1 . 阅读下面短文,在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Have you ever wondered what life is like now 1 (compare) to, say, the 1980s or the 1990s? I went to ask some people I know who were adults in the ‘80s and 90s’, and the answer I got was that “Overall, life is a lot 2 (good) now!” This didn’t really surprise me. I mean, these days we’ve got mobile phones and the internet and so on — but 3 (actual) those weren’t the things they talked about.
So what did they talk about? For 4 start, we don’t have to work physically hard since now there are a lot of things like dishwashers for housework. Then there’s the matter of how, these days, 5 is possible to work at home — it’s mainly 6 (computer) that have made this possible. Not only that, there’s a lot more 7 (equal) now. It’s easier for all people, whatever their social background, gender (性别), colour and so on, to have equal access 8 a variety of career opportunities.
That said, it’s not all a matter of improvement. Quite a few people told me that they feel more stressed these days because they rely a lot on technology and they are always 9 (anxiety) about security on the internet. Plus, we spend a lot of our time 10 (use) smartphones. One person said, “Wouldn’t it be great to be off the grid (不上网) for a few days?”