2015考研英语阅读理解精读P24—工学类.docVIP

2015考研英语阅读理解精读P24—工学类 　Passage 24 　　Bragging about your fancy new cell phone is a fleeting pleasure; after all, todays coolest models tend to be next months paperweights. By contrast, the half-life of a cordless phone for the home is measured in years. So if you really want to be ahead of the tech curve, forget the cell-phone wars and check out the new 5.8-GHz cordless phones. 　　Named after the frequency of the radio wave (measured in billions of cycles per second) that carries the signal between the handset and the base station, 5.8-GHz phones promise more clarity because there are fewer devices that operate on the same frequency and thus fewer to cause interference. If you have a cordless phone that is a couple of years old or even a new one that costs less than $50, chances are it is a 900-MHz model that is highly susceptible to static or buzzing from baby monitors, wireless speaker systems and your neighbors 900-MHz phones. The newer 2.4-GHz units, introduced as an improvement over the 900-MHz models, do get less static, but wireless home networks and microwave ovens can still trigger a snap-crackle-pop effect. Not so the 5.8 GHz. So far, only a few companies sell the new models, and they dont come cheap. Unidens TRU5865 costs $149, while the Vtech 5831 is $179. I preferred the Uniden because it was static free both inside my apartment and up to a block away. Its compact design hides the antenna inside the handset, and the glowing orange keys and display look sharp. The VTech got equally clear reception indoors, but I could stray only a few buildings down the block before buzzing set in. 　　But is it really worth an extra $100 (or more) to step up to 5.8 GHz? Maybe. When I tried out the Panasonic KX-TC1481B, a $39 900-MHz model, I could hear other conversations and even music coming through the phone. I got much clearer reception with the Motorola MA351, a $60 2.4-GHz model--except when I turned on my microwave oven and was assaulted by weird vibrating noises co