Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D.
Probably the most famous film commenting on the twentieth-century technology is
Modern times, made in 1963. Charlie Chaplin was motivated to make the film by a reporter who, while interviewing him, happened to describe the working conditions in industrial Detroit. Chaplin was told that healthy young farm boys were lured to the city to work on automotive assembly lines. Within four or five years, these young men's health was destroyed by the stress of work in the factories.
The film opens with a shot of a mass of sheep making their way down a crowded ramp. Abruptly, the film shifts to a scene of factory workers
jostling one another on their way to a factory. However, the rather bitter note of criticism in the implied comparison is not sustained. It is replaced by a gentle note of satire. Chaplin prefers to entertain rather than lecture.
Scenes of factory interiors account for only about one-third of
Modern times, but they contain some of the most pointed social commentary as well as the most comic situations. No one who has seen the film can ever forget Chaplin
vainly trying to keep pace with the fast-moving conveyer belt, almost losing his mind in the process. Another popular scene involves an automatic feeding machine brought to the assembly line so that workers need not interrupt their labor to eat. The feeding machine malfunctions, hurling food at Chaplin, who is strapped in his position on the assembly line and cannot escape.
This serves to illustrate people's utter helplessness in the face of machines that are meant to serve their basic needs.
Clearly,
Modern times has its faults, but it remains the best film treating technology within a social context. It does not offer a radical social message, but it does accurately reflect the sentiment of many who feel they are victims of an over-mechanized world.
1. According to the passage, the opening scene of the film is intended __________.
| a. to reveal the situation of the factory workers |
| b. to produce a tacit association |
| c. to introduce the main characters of the film |
| d. to give a setting for the entire plot later |
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2. The word "
vainly" is closest in meaning to "__________".
| a. effortlessly | b. recklessly | c. hopelessly | d. carelessly |
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3. The word "
This" refers to __________.
| a. the situation of young workers in a factory |
| b. the scene of an assembly line in operation |
| c. the scene of the malfunction of the feeding machine |
| d. the malfunction of the twentieth-century technology |
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4. According to the author, about two-thirds of
Modern times
| a. is more critical than the rest | b. is rather discouraging |
| c. was shot outside a factory | d. entertains the audience most |
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5. The author refers to all of the following notions to describe
Modern times EXPECT "__________".
| a. entertainment | b. satire | c. criticism | d. revolution |
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6. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| a. The working conditions in the car factories of the 1930s were very stressful. |
| b. The author does not consider Modern times as a perfect film. |
| c. Modern times depicts the over-mechanised world from a social viewpoint. |
| d. In Modern times, the factory worker's basic needs are well met. |
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7. The passage was written to
| a. review on of Chaplin's popular films | b. expand Chaplin's style of acting |
| c. discuss the disadvantages of technology | d. criticize the factory system of the 1930s |
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