A great deal of attention is being paid today to the so-called digital divide--the division of the world into the info(information) rich and the info poor. And that __1__ does exist today. My wife and I lectured about this looming danger twenty years ago. What was less __2__ then, however, were the new, positive __3__ that work against the digital divide. __4__,there are reasons to be __5__.
6 W+ D: I* ^$ J6 t% e There are technological reasons to hope the digital divide will narrow. As the Internet becomes more and more __6__, it is in the interest of business to universalize access-after all, the more people online, the more potential __7__ there are. More and more __8__, afraid their countries will be left __9__, want to spread Internet access. Within the next decade or two, one to two billion people on the planet will be __10__ together. As a result, I now believe the digital divide will __11__ rather than widen in the years ahead. And that is very good news because the Internet may well be the most powerful tool for __12__ world poverty that we’ve ever had.
+ A( C0 Z2 r8 F% V4 Z# _ Of course, the use of the Internet isn’t the only way to __13__ poverty. And the Internet is not the only tool we have. But it has __14__ potential.
$ h" p) m/ l: I: j' H To __15__ advantage of this tool, some poor countries will have to get over their outdated anti-colonial prejudices __16__ respect to foreign investment. Countries that still think foreign investment is a/an __17__ of their sovereignty might well study the history of __18__ (the basic structural foundations of a society) in the United States. When the United States built its industrial infrastructure, it didn’t have the capital to do so. And that is __19__ America’s Second Wave infrastructure-__20__ roads, harbors, highways, ports and so on-were built with foreign investment.7 E2 }8 _5 n% R
__1. A) divide B) information C) world D) lecture; U, h& O# P( X
__2. A) obscure B) visible C) invisible D) indistinct7 Z1 X/ w8 H5 v( j2 H! Q: }, M
__3. A) forces B) obstacles C) events D) surprises) E8 f0 W( x8 x6 K: h
__4. A) Seriously B) Entirely C) Actually D) Continuously
! ?) t% n4 f9 y# D d, `3 R __5. A) negative B) optimistic C) pleasant D) disappointed+ v3 q: F4 @& Y1 V$ h
__6. A) developed B) centralized C) realized D) commercialized
6 t( ?2 F) \8 q& P. c, O. [ __7. A) users B) producers C) customers D) citizens
0 E6 w0 u3 K+ a$ c. O, D' m# M7 T; L __8. A) enterprises B) governments C) officials D) customers# M6 K( T( E* F8 f
__9. A) away B) for C) aside D) behind
$ j8 r2 c9 C9 V7 S __10. A) netted B) worked C) put D) organized
! u* g' p. d& Z8 R& l$ D6 r% Y3 S __11. A) decrease B) narrow C) neglect D) low
& g9 S! i( Q, a' W2 v+ W __12. A) containing B) preventing C) keeping D) combating
' h' X2 `1 N2 ^8 [ __13. A) win B) detail C) defeat D) fear
7 R. Y0 { N2 C6 q; C, n __14. A) enormous B) countless C) numerical D) big
4 g3 A. ]0 y% t& l8 t3 d __15. A) bring B) keep C) hold D) take* H0 [% ^" P; V. |% }
__16. A) at B) with C) of D) for
% i5 N# Z- n) Z4 {5 B' B __17. A) offence B) investment C) invasion D) insult
: s8 J. t+ \* Q) J8 N j& } __18. A) construction B) facility C) infrastructure D) institution/ H4 v& a5 A# h' v8 v; c
__19. A) why B) where C) when D) how
6 v7 Y I \8 x9 e* m: w" L; W |