The Internet and mobile phones have transformed our connections to people around the world. This technology has also, however, l

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问题     The Internet and mobile phones have transformed our connections to people around the world. This technology has also, however, led to a widening gender gap in poorer countries. For it is largely men who control the information revolution that helps to educate, inform and empower.
    In low- and middle-income countries, a woman is 21 percent less likely than a man to own a mobile phone, according to research done by GSMA. In Africa, women are 23 percent less likely than a man to own a cell phone. In the Middle East the figure is 24 percent and in South Asia, 37 percent.
    The factors driving women’s lack of connectivity vary from community to community. But the end result is always the same: disempowerment. 【B1】______
    This disturbing finding is highlighted by the United Nations/Overseas Development Institute-led MY World survey, a major, inclusive global poll. Respondents were asked to rank their priorities—including political freedoms, better healthcare, protection from violence and crime—in making the world better. They could vote paper, online or by mobile phone. 【B2】______
    The survey has already gathered 1. 5 million votes. Women are just as keen as men to have their views heard—engagement offline is a 50-50 split between women and men, online women have voted more than men, with a 52-48 split.
    【B3】______ Consider Yemen, where 121, 000 people voted on their mobile phones. Of those, 81, 000 were men.
    Overall, women respondents picked education, healthcare and better job opportunities as their top priorities in making the world better. 【B4】______
    Getting more mobile phones into the hands of women in low- and middle-income countries will not be easy because the reasons behind their lack of ownership are so varied. But there are some solutions.
    In these countries there are typically three key barriers: Mobile phones are too expensive, the monthly bills are too high or there is no urgent need to own one. Governments should help lower these barriers. They should set up transparent regulatory systems that would encourage more mobile phone providers to enter the market. More competition means lower prices and more affordable plans.
    【B5】______ Governments should also subsidize computer and smartphone ownership for low-income people.
[A] A mobile phone can bring benefits to women, and many of these we in the West take for granted: personal safety, reliable connection to friends and family and access to commerce and job opportunities.
[B] Most important for a world dominated by Facebook and Twitter and e-polls, a mobile phone gives women a voice.
[C] But mobile voting has told a different story. The difference in response rates between the sexes is obvious. Of the roughly 380, 000 respondents who took the survey via mobile, only 25 percent were women.
[D] But if you saw only the mobile vote, their views would have been diluted because men dominated. If women owned mobile phones in equal numbers, their access to education, healthcare and better jobs would indeed be improved.
[E] Women are not just missing out on educational and economic opportunities because they don’t own mobile phones. They are losing a voice.
[F] The results will help world leaders as they deliberate on the post-2015 global development agenda this week, during the conference of the U. N. Commission on the Status of Women.
[G] In addition, governments should ensure that women have access to microfinance plans to help purchase phones. They should strive to make equal access to mobile connectivity part of their development plans.
【B1】

选项

答案E

解析 语意衔接判断。前一句指出,女性手机拥有率低的最终结果是消权,即她们的很多权利被剥夺了。下一段的第一句即指出“This disturbing finding”,可知横线上填的应是与消权等负面现象相关的语句。选项B和E都与话语权相关,但选项B是从正面影响的角度分析的,不合文意,故选E。
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