硕士研究生英语考试阅读讲解【2】
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 divide does exist today. My wife and I lectured about this looming danger twenty years ago. What was less visible then, however, were the new, positive forces that work against the digital divide. There are reasons to be optimistic.
There are technological reasons to hope the digital divide will narrow. As the Internet becomes more and more commercialized, it is in the interest of business to universalize access-after all, the more people online, the more potential customers there are. More and more governments, afraid their countries will be left behind, want to spread Internet access. Within the next decade or two, one to two billion people on the planet will he netted together. As a result, I now believe the digital divide will narrow rather than widen in the years ahead. And that is very good news because the Internet may well be the most powerful tool for combating world poverty that we’ve ever had.
Of course, the use of the Internet isn’t the only way to defeat poverty. And the Internet is not the only tool we have. But it has enormous potential.
To take advantage of this tool, some impoverished countries will have to get over their outdated anti-colonial prejudices with respect to foreign investment. Countries that still think foreign investment is an invasion of their sovereignty might well study the history of infrastructure（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 why America’s Second Wave infrastructure-including roads, harbors, highways, ports and so on-were built with foreign investment. The English, the Germans, the Dutch and the French were investing in Britain’s former colony. They financed them. Immigrant Americans built them. Guess who owns them now? The Americans. I believe the same thing would be true in places like Brazil or anywhere else for that matter. The more foreign capital you have helping you build your Third Wave infrastructure, which today is an electronic infrastructure, the better off you’re going to be. That doesn't mean lying down and becoming fooled, or letting foreign corporations run uncontrolled. But it does mean recognizing how important they can be in building the energy and telecom infrastructures needed to take full advantage of the Internet.
25. Digital divide is something _______.
[A] getting worse because of the Internet
[B] the rich countries are responsible for
[C] the world must guard against
[D] considered positive today
26. Governments attach importance to the Internet because it _______.
[A] offers economic potentials
[B] can bring foreign funds
[C] can soon wipe out world poverty
[D] connects people all over the world
27. The writer mentioned the case of the United States to justify the policy of _______.
[A] providing financial support overseas
[B] preventing foreign capital’s control
[C] building industrial infrastructure
[D] accepting foreign investment
28. It seems that now a country’s economy depands much on ______.
[A] how well-developed it is electronically
[B] whether it is prejudiced against immigrants
[C] whether it adopts America’s industrial pattern
[D] how much control it has over foreign corporations
文章结构总体分析
本文主要讨论因特网在信息时代的重要性及如何利用外资帮助贫困国家搞好第三次电子基础建设。作者从“数字化分界”（digital divide）的概念入手，谈及互联网对消除数字化分界的作用，最后呼吁贫困国家积极引用外资普及互联网。
文章从意群上讲，主要为两个部分：前两段是一个意群，后两段是另一个意群。
第一段：前半部分提出很多人对于数字化分界的出现比较担忧，但是作者认为情况还是令人乐观的。段落最后一句为主题句。
第二段：结构为总—分—总，第一句为主题句，中间部分说理论证，倒数第二句话进行总结。该段从技术角度证明数字化分界会缩小。本段最后一句话实际是下一段的主题句，即互联网可以用来摆脱贫困。
第三、四段：要想充分利用互联网，就要积极利用外资。无论是在第二次基础建设浪潮中的美国，还是现在第三次电子基础建设浪潮(指电子产业设施，如：互联网)中的贫困国家，外资引进同样十分重要。该段落使用说理和例证两种论证方法。
试题具体解析
25. Digital divide is something .
[A] getting worse because of the Internet
[B] the rich countries are responsible for
25. 数字化分界是 。
[A] 差异因为互联网而（变恶化）加大
[B] 应该由富裕国家负责
[C] the world must guard against
[D] considered positive today
[C] 全世界应该警惕
[D] 信息差现在被认为是积极的因素
[答案] C
[解析] 本题考核的知识点是：事实细节题。
本题要求考生把握作者对数字化分界的基本态度和观点。关键是对文章第一句话的理解。该句提到，今天所谓的数字化分界正在被高度重视。接下来作者提到，他和妻子20年前就在讲演中谈到这种隐约出现的危险（looming danger），这里的danger当然是指前面提到的“the digital divide”，即数字化分界。既然是危险，当然要警惕。因此C选项为正确答案。A选项与文章第二段谈到利用“technological reasons”即“Internet”可以缩小数字化分界相矛盾；无论从首段对数字化分界的定义中或是下面对缩小数字化分界的论述中，都可知D选项与作者的态度相反。文中没有提及这一现象是谁造成，由谁负责，因此B选项不对。
词汇补充：loom隐现，迫近，常令人生畏，如：An enormous shape looms in the distance, out of the darkness.
26. Governments attach importance to the Internet because it .
[A] offers economic potentials
[B] can bring foreign funds
[C] can soon wipe out world poverty
[D] connects people all over the world
26. 政府重视互联网是因为 。
[A] 提供经济潜能
[B] 互联网可以带来海外投资
[C] 能很快消灭贫困
[D] 它将世界连成一片
[答案] A
[解析] 本题考核的知识点是：因果关系题。
本题要求考生弄清各种因果关系。通过题干关键词“Governments”和“Internet”定位到第二段。该段提到，随着互联网越来越趋于商业化，普及上网（universalize access）符合商家的利益，因为网络会给他们带来更多的潜在顾客。因此，各国政府惟恐落后于形势，都想普及上网（spread Internet access）。可见，政府关心的是互联网带来的经济利益。因此，A选项为正确答案。
B选项因果颠倒。全文第四段重点谈到利用外资可以发展互联网。C选项“不切实际。虽然作者提到了互联网可能是战胜贫困的工具，但是这仅仅是一种潜力，把这种力量转化为现实还取决于很多因素。D选项只能是互联网的一种功能，但不是政府关注的直接原因。
27. The writer mentioned the case of the United States to justify the policy of .
[A] providing financial support overseas
[B] preventing foreign capital’s control
[C] building industrial infrastructure
[D] accepting foreign investment
27. 作者提及美国的例子是要证明
的政策是正确的。
[A] 向海外提供资金援助
[B] 防止外资的控制
[C] 建立工业基础设施
[D] 接受外资
[答案] D
[解析] 本题考核的知识点是：作者意图题。
本题要求考生辨析作者的写作目的。例证的写作手法通常采用论点—例子，例子—论点，或论点—例子—重申论点的形式，因此考生要到例子前后去寻找该论据所要说明的论点是什么。在最后一段的例子中作者介绍了美国在第二次基础设施浪潮期间是如何利用外资搞好基础建设的。在举例之前，作者建议贫困国家应该抛弃认为外国投资是对本国主权入侵的陈腐观点。举例之后，作者更直接指出，哪个国家利用外资多（The more foreign capital），哪个国家就将更富裕（the better off）。D选项正是作者举这个例子要提倡的。A选项与文意相反；B选项是作者建议人们不要担心的；C选项是例子中谈到的事实，但不是作者想要说明的问题。
28. It seems that now a country’s economy 28. 现在一个国家的经济很大程度上似乎
depends much on . 取决于 。
[A] how well-developed it is electronically [A] 其电子工业发展的程度
[B] whether it is prejudiced against immigrants [B] 它是否反对外来移民
[C] whether it adopts America’s industrial [C] 它是否采用美国的产业模式
pattern
[D] how much control it has over foreign [D] 它在多大程度上控制着外企
corporations
[答案] A
[解析] 本题考核的知识点是：引申推理题。
文章最后一段提到现在第三次电子基础建设浪潮（Third Wave infrastructure, which today is an electronic infrastructure）中哪个国家接受的外资越多就越富有，言外之意是利用外资进行电子基础建设才是富有与否的关键。这足以说明A选项 “其电子工业发展的程度”对于一个国家经济发展的重要作用。
B选项和D选项的内容文中根本未提到。作者谈到美国，只是作为一个引用外资建设基础设施的成功范例，而不是提倡完全效仿它的模式。所以C选项也不对。
全文翻译
今天，人们正在高度重视所谓数字化分界——世界上信息资源丰富的地区和信息资源贫乏的地区之间的差异。这个差异确实存在，我和我妻子20年前就曾就当时出现的这种临近的危险做过演讲。然而，那时还不太明显的是一些抵制数字化分界的、新的积极因素。现在我们是完全有理由感到乐观的。
一些技术上的因素使我们有理由期望数字化分界会缩小。随着互联网的日趋商业化，普及上网对商家是有利的——毕竟，上网人数越多，潜在的客户就越多。越来越多的政府，惟恐自己的国家落后，纷纷推广互联网的普及。未来一二十年之内，全球将有一二十亿人加入互联网。因此，我认为在未来的数年中，数字化分界将缩小而不会变大。那是好消息，因为互联网完全可以成为我们战胜所面临的贫困的最强有效的工具。
当然，使用互联网不是惟一战胜贫困的方法。互联网也不是我们所拥有的惟一工具，但它却有巨大的潜力。
要想利用互联网这一工具，某些贫困国家必须克服对外国投资所持的过时了的反殖民主义偏见。那些认为外国投资是侵犯本国主权的国家不妨研究一下美国的基础设施（社会的基本结构基础）建设历史。当初美国建设自己的工业基础设施时，缺乏必要的资金，因此美国的第二次浪潮基础设施建设，包括公路、港口、高速公路、港口城市等等——都是用国外资金建造的。英国人、德国人、荷兰人和法国人都在前英国殖民地投资。他们提供资金，美洲移民建造。想想看，现在谁拥有这一切？美国人。我想，在这件事上，像巴西或其他任何地方同样也该这样。你拥有的去建造第三次浪潮基础设施建设（今天主要指电子基础设施）的外国资金越多，那么你的情况就越好。这并不是说卑躬屈膝，任人愚弄，也不是对外国公司不加控制。但这的确意味着你已认识到外国公司对本国能源及通信基础设施建设的重要性，这些基础设施是充分利用互联网所必要的。
