In an age of perpetual digital connectedness, why do people seem so disconnected In a Duke University study, researchers found that from 1985 to 2004, the percentage of people who said there was no one with whom they discussed important matters tripled, to 25%; the same study found that overall, Americans had one-third fewer friends and confidants than they did two decades ago.
Another recent study, by researchers at the University of Michigan, found that college students today have significantly less empathy than students of generations past did. The reason, psychologists speculate, may have something to do with our increasing reliance on digital communication and other forms of new media.
It’s possible that instead of fostering real friendships off-line, e-mail and social networking may take the place of them—and the distance inherent in screen-only interactions may breed feelings of isolation or a tendency to care less about other people. After all, if you don’t feel like dealing with a friend’s problem online, all you have to do is log off.
The problem is, as empathy wanes, so does trust. And without trust, you can’t have a cohesive society. Consider the findings of a new study co-authored by Kevin Rockmann of George Mason University and Gregory Northcraft at the University of Illinois who specializes in workplace collaboration. Northcraft says high-tech communications like e-mail and (to a lesser extent) videoconferencing—which are sometimes known as "lean communication" because they have fewer cues like eye contact and posture for people to rely on—strip away the personal interaction needed to breed trust. In a business setting—as in all other social relationships outside the workplace—trust is a necessary condition for effective cooperation within a group. "Technology has made us much more efficient but much less effective," said Northcraft in a statement. "Something is being gained, but something is being lost. The something gained is time, and the something lost is the quality of relationships. And quality of relationships matters."
In Rockmann and Northcraft’s study, 200 students were divided into teams and asked to manage two complicated projects: one having to do with nuclear disarmament; the other, price fixing. Some groups communicated via e-mail, some via videoconference and others face to face. In the end, those who met in person showed the most trust and most effective cooperation; those using e-mail were the least able to work together and get the job done.
Northcraft thinks this is because real-life meetings, during which participants can see how engaged their colleagues are, breed more trust. Over e-mail, meanwhile, confirmation of hard work gets lost, which tends to encourage mutual slacking off.
Which of the following could best summarize the passage（）
A. Digital communication is hurting personal relationship
B. Online networking may take the place of offline relationship
C. New media contribute less to fostering real friendship
D. Real-life meetings can breed trust among students
参考答案：A
解析：
[试题类型] 主旨要义题。
[解题思路] 纵观全文，文章首先提出问题：在电子信息时代，人际关系为何会变得生疏 接着分析了其原因：对电子通讯产品的依赖使人缺乏同情心并滋生孤独感，使人变得冷漠；高科技的通讯手段使人们失去了培养信任所必需的互动，从而使人与人之间的信任减少。最后作者通过一项实验证实了前段提到的问题。由此可见，本文主要谈论的内容是“电子通讯手段损害了人际关系”，故选项[A]正确。
[干扰排除] 本文第三段中提到电子邮件和社交网络可能会取代线下交流方式来培养真正的友谊(instead of fostering real friendships off-line, e-mail and social networking may take the place of them)，但这是作者提出的一种可能性，不足以概括全文，也不是本文论述的重点，故排除选项[B]。本文的论述重点是，高科技的通讯手段损害了人际关系，而友谊只是人际关系的一部分，故选项[C]有表述不够全面。选项[D]“真实的会议能培养学生间的彼此信任”，这是文章最后两段提到的一个实验的研究结果，但不足以概括全文，故排除。