The most common complaint about cellphones is that people talk on them to the annoyance of people around them. But more damaging may be the cellphone’s interruption of our thoughts.
We have already entered a golden age of little white lies about our cellphones, and this is in generally a healthy, protective development. “I didn’t hear it ring” or “I didn’t realize my phone had shut off” are among the lies we tell to give ourselves space where we’re beyond reach.
The concept of being unreachable is not new – we have “Do Not Disturb” signs on the doors of hotel rooms. So why must we feel guilty when it comes to cellphones? Why must we apologize if we decide to shut off the phone for a while?
The problem is that we come from a long-established tradition of difficulty with distance communication. Until the recent mass use of cellphones, it was easy to communicate with someone next to us or a few feet away, but difficult with someone across town, the country or the globe. We came to take it for granted.
But cellphones make long-distance communication common, and endanger our time by ourselves. Now time alone, or a conversation with someone next to us which cannot be interrupted by a phone, is something to be cherished. Even cellphone devotees, myself usually included, can’t help at times wanting to throw their phones away, or curse this invention.
But we don’t and won’t, and there really is no need. That we have the right to take back our private time is a general social recognition.
In other words, we don’t have to pay too much attention to the rings of our own phones. Given the ease of making and receiving cellphone calls, if we don’t talk to the caller right now, we surely will shortly later.
A cellphone call deserves no more importance than a word from the person next to us. Though the call on my cellphone may be the one-in-a-million from Steven Spielberg–who has finally read my novel and wants to make it his next movie. But most likely it is not, and I’m better off, thinking about the idea I just had for a new story, or the slice of pizza I’ll eat for lunch.
小题1:.
What does the writer think about people telling “white lies” about their cellphones?
A．It is a way to show that you don’t like the caller.
B．It is natural to tell lies about small things.
C．It is basically a good way to protect one’s privacy.
D．We should feel guilty when we can’t tell the truth.小题2:.
What is the meaning of the underlined word “devotees” in Paragraph 5?
A．people who enjoy something.
B．people who are bothered.
C．people who hate something.
D．people who are interrupted.小题3:.
. According to the author, what is the most annoying problem caused by cellphones?
A．People are always thinking of the cellphone rings so that they fail to notice anything else.
B．Cellphones interrupt people’s private time.
C．People feel guilty when they are not able to answer their cellphones.
D．With cellphones it is no longer possible to be unreachable.小题4:.
. What does the last paragraph suggest?
A．A person who calls us from afar deserves more of our attention.
B．Steven Spielberg once called the author to talk about the author’s novel.
C．You should always finish your lunch before you answer a call on the cellphone.
D．Never let cellphones disturb your life too much.
