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__.
0 k# f L2 F/ Z" Z 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.. w& q# T( l3 g+ B! X' y3 V4 D
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.: c/ [+ F; ~! A( d
To __15__ advantage of this tool, some poor countries will have to get over their outdated anti-colonial prejudices __16__ respect to foreign investment.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.' a/ Q0 u/ ?+ s, A B: X; s
__1. A) divide B) information C) world D) lecture
; [; _8 }# a+ G0 o __2. A) obscure B) visible C) invisible D) indistinct& s; J+ b }8 \4 ~9 y! v
__3. A) forces B) obstacles C) events D) surprises
& f1 D# C/ z* [ __4. A) Seriously B) Entirely C) Actually D) Continuously. ~. {1 ?, B3 Z& [
__5. A) negative B) optimistic C) pleasant D) disappointed4 J t% {2 @8 ] [9 M- a4 _1 A
__6. A) developed B) centralized C) realized D) commercialized- O: u& G! I, c% S% H! j9 V
__7. A) users B) producers C) customers D) citizens9 Z) _8 U- n% u1 x2 S! I0 Z' K
__8. A) enterprises B) governments C) officials D) customers4 _4 V6 }- m; x
__9. A) away B) for C) aside D) behind
7 n( O, d8 j8 u( F __10. A) netted B) worked C) put D) organized; A0 K7 B, Q6 ?: _1 M
__11. A) decrease B) narrow C) neglect D) low6 O& y' T" {1 e4 b- j. D- J
__12. A) containing B) preventing C) keeping D) combating
- h7 i) Z/ K8 x% _& ]% P( Y7 j2 j __13. A) win B) detail C) defeat D) fear
/ Y3 F$ t1 N9 ]" B9 n __14. A) enormous B) countless C) numerical D) big8 f5 E* `0 Y. m
__15. A) bring B) keep C) hold D) take
! |: ^3 A4 [: C. c __16. A) at B) with C) of D) for
( _( U$ i, g) p/ M __17. A) offence B) investment C) invasion D) insult$ s% `; c j0 _# S7 U
__18. A) construction B) facility C) infrastructure D) institution' i* h- Q. {# q% u$ n* {& |
__19. A) why B) where C) when D) how
; o1 w$ |/ r g6 V |