It was raining. I went into a café and asked for a coffee. ___21___ I was waiting for my drink, I realized that there were other people in the place, but I sensed ___22 ___. I saw their bodies, but I couldn’t feel their souls ___23___ their souls belonged to the ___24___.
I stood up and walked between the tables. When I came to the biggest computer, I saw a thin, small man ___25___ in front of it. “I’m Steve”, he finally answered after I asked him a couple of times what his name was. “I can’t talk with you. I’m ___26___”, he said. He was chatting online with somebody — probably someone he didn’t know—and, at the same time, he was playing a computer game—a war game. I was surprised. He was chatting online and, ___27___, he was playing a computer game—a war game. I was ___28___.
Why didn’t Steve want to talk with me? I tried ___29___ to speak to that computer geek (怪人), ___30___ not a word came out of his mouth. I touched his shoulder, but no reaction（反应）. I was ___31___. I put my hand in front of the monitor, and he started to shout, “___32___!”
I took a few steps back, wondering if all those people in the café were looking at me. I ___33___, and saw nobody showed any interest.
___34___, I realized that the people there were having a nice conversation with their machines, not with people. They were more ___35___ having a relationship with the ___36___, particularly Steve. I wouldn’t want to ___37___ the future of human beings if they preferred sharing their lives with machines ___38___ with people.
I was worried and I sank in my thoughts. I didn’t even ___39___ that the coffee was bad, ___40___ Steve didn’t notice there was a person next to him.
21. A. Before  B. Since  C. Although    D. While
22. A. pain     B. loneliness   C. sadness       D. fear
23. A. because       B. when  C. until   D. unless
24. A. home   B. world  C. Net     D. Cafe
25. A. sleeping       B. laughing     C. sitting D. learning
26. A. busy     B. thirsty C. tired   D. sick
27. A. first of all    B. just then     C. at the same time D. by that time
28. A. surprised     B. delighted    C. moved       D. frightened
29. A. once     B. again  C. first    D. even
30. A. but       B. so       C. if D. or
31. A. excited B. respected    C. afraid  D. unhappy
32. A. Shut up       B. Enjoy yourself   C. Leave me alone  D. Help me out
33. A. walked about      B. walked out        C. raised my hand  D. raised my head
34. A. From then on      B. At that moment        C. In all  D. Above all
35. A. interested in B. tired of      C. careful about     D. troubled by
36. A. computer     B. soul    C. shop   D. geek
37. A. tell       B. plan    C. imagine      D. design
38. A. other than    B. instead of   C. except for   D. as well as
39. A. pretend B. understand  C. insist   D. realize
40. A. as if     B. just as C. just after    D. even though