Today, there’s hardly an aspect of our life that isn’t
being upended by the tons of information available on the hundreds of millions
of sites crowding the Internet, not to mention its ability to keep us in
constant touch with each other via electronic mail. “If
the automobile and aerospace technology had exploded at the same pace as computer
and information technology,” says Microsoft, “a new car would cost about $ 2 and go 600 miles on a small
quantity of gas. And you could buy a Boeing 747 for the cost of a pizza.”
Probably the biggest payoff,
however, is the billions of dollars the Internet is saving companies in
producing goods and serving for the needs of their customers. Nothing like it
has been seen since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, when
power-driven machines began producing more in a day than men could turn out in
nearly a year. “We view the growth of the
Internet and e-commerce as a global trend,”
says Merrill Lynch, “along the lines of printing
press, the telephone, the computer, and electricity.”
You would be hard pressed to name
something that isn’t available on the Internet.
Consider: books, health care, movie tickets, construction materials, baby
clothes, stocks, cattle feed, music, electronics, antiques, tools, real estate,
toys, autographs of famous people, wine and airline tickets. And even after you’ve moved on to your final resting place, there’s no reason those you love can’t
keep in touch. A company called FinalThoughts.com offers a place for you to
store “afterlife e-mails”
you can send to Heaven with the help of a “guardian
angel”.
Kids today are so computer
literate that it in fact ensures the United States will remain the unchallenged
leader in cyberspace for the foreseeable future. Nearly all children in
families with incomes of more than $75,000 a year have home computers, according to a study by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Youngsters from ages 2 to 17 at all income levels have computers, with 52% of those
connected to the Internet. Most kids use computers to play games (some for 30
hours or more a week), and many teenage girls think nothing of rushing
home from school to have e-mail chats with friends they have just left.
What’s
clear is that, whether we like it or not, the Internet is an ever growing part
of our lives and there is no turning back. “The
Internet is just 20% invented,” says cyber pioneer Jake
Winebaum. “The last 80% is happening now.”
1.What can we learn from the Microsoft’s remark?
A. Today’s cars and airplanes are extremely overpriced.
B. Information
technology is developing at an amazing speed.
C. Information
technology has reached the point where improvement is difficult.
D. There’s more competition in information technology industry than in
car industry.
2.According to the author, the biggest benefit
of the Internet is that___.
A. it saves
companies huge amounts of money
B. it speeds up
profit making
C. it brings people
incredible convenience
D. it provides easy
access to information
3.The author gives the example of
FinalThoughts.com to make the point that____.
A. there are some
genius ideas on the Internet
B. almost anything
is available on the Internet
C. people can find
good bargains on the Internet
D. people are free
to do anything on the Internet
4.What can we learn from the fourth paragraph?
A. There is a link
between income and computer ownership.
B. Many American
children don’t put computers to good use.
C. Studies show that
boys are more computer literate than girls.
D. The U.S. will
stay ahead in the information technology in years.
5.Which sentence has the phrase that has the
same meaning as the one underlined in the fifth paragraph?
A. Some can tell you that he has
changed their lives, while others think nothing of him.
B. Think nothing of it. It
was my pleasure.
C. He thinks nothing of
staying up all night in the Café bar.
D. He thinks nothing of
the pain in his back for the moment.
6.What is the message the author intends to
convey?
A. The Internet is
going to get firm hold of our lives some day.
B. The Internet is
going to influence our lives even more greatly.
C. We should have a
positive attitude towards the changes the Internet brings.
D. Children should be well prepared for the challenges in the information age.