2. 外语
  3. In the early days of the internet, many people worried that as people in the rich world embraced new computing and communication

In the early days of the internet, many people worried that as people in the rich world embraced new computing and communication

admin2010-02-20  29
问题     In the early days of the internet, many people worried that as people in the rich world embraced new computing and communications technologies, people in the poor world would be left stranded on the wrong side of a "digital divide." Yet the debate over the digital divide is founded on a myth that plugging poor countries into the internet will help them to become rich rapidly.
    This is highly unlikely, because the digital divide is not a problem in itself, but a symptom of deeper, more important divides: of income, development and literacy. Fewer people in poor countries than in rich ones own computers and have access to the internet simply because they are too poor, are illiterate, or have other more immediate concerns, such as food, health care and security. So even if it were possible to wave a magic wand and cause a computer to appear in every household on earth, it would not achieve very much: a computer is not useful if you have no food or electricity and cannot read. Yet such Wandwavingthrough the construction of specific local infrastructure projects such as rural telecenters—is just the sort of thing for which the UN’s new fund is intended.
    This sort of thing is the wrong way to go about addressing the inequality in access to digital technologies: it is treating the symptoms, rather than the underlying causes. The benefits of building rural computing centers, for example, are unclear. Rather than trying to close the divide for the sake of it, the more sensible goal is to determine how best to use technology to promote bottomup development. And the answer to that question turns out to be remarkably clear: by promoting the spread not of PCs and the Internet, but of mobile phones.
What is the main idea of this passage?
选项 A、Plugging poor countries into the Internet will help them to become rich rapidly.
B、Poor countries should be given more basic devices other than advanced ones.
C、Rich countries should help poor ones becoming rich.
D、People in poor countries cannot afford devices such as computer.
答案B
解析 从第二段我们可以看出，作者认为，穷国的人民关心更加现实的东西，比如食物、医疗和安全保障。即使提供给他们许多先进的数字设备，他们也会因为缺乏知识或没有电而不能使用。所以与其提供这些，不如提供更加基础的援助，所以选B。第一段最后一句话说，作者认为只是数字技术使穷国变富是一个神话，所以A错误。作者只是从数字设备和基础设备两个方面比较，而不是笼统的说富国应该帮助穷国变富，所以C错，从第二段可以看出，作者说即使提供给世界上海个家庭一台计算机，也不会有太多作用，显然问题不在于能不能负担起计算机，所以D错。
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