2. 外语
  3. There has been a quiet pandemic developing while most people’s attention has been on COVID-19. The lockdown has exacerbated (使恶化

There has been a quiet pandemic developing while most people’s attention has been on COVID-19. The lockdown has exacerbated (使恶化

admin2022-10-13  47
问题     There has been a quiet pandemic developing while most people’s attention has been on COVID-19. The lockdown has exacerbated (使恶化；使加剧) a problem that has been spreading in many developed nations for decades; loneliness.
    Loneliness increases the risk of heart disease, strokes and dementia (痴呆). Those who say they are lonely are likelier to be depressed five years later. In addition, lonely people can become more hostile towards others and more attracted to extremist politics.
    Part of the problem stems from contemporary employment. Globally, two in five office workers feel lonely at work. This rises to three in five in Britain. Gig-economy (零工经济) jobs can leave people with insecure incomes and without the companionship of colleagues. The pandemic has made it more difficult to make, and maintain, friendships, particularly for new employees.
    Even before the crisis, the hope that open-plan offices would encourage greater camaraderie (同事情谊) proved to be false. Many people find the chatter distracting and retreat with noise-cancelling headphones; they then email colleagues who are sitting only a few desks away. Co-working spaces, where young professionals can take advantage of communal facilities, have not been the answer either. Workers are not there long enough to invest in relationships.
    It may seem odd that loneliness can grow when people are surrounded by so many others. But this paradox was best expressed by the band Roxy Music, when they sang "Loneliness is a crowded room". Most people will be perfectly content, for a while at least, eating on their own at home, perhaps with a good book or the telly (电视机). Sitting all alone in a restaurant or a bar, surrounded by other people chatting, is a much more isolating affair.
    By the same token, big cities can be very isolating. In a survey from 2016, 55％ of Londoners and 52％ of New Yorkers said they sometimes felt lonely. In many cities, around half of all residents live on their own, and the average tenancy of a London renter lasts 20 months. City-dwellers are less likely to be polite, because they are unlikely to meet a passer-by again.
    Perhaps this relates to human history. Mass urbanization is a relatively recent development; if the history of human existence was squeezed into a single day, the Industrial Revolution did not occur until almost midnight. For much of that time, humans lived in small groups of hunter-gatherers; cities may just overwhelm the senses.
    Recreating a communal society may be difficult. When the pandemic ends, people may relish the chance to be with their neighbours and colleagues for a while. But the trend is clear. Technology means that people can get their entertainment at home, and work there, too. It is convenient but it also leads to loneliness. Society will be grappling with this trade-off for decades to come.
Why does the author say contemporary employment causes loneliness?
选项 A、Because economic insecurity may lead to mistrust among colleagues.
B、Because online communication hinders the maintenance of friendship.
C、Because the attempt to use open-plan offices was stopped in the pandemic.
D、Because deep relationships can hardly be established in short-term employment.
答案D
解析 由题干中的contemporary employment. 定位到第三段第一句。推理判断题。定位句指出，这个问题部分源于当代的就业环境。根据上下文语境可知，句中的the problem是指上段中提到的loneliness。定位句所在段的最后两句解释说，零工经济型工作会让人们收入不稳定，缺乏同事的陪伴。这场疫情使得友谊的建立和维持变得更加困难。综合推断可知，在短期就业中很难建立起深厚的关系，D项与文章意思一致，故为正确答案。
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