首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The technology offers the hope of a better world, but presents hazards if mishandled.
The technology offers the hope of a better world, but presents hazards if mishandled.
admin
2009-06-24
45
问题
The technology offers the hope of a better world, but presents hazards if mishandled.
Scientists meeting in Los Angeles say technology offers the hope of a better world, but presents hazards if mishandled. Mike O’Sullivan reports, the University of Southern California and the journal "Science" convened a panel of scientific innovators to look at the promise and the perils of technology.
There are dangers in a democracy when an ill-informed citizenry must make policy decisions relating to medicine, the environment, or other branches of science, says John Seely Brown, the former chief scientist for the Xerox Corporation.
"You’ve got to ask, do we now have the scientific literacy in the public to be able to have informed dialogues about what these issues are really going to mean to civilization, to mankind itself", he said. "If we don’t have the right kind of scientific literacy, all scientific debate becomes ideological".
The panelists say promoting scientific literacy is a challenge but a necessary goal, as new technologies change our society. Alan Leshner, chief executive of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, says cell phones have transformed the way people communicate, and the iPod music player will also bring changes. It can be used for entertainment or for serious purposes, such as downloading audio versions of books, or his association’s publication Science.
"In a relatively short period of time, everybody, just like everybody now has a cell phone, will have an iPod", he noted. "But will they be using it just to listen to music or will they listen to the podcasts from Science magazine?"
Raymond Kurzweil is a researcher in the field of artificial intelligence. His work has led to computerized speech recognition systems and flatbed visual scanners. He says the products of innovation are often expensive at first, but quickly become cheaper and more widely available. He says the trend is seen not just with electronics, but with medical advances such as AIDS drugs. Once costing thousands of dollars per patient, he notes the price has come down in the poorest countries where the drugs are desperately needed.
"Now in sub-Saharan Africa, they’re $100 per patient per year and actually work a lot better. It’s still too expensive for the individuals, but at least now it’s affordable by governments and foundations and so one can actually do something about it".
He says technology, however, is a balance between promise and peril.
"The same knowledge and tools that will enable scientists to make great strides in cancer and heart disease can also empower a bio-terrorist to create a bio-engineered biological virus that would be much deadlier than an atomic bomb", he added.
He says for people with the right training, that could be easier than building a nuclear weapon.
George Olah, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist at the University of Southern California, says there is much to worry about, including global warming, which is at least partly the result of human activity. He describes himself, however, as an optimist.
"Look at what’s happening in the world", he said. "China and India, without any question, in this century am becoming dominant powers in the world, also in the world of technology and science. And South America will come along. And Africa will come along".
He says a more equitable distribution of information in the future will make innovation more international, and that wealth and power will depend on what people can do and not on their natural resources. He says then, more people can get involved in the search for solutions.
选项
A、Right
B、Wrong
答案
A
解析
科学家应该在疾病治疗研究方面进展迅速,而不是生化工程方面的生物病毒的研制。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/FWSsFFFM
本试题收录于:
公共英语五级笔试题库公共英语(PETS)分类
0
公共英语五级笔试
公共英语(PETS)
相关试题推荐
ObesityCausesGlobalWarmingThelistofillsattributabletoobesitykeepsgrowing.Lastweek,obesepeoplewereaccusedo
TheDangersofSecondhandSmokeMostpeopleknowthatcigarettesmokingisharmfultotheirhealth.Scientificresearchshow
Becauseofthepopularityoftheregion,itisadvisabletobookhotelsinadvance.
TheMostWonderfulIslandsThePalmIslandsarethelargestartificialislandsintheworldandareunderconstructioninDu
WhichofthefollowingisNOTrequiredofacontainer?HowdidhegotoNewYorkCity?
Globalizationisatermusedonlyinthefinancialandacademicworlds.Freemarketsandfreetradewilleventuallyprevail.
Ican’tputupwithmyneighbor’snoiseanylonger;it’sdrivingmemad.
Theuseofthechemicalmaypresentacertainhazardtothelaboratoryworkers.
Don’tCountonDung"Conservationists(自然保护主义者)maybemiscalculatingthenumbersofthethreatenedanimalssuchaselephants,
WhenwastheorganizationofRedCrossestablished?
随机试题
下列叙述正确的是
缺铁性贫血治疗最重要的是
工程监理企业专业资质原则上分为甲、乙、丙三个级别,并按照工程性和技术特点划分为()个专业工程类别。
甲县某企业为增值税一般纳税人,2017年1月在乙县购进一商铺并将其出租,其取得的商铺租金收入应在乙县按()预征率预缴税款。
在参加基本养老保险时,可以由个人缴纳保险费、单位无需缴纳保险费的有()。
在分国抵免法下,来源于B国所得的抵免额为()。在分国抵免法下,来源于C国所得的抵免额为()。
按照铁路部门发布的火车票退改签规定,无论是网上订票还是窗口订票,每位旅客只能改签2次。()
王羲之被誉为“书圣”,他的《兰亭集序》被誉为天下第一行书。()
公元前432年的一天,雅典公民伯克帕德的妻子米尼娜兴高采烈地和丈夫一起去参加公民大会但她却被拒绝进入会场。这说明()。①会议采用“陶片放逐法”,妇女无表决权②雅典民主政治制度规定女人不得干预男人事务③会议内容与女人无关④在当时妇女无政治权
司马迁心胸开阔,不带成见,是个严格的史学家,而不是儒教的提倡者,在议题上他采取________的态度。他极度崇敬孔子,但他不是个________的孔门信徒。他所描绘的孔子是个人,而不是个圣人。填入画横线部分最恰当的一项是:
最新回复
(
0
)