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  3. (1)That is a lesson Scott Spector, 15, learned the hard way, when his phone started blasting his "American Idol Theme" ringtone

(1)That is a lesson Scott Spector, 15, learned the hard way, when his phone started blasting his "American Idol Theme" ringtone

admin2016-11-03  99
问题     (1)That is a lesson Scott Spector, 15, learned the hard way, when his phone started blasting his "American Idol Theme" ringtone as he was pretending to talk into it in the hall at school last month.
    (2)"I felt like such a dork," said Scott, of Buffalo Grove, III.
    (3)Dr. Katz of Rutgers said the practice first drew his attention when students in focus groups he had organized to study a wide range of cellphone use began mentioning it, unprompted.
    (4)The habit, Dr. Katz said, is the latest technological twist in a culture that has long embraced various forms of dissembling in the name of image, from designer knockoff handbags to plastic surgery. Some fakers admit to programming their phones to call them at a certain time to show off their ring tones; others wrap up make-believe Hollywood deals in front of people they want to impress.
    (5)And phantom callers are often simply trying to cope with social anxiety by showing that they have someone to call, even if they don’t. One of Dr. Katz’s students said she pretended to use her cellphone when she was out with a group of other college-age women who were all on theirs. Another did it to escape from a fancy boutique where the prices were beyond her means without speaking to a salesperson.
    (6)In that sense fake callers may not be so different from a lot of real callers, who are always partly performing for others even as they appear to withdraw into their own private space in public.
    (7)"The cellphone allows people to show strangers that they belong, that they are part of a community somewhere," said Christine Rosen, who studies the social impact of technology at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington. "Whether or not it’s a fictional call, on some level that’s why we’re doing it."
    (8)But the surfeit of counterfeit calls underscores the lengths to which people feel compelled to go to project an image for others. Sometimes the impulse is almost subconscious.
    (9)Mark Konchar, a network administrator in Canton, Ohio, had just hung up after sitting in his parked car behind a strip mall talking to a friend one afternoon, when he saw people emerging from the employee’s entrance to one of the stores. Quickly, he put the phone back up to his ear and pretended to talk.
    (10)"I guess I thought people might wonder why you’re sitting out there in your car; it might look strange," said Mr. Konchar, 33. "It’s one of those things where after the situation happens you’re wondering, ’Why did I do that?’"
    (11)Many women rely on fake cell phone calls when they fear for their physical safety. Yessenia Morales, 21, said she recently called a non-existent friend while being followed by a group of men on a train platform.
    (12)"I’11 see you in a few minutes," she promised the ether.
    (13)But fake calls are often made by people trying to preserve a more psychological remove. Mike Lupi-ani uses his impersonation of someone on the phone to ignore his chatty next-door neighbors. "They ask how your day is going and stuff," said Mr. Lupiani, of Rochester. "I don’t really have time for it."
    (14)Christina Rohall, 29, said she pretends to use the phone to avoid getting hit on. "I feel awkward just rejecting people," said Ms. Rohall, of San Francisco.
    (15)How well the fake call works is one of its most appealing qualities, and a testament to how much respect people automatically grant to a cellphone force field. Bartosz Sitarski, 24, said he once pretended to be on a cellphone call for a full 15 minutes when someone he didn’t want to speak to was waiting to talk to him at a Milwaukee coffee shop. The other person finally left rather than interrupt the "call."
    (16)Even security guards seem to respect the cellphone buffer, said Michael McEachern, 16, of San Diego, who has found the fake call a useful way to get to the club level at a Padres game when he doesn’t have a pass. Some frequent fakers worry that the wireless charade will be harder to pull off once more people begin to suspect it.
    (17)But that will not deter Adam Hecht, a radiologist in Berkeley Heights, N.J., whose wife said she is often mortified by his cellphone humor. Mr. Hecht, 40, reserves his fake phoning for places with no reception, like the Tiffany’s at the Short Hills, N.J., mall, where cellphones have apparently been rendered unusable to preserve the ambiance: "I usually go through a long medical scenario," he said, "that doesn’t exist."
What is the author’s attitude towards the topic?
选项
答案Neutrality．
解析 本文通过众多亲历者的例子叙述了虚拟电话的正负两方面作用。通读全文会发现文章用第三人称叙述，且很多是引用人物的原话，只是客观的描述了一种现象，所以作者对本文讨论话题持的是中立态度，答案可简单表述为Neutrality，也可用The author takes a neutral stance on the topic这样的句子来回答，但要注意控制字数。
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