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__.3 J" ~. l8 Y0 L5 |! [
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.5 W3 A& a+ X& q1 J
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.9 b% \8 S, A6 q' N- B. f9 C3 ]& 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To __15__ advantage of this tool, some poor countries will have to get over their outdated anti-colonial prejudices __16__ respect to foreign investment.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.
! H; o7 }6 @; U8 Y3 w' @- D 1. A) divide B) information C) world D) lecture
! W$ ]9 E1 Y& P3 C' Q9 U7 M5 H 2. A) obscure B) visible C) invisible D) indistinct
4 T- a" e& n7 F7 g, \- m 3. A) forces B) obstacles C) events D) surprises
& Z6 n/ z3 t. x% N3 K0 \" M 4. A) Seriously B) Entirely C) Actually D) Continuously
# E& u! t3 q" N: S! ~ 5. A) negative B) optimistic C) pleasant D) disappointed4 b; E# J6 f0 \ v: p. E. ~
6. A) developed B) centralized C) realized D) commercialized; y4 ^8 x2 N$ |2 i( m
7. A) users B) producers C) customers D) citizens6 I( @3 ?, r7 O! i% t6 f0 n
8. A) enterprises B) governments C) officials D) customers
0 H# k6 [, Y8 f* v) u0 L 9. A) away B) for C) aside D) behind
* I' ~$ _; X! m4 W- M' t 10. A) netted B) worked C) put D) organized4 Y- x6 r& D( g' m, b+ e$ v
11. A) decrease B) narrow C) neglect D) low
& U* ]0 p) t$ z# k5 s& X/ F" f 12. A) containing B) preventing C) keeping D) combating0 G3 m6 S/ s- U4 l
13. A) win B) detail C) defeat D) fear
9 ]( z$ C# c) o2 G6 z 14. A) enormous B) countless C) numerical D) big
4 t9 c# X |# S* h 15. A) bring B) keep C) hold D) take8 n4 e$ W1 w) y& Q9 _0 M7 ~; j: t
16. A) at B) with C) of D) for$ V4 y M5 M5 Z& j- ]
17. A) offence B) investment C) invasion D) insult
+ i6 m" S. c1 }, l* C- C. r( K1 q 18. A) construction B) facility C) infrastructure D) institution1 i8 q3 D4 x E1 v6 {6 J2 g+ @
19. A) why B) where C) when D) how/ } D* I; K- n) n: y* K( x3 T
20. A) concerning B) concluding C) according D) including
7 i) E5 A: O6 g# v3 N1 b |