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 single greatest shift in the history of mass-communication technology occurred in the 15th century and was well described by
The single greatest shift in the history of mass-communication technology occurred in the 15th century and was well described by
admin
2021-06-15
34
问题
The single greatest shift in the history of mass-communication technology occurred in the 15th century and was well described by Victor Hugo in a famous chapter of Notre-Dame de Paris. It was a Cathedral. On all parts of the giant building, statuary and stone representations of every kind, combined with huge widows of stained glass, told the stories of the Bible and the saints, displayed the intricacies of Christian theology, adverted to the existence of highly unpleasant demonic winged creatures, referred diplomatically to the majesties of political power, and in addition, by means of bells in bell towers, told time for the benefit of all of Pairs and much of France. It was an awesome engine of communication.
Then came the transition to something still more awesome. The new technology of mass communication was portable, could sit on your table, and was easily replicable, and yet, paradoxically, contained more information, more systematically presented, than even the largest of cathedrals. It was the printed book. Though it provided no bells and could not tell time, the over-all superiority of the new invention was unmistakable.
In the last ten or twenty years, we have been undergoing a more or less equivalent shift—this time to a new life as a computer-using population. The gain in portability, capability, ease, orderliness, accuracy, reliability, and information-storage over anything achievable by pen scribbling, typewriting, and cabinet filing is recognized by all. The progress for civilization is undeniable and, plainly, irreversible. Yet, just as the book’s triumph over the cathedral divided people into two groups, one of which prospered, while the other lapsed into gloom, the computer’s triumph has also divided the human race.
You have only to bring a computer into a room to see that some people begin at once to buzz with curiosity and excitement, sit down to conduct experiments, ooh and ah at the boxes and beeps, and master the use of the computer or a new program as quickly as athletes playing a delightful new game. But how difficult it is—how grim and frightful!—for the other people, the defeated class, whose temperament does not naturally respond to computers. The machine whirrs and glows before them and their faces twitch. They may be splendidly educated, as measured by book-reading, yet their instincts are all wrong, and no amount of manual-studying and mouse-clicking will make them right. Computers require a sharply different set of aptitudes, and, if the aptitudes are missing, little can be done, and misery is guaranteed.
Is the computer industry aware that computers have divided mankind into two new, previously unknown classes, the computer personalities and the non-computer personalities? Yes, the industry knows this. Vast stuns have been expended in order to adapt the computer to the limitations of non-computer personalities. Apple’s Macintosh, with its zooming animations and pull-down menus and little pictures of life folders and watch faces and trash cans, pointed the way. Such seductions have soothed the apprehensions of a certain number of the computer-averse. This spring, the computer industry’s efforts are reaching a culmination of sorts. Microsoft, Bill Gates’ giant corporation, is to bring out a program package called Microsoft Bob, designed by Mr. Gates’ wife, Melinda French, and intended to render computer technology available even to people who are openly terrified of computers. Bob’s principle is to take the several tasks of operating a computer, rename them in a folksy style, and assign to them the images of an ideal room in ideal home, with furniture and bookshelves, and with chummy cartoon helpers("Friends of Bob")to guide the computer user over the rough spots, and, in that way, simulate an atmosphere that feels nothing like computers.
The word "awesome" in the passage means______.
选项
A、frightening
B、causing fear and respect
C、amazingly new
D、awful
答案
B
解析
awesome是“令人敬畏的”意思,如:Stood in awesome silence before the ancient ruins.(在古代遗迹前充满敬畏地默立。)因此B项正确。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/tGxYFFFM
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
Wheneverabigcompany______asmallone,theproductalmostalwaysgetsworse.
Asa______major,heenjoyedworkinginthesteelplant.
Ienjoyedmyselfsomuch______Ivisitedmyparentsinthecountrysidelastyear.
Thedevelopmentofwritingwasoneofthegreathumaninventions.Itisdifficult【C1】______manypeopletoimaginelanguagewitho
AcenturyagointheUnitedStates,whenanindividualbroughtsuitagainstacompany,publicopiniontendedtoprotectthatcom
Tocallthemusicofanothermusic-culture"primitive"is______one’sownstandardsonagroupthatdoesnotrecognisethem.
InNovember1987thegovernment______apublicdebateonthefuturedirectionoftheofficialsportspolicy.(2008年四川大学考博试题)
Theoldcoupledecidedto______aboyandagirlthoughtheyhadthreechildrenoftheirown.
Duringthepastgeneration,theAmericanmiddle-classfamilythatoncecouldcountonhardworkandfairplaytokeepitselffin
RememberFaridSeif?Mr.SeifistheHoustonIranian-AmericanbusinessmanwhomistakenlycarriedaGlockhandgunthroughsecurit
随机试题
简述在SQL中,DELETE语句与DROPTABLE的区别。
人的工作绩效不仅取决于其能力的大小,还取决于()
胎儿食管闭锁的声像图特点是
A.髓内肿瘤B.髓外硬脊膜下肿瘤C.硬膜外肿瘤D.脊髓空洞症E.脊髓炎下列病人最可能的诊断是:女性,45岁。右下肢疼痛无力半月余,疼痛较为剧烈,半年前行肺癌手术,X线平片上可见腰1~腰3椎体破坏,则患者
下列选项中,属于构成商业秘密条件的是()。
需求价格点弹性适用于()。
明代施耐庵的《水浒传》是我国第一部以城镇为题材的长篇小说。()
一般商品只有在多次流通过程中才能不断增值,但艺术品作为一种特殊商品却体现出了与一般商品不同的特性。在拍卖市场上,有些古玩、字画的成交价有很大的随机性,往往会直接受到拍卖现场气氛、竞价激烈程度、买家心理变化等偶然因素的影响,成交价有时会高于底价几十倍乃至数百
请用不超过150字的篇幅,概括出给定资料所反映的主要问题。就给定资料所反映的主要问题,用1200字左右的篇幅,自拟标题进行论述。要求中心明确,内容充实,论述深刻,有说服力。
中国目前仍面临着人口多、资源少的严峻现实。鉴于中国目前的资源储备(resourcereserve),很多人认为我们仍要继续实行计划生育政策(theone-childpolicy),但在这一问题上,也有人持有不同的观点。很多人认为诸如劳动力短缺,人口老
最新回复
(
0
)