新世纪研究生公共英语教材阅读A第二版 第二课

Unit two What the internet cannot do? 1.it is impossible that old prejudices and hostilities should longer exist,while such an instrument has been created for the exchange of thought between all the nations of the earth.acclaimed victorian enthusiasts on the arrival in 1858 of the first transatlantic telegraph cable. People say that sort of thing about new technologies,even today. Biotechnology is said to be the cure of world hunger.the sequencing of the human genome will supposedly eradicate cancer and other diseases. The wildest optimism,though,has greeted the Internet. A whole industry of cyber gurus has enthralled audiences [and made a fine living ]with exuberant claims that the internet will prevent wars,ruduce pollution,and combat various forms of inequality.however,although the internet is still young enough to inspire idealism,it has also been around long enough to test whether the prophets can be right. 2.Grandest of all the claims are those made by some of the savants at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology about the internet's potential as a force for peace.one guru,Nicholas Negroponte ,has declared that,thanks to the Internet ,the children of the future "are not going to know what nationalism is ".His colleagues ,Michael Dertouzos ,has written that digital communications will bring "computer aided peace"which "may help"stave off future flare ups of ethnic hatred and national break ups.The idea is that improved communications will reduce misunderstandings and avert conflict. 3.This is not new, alas,any more than were the claims for the peace making possibilities of other new technologies.In the early years of the 20th century,aeroplanes were expected to end wars,by promoting international communication and less credibly by making armies obsolete.since they would be vulnerable to attack from the air.After the First World War had dispelled such notions,it was the turn of radio.Nation shall speak peace unto nation,ran the fine motto of britain'BBC World Service.Sadly,Radio of Rwanda disproved the idea that radeo was an intrinsically pacific force once and for all . 4.The mistake people make is to assume that wars are caused simply by the failure of different peoples to understand each other adequately.Indeed,even if that were true ,the Internet can also be used to advocate conflict.Hate speech and intolerance flourish in its murkier corners,where government find it hard to intervene.Although the Internet undeniably fosters communication,it will no put an end to war . 5.But might it reduce energy consumption and pollution?The Centre For Energy and Climate Solutions ,a washington think tank ,has advance just such a case ,based largely on energy consumption figures for 1997 and 1998.While the American economy grew by 9% over those two years ,energy demand was almost unchanged because ,the CECS ventures,the Internet "can turn paper and CDs into electrons,and replace trucks with fibreoptic cable .No wonder enthusiastic newspaper headline begged, Shop on line-- save the earth . 6.Sadly,earth saving is harder than that.Certainly,shopping on line from home is far less polluting that driving to a shopping mall.Ordering groceries on line and having them delivered,means that,if the logistics are handled efficiently,one truck journey can replace dozens of families;separate car trips.Reading newspapers,magazines and other documents on line is more efficient than printing and transporting them physically.Yet dong things on line is more energy--efficient only if it genuinely displaces real world activities.If people shop on line as well as visiting the bricks and mortar store, the result is an overall increase in energy consumption.Thanks to the Internet,it is now easy for Europeans to order boos and have them extravagantly air frighted from America before they are available in Europe.And it is more efficient to read documents on line if doing so replaces,rather than adds to the amount of printed bumf. 7.Furthermore,as more and more offices and homes connect to the internet,millions of PCs,printers,servers and other devices gobble significant quantities of energy.Home computers are becoming part of the fabric of everyday life,and are increasingly left switched on all the time .one controversial assessment concluded that fully 8% of electricity consumption in America is due to internet connected computers .the construction of vast "server farms" warehouses full of computers and their attendant cooling systems---has contributed to overloading of the electrical power network that has caused brown-outs in Silicon Valley. 8.What about the belief that the internet will reduce inequality?According to a study carried out by America's department of commerce,households with annual incomes above $75.000 are more than 20 times as likely to have internet access sa the poorest households .Bill Clinton,struck by the digital divide between rich and poor,argues that universal intretnet access would help to reduce incomes inequality. 9.But ,as the cost of using the internet continues to fall [services offering free access are becoming the norm,and a basic PC can now be hard for little more than a video recorder or a large television],the true reason for the digital divide between rich and poor will beocme apparent.The poor are not shunning the internet because they cannot afford it ,the problem is that the lack the skills to exploit it effctively.So it is difficult to see how connecting the poor to the internet will improve their finances.it would make more sense to aim for universal literacy than universal internet access. 10.Yet,even in the more ludicrous claims for the internet,there may be germs of truth .This open network,so hard for government to control,may indeed help to give more power to individual citizens and encourage democracies .As democratic governments rarely fight each other ,that might promote peace.As for the environment,the internet will allow many pieces of machinery to be monitored and tuned more precisely from afar .that will promote energy efficiency.taxing or merely measuring pollution will be less expensive and so easier for governments to undertake. 11.Even inequality may,in some cases,be reduced thanks to the internet .A computer progammer inbangalore or siberia can use the internet to work for a software company in seattle without liaving home , and can expect to be paid a wage that is closer to that of his virtual colleagues at the other end of the cable.the effect is to reduce income inequality between people doing similar jobs in different countries,but to increase the inequality between information workers in poor countries and their poorest compatriots . 12.The internet changes many things .it has had a dramatic impact on the world of business.Firms can now link their systems diredtly to those of their suppliers and partners,can do business on line around