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.Information
technology is developing at an amazing speed.
B.Today’s cars and airplanes are extremely overpriced.
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 speeds up
profit making
B.it saves
companies huge amounts of money
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.people can
find good bargains on the Internet
C.almost
anything is available on the Internet
D.people are
free to do anything on the Internet
4.What can we learn from the fourth paragraph?
A.The U.S. will
stay ahead in the information technology in years.
B.Many American
children don’t study hard.
C.Studies show
that boys are more computer literate than girls.
D.There is a
link between income and computer ownership.
5.What is the message the author intends to convey?
A.The Internet
is going to get firm hold of our lives some day.
B.Children
should be well prepared for the challenges in the information age.
C.We should
have a positive attitude towards the changes the Internet brings.
D.The Internet
is going to influence our lives even more greatly.