Cigarettes? Cup of coffee? No, it’s the third most addictive thing in modern life, the cell phone. And experts say it is becoming more difficult for many people to curb their desire to hug it more tightly than most of their personal relationships.
With its shiny surface, its smooth and satisfying touch, its air of complexity, the cell phone connects us to the world even as it disconnects us from people three feet away. In just the past couple of years, the cell phone has challenged individuals, employers, phone makers and counselors (顾问) in ways its inventors in the late 1940s never imagined.
The costs are becoming even more evident, and I don’t mean just the monthly bill. Dr. Chris Knippers, a counselor at the Betty Ford Center in Southern California, reports that the overuse of cell phones has become a social problem not much different from other harmful addictions: a barrier to one-on-one personal contact, and an escape from reality.
Sounds extreme, but we’ve all witnessed the evidence: The person at a restaurant who talks on the phone through an entire meal, ignoring his kids around the table; the woman who talks on the phone in the car, ignoring her husband; the teen who texts messages all the way home from school, avoiding contact with kids all around him.
Is it just rude, or is it a kind of unhealthiness? And pardon me, but how is this improving the quality of life?
Jim Williams, an industrial sociologist based in Massachusetts, notes that cell-phone addiction is part of a set of symptoms in a widening gulf of personal separation. He points to a study by Duke University researchers that found one-quarter of Americans say they have no one to discuss their most important personal business with. Despite the growing use of phones, e-mail and instant messaging, in other words, Williams says studies show that we don’t have as many friends as our parents. “Just as more information has led to less wisdom, more acquaintances via the Internet and cell phones have produced fewer friends,” he says.
If the cell phone has truly had these effects, it’s because it has become very widespread. Consider that in 1987, there were only 1 million cell phones in use. Today, something like 300 million Americans carry them. They far outnumber wired phones in the United States.
【小题1】Which of the following best explains the title of the passage?
A.Cell phone users smoke less than they used to. |
B.More people use cell phones than smoke cigarettes. |
C.Cell phones have become as addictive as cigarettes. |
D.Using cell phone is just as cool as smoking cigarettes. |
A.control | B.ignore |
C.develop | D.rescue |
A.women use cell phones more often than men |
B.talking on the phone while driving is dangerous |
C.cell phones make one-on-one personal contact easy |
D.cell phones do not necessarily bring people together |
It is reported that 90 million people in China suffer from depression, with around 90% not getting any effective treatment. Other research further suggests that mental disorders have generally become more common across China in the last 30 years.
China’s resources for dealing with mental health have not always been at the same level as other countries. A 2020 WHO report showed that there were only 1.7 psychiatrists per 100,000 people, compared with 15 per 100,000 in the European countries.
In the past, mental health support was largely focused on specific groups such as “left-behind children”. However, many now recognize the need to make support more widely available.
One issue that has helped bring mental health into the spotlight on a national scale is that of “996” work culture. The term refers to jobs in which employees are required to work six days per week from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. With the 996-work culture, more and more people are starting to realize that actually, mental health can affect a whole number of people. As we all know, long hours of overtime may cause many health problems, even leading to sudden death.
Our government is indeed designing policies to deal more effectively with mental health challenges. The country’s National Health Commission plans to introduce screening (筛查) for vulnerable groups and require medical institutions as well as universities, colleges and high schools to re evaluate mental health policies. The government plans to set up mental health outpatient services in 40% of the general hospitals in pilot areas by the end of 2022, a move catalyzed by the pandemic.
Whether said policies will be effectively implemented remains to be seen. However, what is clear is that mental health is now very much taken seriously across China.
【小题1】What do we know from the first two paragraphs?A.China’s medical level is quite backward. |
B.Mental health problems are getting more serious. |
C.China has the largest population with depression. |
D.Many people with depression refuse to be treated. |
A.Doctors. | B.Professors. |
C.Researchers. | D.Patients. |
A.It is well received by employees. | B.It severely affects people’s health. |
C.It can make people work even harder. | D.It does harm to “left-behind children”. |
A.Cooperating with medical institutions. | B.Establishing more voluntary organizations. |
C.Setting up outpatient services in pilot areas. | D.Designing policies to deal with the challenges. |
If you have a chance to go to Finland, you will probably be surprised to find how “foolish” the Finnish people are.
Take the taxi drivers for example. Taxis in Finland are mostly high-class Benz with a fare of two US dollars a kilometer. You can go anywhere in one, tell the driver to drop you at any place, say that you have some business to attend to, and then walk off without paying your fare. The driver would not show the least sign of anxiety.
The dining rooms in all big hotels not only serve their guests, but also serve outside diners. Hotel guests have their meals free, so they naturally go to the free dining rooms to have their meals. The most they would do to show their good faith is to wave their registration card to the waiter. With such a loose check, you can easily use any old registration card to take a couple of friends to dine free of charge.
The Finnish workers are paid by the hour. They are very much on their own as soon as they have agreed with the boss on the rate. From then on they just say how many hours they have worked and they will be paid accordingly.
With so many loopholes in everyday life, surely Finland must be a heaven to those who love to take “petty advantages”. But the strange thing is, all the taxi passengers would always come back to pay their fare after they have attended to their business; not a single outsider has ever been found in the free hotel dining rooms. And workers always give an honest account of the exact hours they put in. As the Finns always act on good faith in everything they do, living in such a society has turned everyone into a real “gentleman”.
【小题1】The underlined words in this passage means to ____.A.be ready to help others |
B.gain something at other's expense |
C.be a little ahead of others |
D.make good use of one's friends |
A.While taking a taxi in Finland, you can get off without first paying your fare |
B.In a big hotel in Finland, you can enjoy free meals if you' re living in the hotel |
C.The workers are always honest with their working hours |
D.The bosses in Finland pay the employees according to registration of their working hours |
A.A society with “Foolish” People | B.Life in Finland |
C.What a life | D.Honest accounts of the Finns |
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