Our desks play an important role in helping us get things done. In the modern world, many people's idea of the perfect workspace is one that is free of clutter. Like a Zen garden, our desks should be both simple and elegant. In most cases, nothing more than a laptop and cellphone is needed. However, this wasn't always the case. Back in the 1980s, when computers weren't nearly as powerful, desktops were a lot messier.
For starters, the Internet was not available to the public at that time, so additional equipment was needed to communicate over long distances. Instead of emails, people sent letters through the mail. This meant they had to have plenty of envelopes, paper, and stamps at their desk. For faster communication, they could use fax machines instead. Unfortunately, these heavy machines took up a lot of valuable desk space. Life was also a lot harder without Google searches. To make up for this lack of knowledge, people often stacked enormous dictionaries, along with other reference books▼, on the back of their desks.
In the early 2000s, society began to shift toward a more paperless environment, and even more things disappeared from our desktops. When e-books came on the scene, magazines and paperback▼ novels started to vanish from desks, as these publications▼ could now be read digitally▼. Without paper, items such as scissors, staplers▼, and glue were no longer very important. The rise of smartphones also played a large part in transforming work environments. Alarm clocks, calendars, and calculators were eliminated, as free apps could be used instead. To see a visual representation of how these changes occurred, check out the Harvard Innovation Lab's video The Evolution of the Desk online.
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1. Where would this passage most likely appear?
(A) In a magazine about the history of technology.
(B) In an ad for computers.
(C) On a website about the evolution of animals.
(D) In an encyclopedia▼.
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2. What can be inferred about the author's attitude towards modern desktops?
(A) Dirty desks equal hard work.
(B) Old desktops are coming back.
(C) Having less on your desk is better.
(D) The more things there are on the desk, the better.
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3. According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?
(A) People sent more letters when there was no Internet.
(B) Fax machines wasted lots of space.
(C) E-books made people buy fewer printed magazines.
(D) Smartphones made people get rid of their apps.
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4. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word "stacked" in the second paragraph?
(A) To discard12 something.
(B) To put one thing on top of another.
(C) To place things in separate13 spaces.
(D) To read something quickly.
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