"Life is speeding up．Everyone is getting unwell．"
   This may sound like something someone would say today．But in fact，an unknown person who lived in Rome in AD 53 wrote it．
   We all love new inventions．They are exciting，amazing and can even change our lives．
   But have all these developments really improved the quality of our lives？
   Picture this：You're rushing to finish your homework on the computer．Your mobile phone rings，a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen，and the noise from the television is getting louder and louder．Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work．Now you have to stay up all night to get it done．How calm and happy do you feel？
   Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired．Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities，who have no telephones，no cars，not even any electricity（電） often seem to be happier？Perhaps because they lead simple lives．
   Our family in the UK went "back in time" to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today．The grandparents，with their daughter，and grandsons Benjamin，10 and Thomas，7，spent nine weeks in a 1940s house．They had no washing machine，microwave，computer or mobile phones．
   The grandmother，Lyn，said， "It was hard physically，but not mentally．" She believed life was less materialistic（物質(zhì)的）． "The more things you have，the more difficult life becomes，" she said．The boys said they fought less．Probably，they said，because there was less to fight over，such as their computer．Also Lyn changed from being a "fashionable，beer-drinking granny，to one who cooked things．"
  Here are some simple ways to beat the stress often caused by our inventions!
   Don't be available all the time．Turn off your mobile phone at certain times of the day．
   Don't check your emails every day．
   Don't reply to somebody as soon as they leave a text message just because you can．It may be fun at first，but it soon gets boring．
   Make sure you spend some time talking to your family．Set aside one evening a week when you don't turn on the television．Play cards and chat instead．
   Get a low technology hobby．Every day，do something in the old way，such as walking to have a face-to-face meeting instead of using the email or telephone．
   Don't worry too much about life-laugh more．

（1）Why does the writer use the quote（引文） at the beginning of the passage？

A

A

A．To lead in the topic．
B．To tell us a famous saying．
C．To tell us what life was like long time ago．
D．To point out that you experience some big problems．
（2）Why did the family choose to spend some time in a 1940s house？

D

D

A．Because they loved to live simple lives．
B．Because they were troubled by modern inventions．
C．Because living a different time would be a lot of fun for them．
D．Because they want to know how people lived without modern inventions．
（3）What does the underlined word "available" probably mean？

D

D

A．Depended on by others．
B．Trusted by others．
C．Learned from by others．
D．Found by others．
（4）What is the passage mainly about？

A

A

A．Problems with technology．
B．The importance of technology．
C．Changes happening to technology．
D．Improvements of our life with technology．