Question

    Who cares if people think wrongly that the internet has had more important influences than the washing machine? Why does it matter that people are more impressed by the most recent changes?

It would not matter if these misjudgments were just a matter of people’s opinions. However, they have real impacts, as they result in misguided use of scarce resources.

The fascination with the ICT(Information and Communication Technology) revolution, represented by the internet, has made some rich countries wrongly conclude that making things is so “yesterday” that they should try to live on ideas. This belief in “post-industrial society” has led those countries to neglect their manufacturing sector(制造业), with negative consequences for their economies.

Even more worryingly, the fascination with the internet by people in rich countries has moved the international community to worry about the “digital divide” between the rich countries and the poor countries. This has led companies and individuals to donate money to developing countries to buy computer equipment and internet facilities. The question, however, is whether this is what the developing countries need the most. Perhaps giving money for those less fashionable things such as digging wells, extending electricity networks and making more affordable washing machines would have improved people’s lives more than giving every child a laptop computer or setting up internet centres in rural villages, I am not saying that those things are necessarily more important, but many donators have rushed into fancy programmes without carefully assessing the relative long-term costs and benefits of alternative uses of their money.

In yet another example, a fascination with the new has led people to believe that the recent changes in the technologies of communications and transportation are so revolutionary that now we live in a “borderless world”. As a result, in the last twenty years or so, many people have come to believe that whatever change is happening today is the result of great technological progress, going against which will be like trying to turn the clock back. Believing in such a world, many governments have put an end to some of the very necessary regulations on cross-border flows of capital, labour and goods, with poor results.

Understanding technological trends is very important for correctly designing economic policies, both at the national and the international levels, and for making the right career choices at the individual level. However, our fascination with the latest, and our under valuation of what has already become common, can, and has, led us in all sorts of wrong directions.

1.Misjudgments on the influences of new technology can lead to ________.

A.a lack of confidence in technology

B.a slow progress in technology

C.a conflict of public opinions

D.a waste of limited resources

2.The example in Paragraph 4 suggests that donators should ________.

A.take people’s essential needs into account

B.make their programmes attractive to people

C.ensure that each child gets financial support

D.provide more affordable internet facilities

3.What has led many governments to remove necessary regulations?

A.Neglecting the impacts of technological advances.

B.Believing that the world has become borderless.

C.Ignoring the power of economic development.

D.Over-emphasizing the role of international communication.

4.What can we learn from the passage?

A.People should be encouraged to make more donations.

B.Traditional technology still has a place nowadays.

C.Making right career choices is crucial to personal success.

D.Economic policies should follow technological trends.

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.B

4.B

【解析】

这是一篇议论文。文章讲述了对信息技术的过分迷恋会对国家，对个人，对慈善事业造成不利的影响。

1.细节理解题。根据第二段However, they have real impacts, as they result in misguided use of scarce resources.可知，对信息技术的错误判断会导致有限资源的错误使用，也就是资源的浪费，故选D。

2.推理判断题。根据第四段Perhaps giving money for those less fashionable things such as digging wells, extending electricity networks and making more affordable washing machines would have improved people’s lives more than giving every child a laptop computer or setting up internet centres in rural villages, I am not saying that those things are necessarily more important, but many donators have rushed into fancy programmes without carefully assessing the relative long-term costs and benefits of alternative uses of their money.可知，与其给那些贫困地区孩子笔记本电脑或者建网络中心，还不如给钱打井，铺电网或者生产他们买得起的洗衣机，这些东西更能改善他们的生活。作者不是说这些东西一定更重要，但是很多捐赠者没有仔细考虑捐赠的东西的长期成本，因此作者建议捐赠者要考虑接受捐赠的人的实际情况，而不是一味地追求信息化，故选A。

3.细节理解题。根据第五段内容可知，对新东西的迷恋让人们认为如今通讯技术和交通的变革让我们生活在一个无国界的世界，正是认为我们生活在这样一个世界，很多政府取消了关于跨国界的资本、劳动力以及商品流动的法律法规，故选B。

4.推理判断题。根据第三段The fascination with the ICT(Information and Communication Technology) revolution, represented by the Internet, has made some rich countries wrongly conclude that making things is so "yesterday" that they should try to live on ideas. This belief in "post-industrial society" has led those countries to neglect their manufacturing sector(制造业) with negative consequences for their economies.可知，对互联网呈现的通讯技术变革的迷恋让很多富裕国家做出一个错误的结论，他们认为制造产品已经过时了，他们应该靠创意生活，因而忽略了制造业，从而对经济造成不利影响，故推知传统的技术依然有它的地位，新兴的信息技术不能取代它们，故选B。