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2006-08-30 09:27 |
Passage Three 7c~]gFH,L
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The single greatest shift in the history of mass-communication technology occurred in the 15th century and was well described by Victor Hugo in a famous chapter of “Notre-Dame de Paris”. It was a cathedral. On all parts of the giant building, statuary and stone representations of every kind, combined with huge windows of stained glass, told the stories of the Bible and the saints, displayed the intricacies of Christian theology, adverted to the existence of highly unpleasant demonic winged creatures, referred diplomatically to the majesties of political power, and , In addition, by means of bells in bell towers, told time for the benefit of all of Paris and much of France. It was an awesome engine of communication. vR(.=jj
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Then came the transition to something still more awesome. The new technology of mass communication was portable, could sit on your table, and was easily replicable, and was easily replicable, and yet, paradoxically, contained more information, more systematically presented, than even the largest of cathedrals. It was an awesome engine of communication. Ma3C8:-L
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In the last ten or twenty years, we have been undergoing a more or less equivalent shift-this time to a new life as a computer-using population. The gain in portability, ease, orderliness, accuracy, reliability, and information-storage over anything achievable by pen scribbling, typewriting, and cabinet filing is recognized by all .The progress for civilization is undeniable and, plainly, irreversible. Yet, just as the book’s triumph over the cathedral divided people into two groups, one of which prospered, while the other lapsed into gloom, the computer’s triumph has also divided the human race. eG%lcN6q
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You have only to bring a computer into a room to see that some people begin at once to buzz with curiosity and excitement, sit down to conduct experiments ooh and ah at the boxes and beeps, and master the use of the computer or a new program as quickly as athletes playing a delightful new game. But how difficult it is-how grim and frightful! –for the other people, the defeated class, whose temperament does not naturally. Respond to computers. The machine whirrs and glows before them and their faces twitch. They may be splendidly educated, as measured by book-reading, yet their instincts are all wrong, and no amount of manual-studying and mouse-clicking will make them right. Computers require a sharply different set of aptitudes, and, if the aptitudes are missing, little can be done, and misery is guaranteed. U&q jI_P
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Is the computer industry aware that computers have divided mankind into two new, previously unknown classes, the computer personalities and the non-computer personalities? Yes, the industry knows this. Vast sums have been expended in order to adapt the computer to the limitations of non-computer personalities. apple’s Macintosh, with its zooming animations and pull-down menus and little pictures of file folders and watch faces and trash cans, pointed the way. Such seductions have soothed the apprehensions of a certain number of the computer-averse. This spring, the computer industry’s efforts are reaching a culmination of sorts. Microsoft Bob, designed by Mr. Gates’ wife, Melinda French, and intended to render computer technology available even to people who are openly terrified of computers. Bob’s principle is to take the several tasks of operating a computer, rename then in a folksy style, and assign to them the images of an ideal room in an ideal home, with furniture and bookshelves, and with chummy cartoon helpers (“Friends of Bob”)to guide the computer user over the rough spots, and, in that way, simulate an atmosphere that feels nothing like computers. /oXI]<"
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36.According to this passage, which of the following statements is NOT TRUE? DdxZp~XZ
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[A]It is because the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris had many bell-towers and could tell time to people that the writer regards it as an engine of mass communication. H`XwKu :
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[B]From cathedrals to books to computers the technology of communication has become more convenient, reliable and fast. D= ~n^ Bo
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[C]Every time when a new communication means triumphed over the old, it divided mankind into two groups. ~<POvL[(9'
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[D]Computer industry has been trying hard to make people accept computers. 6QPj 4QNt
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37.The printed book is more progressive than the cathedral as a communication means, because _____. AaZ`/hqS
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[A]it could sit on your table and did no longer tell time UlMl,&G
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[B]it was more reliable and did mot tell the stories of saints of saints and demons y{ [Q.[Dh
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[C]it was small, yet contained more information "f]Zar :
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[D]it did not flatter religious and political power ]8h'LSk`
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38.The word “awesome” in the passage means _____. E
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[A]frightening [B]causing fear and respect Kit<Fk,
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[C]amazingly new [D]awful \
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39.People who feel miserable with computers are those _____. q.)yp*yP
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[A]who love reading books and writing with a pen or a typewriter } N]?,TR
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[B]who possess the wrong aptitudes of disliking and fearing new things nBzJFJ
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[C]who have not been trained to use computers Z'C<K-/ l`
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[D]who are born with a temperament that does not respond to computers d*-2+
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40.Melinda French designed Microsoft Bob which was to ease the misery of computer users by _____. ^"SBO-#GQ
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[A]making users feel that they are not dealing with machines g6UHclb(
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[B]making the program more convenient and cartoon-like GZ &> ,}r0
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[C]adding home pictures to the program design K K&R
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[D]renaming the computer tasks in a folksy style |
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