside Time for Sleep. |
