Question

Who cares if people think wrongly that the Internet has had more important influences than the washing machines?

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（稀缺的） 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（忽略） their manufacturing sector(制造業(yè)) 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 amnot 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（別的，可替代的） 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（革命的） 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 considerations B.make their programmes attractive to people

C.ensure that each child gets financial support D.provide more affordable internet facilities

3.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.

4.What’s the best title of the passage?

A.The influences of ICT B.The trends of technology

C.The fascination with ICT D.The use of ICT

Answer 1