Importance of a Computer

　　As citizens of advanced but vulnerable economies, we must either relentlessly increase the quality of our skills or see our standard of living erode. For the future, competition between nations will be increasingly based on technological skill. Oil and natural resources will still be important, but they no longer will determine a nations economic strength. This will now be a matter of the way people organize them selves and the nature and quality of their work. Japan and the new Japans of East Asia are demonstrating this point in ways that are becoming painfully obvious to the older industrial countries.

　　There is simply no way to rest on our past achievements. Todays competition renders obsolete huge chunks of what we know and what forces us to innovate. For each individual. Several careers will be customary, and continuing education and retraining will be inescapable. To attain this extraordinary level of education, government, business, schools, and even individuals will turn to technology for the answer.

　　In industry, processing the information and designing the changes necessary to keep up with the market has meant the growing use of computers. The schools are now following close behind. Already some colleges in the United States are requiting a computer for each student. It is estimated that 500,000 computers are already in use in American high schools and elementary schools. Although there is an abysmal lack of educational software, the number of computers in schools expands rapidly.

　　The computer is the Proteus of machines, as it takes on a thousand forms and serves a thousand functions. But its truly revolutionary character can be seen in its interactive potential. With advanced computers, learning can be individualized and self-paced. Teachers can become more productive and the entire learning environment enriched.

　　It is striking how much current teaching is a product of pencil and paper technology. With the computers capacity for simulation and diverse kinds of feedback, all sorts of new possibilities open up for the redesign of curriculums. Seymour Papert, the inventor of the computer language LOGO, believes that concepts in physics and advanced mathematics can be taught in the early grades with the use of computers. On every-day level, word-processing significantly improves the capacity for written expression. In terms of drill and practice, self-paced computer-assisted instruction enables the student to advance rapidlywithout being limited by the conflicting needs of the entire class. In short, once we learn to use this new brain outside the brain, education will never be the same.

　　Industry, faced with the pressures of a rapidly shifting market, is already designing new methods to retrain its workers, In the United States, a technological university has been set up to teach engineering courses by satellite. And the advances in telecommunications and computational power will dramatically expand the opportunities for national and international efforts in education and training.

　　Without romanticizing the machine, it is clear that computers uniquely change the potential for equipping todays citizens for unprecedented tasks of the future. Particularly in Europe and the United States, innovation will be the basis for continued prosperity. New competitors are emerging to challenge the old economic arrangements. How successfully we respond will depend on how much we invest in people and how wisely we employ the learning tools of the new technology.

　　1.What is the decisive factor in future competition between nations?

　　[A]. Oil. [B]. Technological skill.

　　[C]. Natural resources [D] Education

　　2.The main idea of this passage is

　　[A]. Knowledge of a Computer. [B]. Importance of a Computer.

　　[C]. Function of Knowledge. [C]. Function of Technology.

　　3.Why does further study become indispensable?

　　[A]. People want to so more jobs.

　　[B]. People want to attain this extraordinary level of education.

　　[C]. People would not rest on the past achievements.

　　[D]. What we know becomes obsolete.

　　4.The word Proteus is closest in meaning to

　　[A]. flexibility. [B]. diversity. [C]. variety. [D]. multiplicity.

　　Vocabulary

　　1. relentlessly 始終不懈的

　　2. obsolete 過(guò)時(shí)的，大量的，絕大部分的

　　3. chunk 大塊，大量的，絕大部分

　　4. abysmal 無(wú)底的，極端的

　　5. Proteus 希臘神話中海神，能隨意變化。這里指flexible, 靈活多變

　　6. take on 顯現(xiàn)，顯示

　　7. LOGO=logotyre 標(biāo)識(shí)語(yǔ)，作為標(biāo)志的語(yǔ)言

　　8. rapidly shifting 瞬息萬(wàn)變的

　　9. romanticizing 使浪漫化，使幻想化

　　難句譯注

　　1. With the computers capacity for simulation and diverse kinds of feedback, all sorts of new possibilities open up for the redesign of curriculums.

　　[參考譯文] 由于計(jì)算機(jī)能進(jìn)行模擬和提供各種反饋，它就為從新設(shè)計(jì)學(xué)校的課程開辟了各種新的可能性。

　　2. In terms of drill and practice, self-paced computer-assisted instruction enables the student to advance rapidlywithout being limited by the conflicting needs of the entire class.

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)簡(jiǎn)析] 句子結(jié)構(gòu)為主謂賓補(bǔ)，前后各用一個(gè)介詞(短語(yǔ))，前in term of , 后without

　　[參考譯文] 就練習(xí)和實(shí)踐來(lái)講，借助自行規(guī)定速度的計(jì)算機(jī)輔助的指令使學(xué)生突飛猛進(jìn)而不受全班互相矛盾的需要所限制。

　　3. Without romanticizing the machine, it is clear that computers uniquely change the potential for equipping todays citizens for unprecedented tasks of the future.

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)簡(jiǎn)析] 邏輯主語(yǔ)句。句前有一狀語(yǔ)成分，without +分詞+名詞的句型。

　　[參考譯文] 不必用浪漫主義的手法來(lái)形容計(jì)算機(jī)，我們可清楚看到，它是獨(dú)一無(wú)二的改變今天公民的潛力，使他們能承擔(dān)未來(lái)的史無(wú)前例的任務(wù)。

　　寫作方法與文章大意

　　文章論述了計(jì)算機(jī)的重要性，采用一般到具體寫作手法。一開始就提出：作為經(jīng)濟(jì)上先進(jìn)而又脆弱的公民，必須始終不懈地提高技術(shù)素質(zhì)，否則生活水平就會(huì)下降。因?yàn)槲磥?lái)國(guó)際競(jìng)爭(zhēng)取決于技術(shù)，一切部門必須迎合這一要求。具體到工業(yè)和學(xué)校必須使用計(jì)算機(jī)。重點(diǎn)在學(xué)校，因?yàn)樗桥嘤?xùn)新人才的基地。所以三，四，五，七段涉及計(jì)算機(jī)在學(xué)校的種種功能。最后的結(jié)論：人才和計(jì)算機(jī)是決定性因素。

　　答案祥解

　　1. B. 工藝技術(shù)。這在第一段就講到在未來(lái)，國(guó)與國(guó)之間的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)越來(lái)越以工藝技術(shù)為基礎(chǔ)。盡管石油和其他自然資源仍很重要，但它們不會(huì)再對(duì)一個(gè)國(guó)家的經(jīng)濟(jì)實(shí)力起決定性的作用。A. 石油。C. 自然資源，這兩項(xiàng)不是決定性因素。D. 教育。文內(nèi)教育作為改革的一個(gè)方面，其重點(diǎn)是在學(xué)校內(nèi)應(yīng)用計(jì)算機(jī)，來(lái)改變教學(xué)質(zhì)量，達(dá)到革新人才的目的。并不是直接參與競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。可參看第2題的答案及譯注。

　　2. B. 計(jì)算機(jī)的重要性。整篇文章都顯示了這一點(diǎn)。第三段工業(yè)上，信息處理和制定必要的改革計(jì)劃以適應(yīng)市場(chǎng)需要意味著越來(lái)越多使用計(jì)算機(jī)。學(xué)校緊跟工業(yè)之后第四段計(jì)算機(jī)是一種變化多端，神通廣大的機(jī)器，因?yàn)樗@示千種圖象，發(fā)揮千種功能。而它的真正的革命性可在其相互作用的潛能中看出。有了先進(jìn)的計(jì)算機(jī)，學(xué)習(xí)可以個(gè)別進(jìn)行，速度自行規(guī)定。教師變得更有成效。第五段由于利用計(jì)算機(jī)，在學(xué)校低年級(jí)就能教授物理學(xué)和高等數(shù)學(xué)概念。最后一段畫龍點(diǎn)睛地指出：計(jì)算機(jī)獨(dú)一無(wú)二地改變著那種今天公民能擔(dān)當(dāng)未來(lái)空前任務(wù)的潛能新的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手正在崛起，自由的經(jīng)濟(jì)布局提出挑戰(zhàn)。我們?nèi)绾尾拍茼樌膽?yīng)戰(zhàn)，取決于我們對(duì)人的投資的多寡，取決于我們?cè)趺绰敾鄣貞?yīng)用新技術(shù)的學(xué)習(xí)工具。所以A. 計(jì)算機(jī)知識(shí)。 C. 知識(shí)的功能。 D. 技術(shù)功能，這三項(xiàng)只是計(jì)算機(jī)重要性中涉及到的一個(gè)方面，不能作為中心思想。

　　3. D. 因?yàn)槲覀冎赖囊磺凶兊藐惻f。第二段頭幾句話我們決不能吃老本，當(dāng)今的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)使我們的大部分知識(shí)變得陳舊，非加以革新不可。對(duì)每個(gè)人來(lái)說(shuō)，他們將慣常從事某幾種職業(yè)，并且非繼續(xù)學(xué)習(xí)進(jìn)修和從新接受訓(xùn)練不可。都說(shuō)明進(jìn)修學(xué)習(xí)的原因。A. 人們要做更多工作。文內(nèi)沒(méi)有提到。 B. 人們要到達(dá)非同一般的教育水平。這是目的，不是原因。C. 人們不能吃老本。這話并沒(méi)有完全講清楚全部原因。

　　4. A. 靈活多變。 Proteus 一詞，原義是指希臘神話中變幻無(wú)常的海神，普羅狄斯，他可以隨心所欲邊成各種形狀。這里指靈活多變。

　　Importance of a Computer

　　As citizens of advanced but vulnerable economies, we must either relentlessly increase the quality of our skills or see our standard of living erode. For the future, competition between nations will be increasingly based on technological skill. Oil and natural resources will still be important, but they no longer will determine a nations economic strength. This will now be a matter of the way people organize them selves and the nature and quality of their work. Japan and the new Japans of East Asia are demonstrating this point in ways that are becoming painfully obvious to the older industrial countries.

　　There is simply no way to rest on our past achievements. Todays competition renders obsolete huge chunks of what we know and what forces us to innovate. For each individual. Several careers will be customary, and continuing education and retraining will be inescapable. To attain this extraordinary level of education, government, business, schools, and even individuals will turn to technology for the answer.

　　In industry, processing the information and designing the changes necessary to keep up with the market has meant the growing use of computers. The schools are now following close behind. Already some colleges in the United States are requiting a computer for each student. It is estimated that 500,000 computers are already in use in American high schools and elementary schools. Although there is an abysmal lack of educational software, the number of computers in schools expands rapidly.

　　The computer is the Proteus of machines, as it takes on a thousand forms and serves a thousand functions. But its truly revolutionary character can be seen in its interactive potential. With advanced computers, learning can be individualized and self-paced. Teachers can become more productive and the entire learning environment enriched.

　　It is striking how much current teaching is a product of pencil and paper technology. With the computers capacity for simulation and diverse kinds of feedback, all sorts of new possibilities open up for the redesign of curriculums. Seymour Papert, the inventor of the computer language LOGO, believes that concepts in physics and advanced mathematics can be taught in the early grades with the use of computers. On every-day level, word-processing significantly improves the capacity for written expression. In terms of drill and practice, self-paced computer-assisted instruction enables the student to advance rapidlywithout being limited by the conflicting needs of the entire class. In short, once we learn to use this new brain outside the brain, education will never be the same.

　　Industry, faced with the pressures of a rapidly shifting market, is already designing new methods to retrain its workers, In the United States, a technological university has been set up to teach engineering courses by satellite. And the advances in telecommunications and computational power will dramatically expand the opportunities for national and international efforts in education and training.

　　Without romanticizing the machine, it is clear that computers uniquely change the potential for equipping todays citizens for unprecedented tasks of the future. Particularly in Europe and the United States, innovation will be the basis for continued prosperity. New competitors are emerging to challenge the old economic arrangements. How successfully we respond will depend on how much we invest in people and how wisely we employ the learning tools of the new technology.

　　1.What is the decisive factor in future competition between nations?

　　[A]. Oil. [B]. Technological skill.

　　[C]. Natural resources [D] Education

　　2.The main idea of this passage is

　　[A]. Knowledge of a Computer. [B]. Importance of a Computer.

　　[C]. Function of Knowledge. [C]. Function of Technology.

　　3.Why does further study become indispensable?

　　[A]. People want to so more jobs.

　　[B]. People want to attain this extraordinary level of education.

　　[C]. People would not rest on the past achievements.

　　[D]. What we know becomes obsolete.

　　4.The word Proteus is closest in meaning to

　　[A]. flexibility. [B]. diversity. [C]. variety. [D]. multiplicity.

　　Vocabulary

　　1. relentlessly 始終不懈的

　　2. obsolete 過(guò)時(shí)的，大量的，絕大部分的

　　3. chunk 大塊，大量的，絕大部分

　　4. abysmal 無(wú)底的，極端的

　　5. Proteus 希臘神話中海神，能隨意變化。這里指flexible, 靈活多變

　　6. take on 顯現(xiàn)，顯示

　　7. LOGO=logotyre 標(biāo)識(shí)語(yǔ)，作為標(biāo)志的語(yǔ)言

　　8. rapidly shifting 瞬息萬(wàn)變的

　　9. romanticizing 使浪漫化，使幻想化

　　難句譯注

　　1. With the computers capacity for simulation and diverse kinds of feedback, all sorts of new possibilities open up for the redesign of curriculums.

　　[參考譯文] 由于計(jì)算機(jī)能進(jìn)行模擬和提供各種反饋，它就為從新設(shè)計(jì)學(xué)校的課程開辟了各種新的可能性。

　　2. In terms of drill and practice, self-paced computer-assisted instruction enables the student to advance rapidlywithout being limited by the conflicting needs of the entire class.

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)簡(jiǎn)析] 句子結(jié)構(gòu)為主謂賓補(bǔ)，前后各用一個(gè)介詞(短語(yǔ))，前in term of , 后without

　　[參考譯文] 就練習(xí)和實(shí)踐來(lái)講，借助自行規(guī)定速度的計(jì)算機(jī)輔助的指令使學(xué)生突飛猛進(jìn)而不受全班互相矛盾的需要所限制。

　　3. Without romanticizing the machine, it is clear that computers uniquely change the potential for equipping todays citizens for unprecedented tasks of the future.

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)簡(jiǎn)析] 邏輯主語(yǔ)句。句前有一狀語(yǔ)成分，without +分詞+名詞的句型。

　　[參考譯文] 不必用浪漫主義的手法來(lái)形容計(jì)算機(jī)，我們可清楚看到，它是獨(dú)一無(wú)二的改變今天公民的潛力，使他們能承擔(dān)未來(lái)的史無(wú)前例的任務(wù)。

　　寫作方法與文章大意

　　文章論述了計(jì)算機(jī)的重要性，采用一般到具體寫作手法。一開始就提出：作為經(jīng)濟(jì)上先進(jìn)而又脆弱的公民，必須始終不懈地提高技術(shù)素質(zhì)，否則生活水平就會(huì)下降。因?yàn)槲磥?lái)國(guó)際競(jìng)爭(zhēng)取決于技術(shù)，一切部門必須迎合這一要求。具體到工業(yè)和學(xué)校必須使用計(jì)算機(jī)。重點(diǎn)在學(xué)校，因?yàn)樗桥嘤?xùn)新人才的基地。所以三，四，五，七段涉及計(jì)算機(jī)在學(xué)校的種種功能。最后的結(jié)論：人才和計(jì)算機(jī)是決定性因素。

　　答案祥解

　　1. B. 工藝技術(shù)。這在第一段就講到在未來(lái)，國(guó)與國(guó)之間的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)越來(lái)越以工藝技術(shù)為基礎(chǔ)。盡管石油和其他自然資源仍很重要，但它們不會(huì)再對(duì)一個(gè)國(guó)家的經(jīng)濟(jì)實(shí)力起決定性的作用。A. 石油。C. 自然資源，這兩項(xiàng)不是決定性因素。D. 教育。文內(nèi)教育作為改革的一個(gè)方面，其重點(diǎn)是在學(xué)校內(nèi)應(yīng)用計(jì)算機(jī)，來(lái)改變教學(xué)質(zhì)量，達(dá)到革新人才的目的。并不是直接參與競(jìng)爭(zhēng)?？蓞⒖吹?題的答案及譯注。

　　2. B. 計(jì)算機(jī)的重要性。整篇文章都顯示了這一點(diǎn)。第三段工業(yè)上，信息處理和制定必要的改革計(jì)劃以適應(yīng)市場(chǎng)需要意味著越來(lái)越多使用計(jì)算機(jī)。學(xué)校緊跟工業(yè)之后第四段計(jì)算機(jī)是一種變化多端，神通廣大的機(jī)器，因?yàn)樗@示千種圖象，發(fā)揮千種功能。而它的真正的革命性可在其相互作用的潛能中看出。有了先進(jìn)的計(jì)算機(jī)，學(xué)習(xí)可以個(gè)別進(jìn)行，速度自行規(guī)定。教師變得更有成效。第五段由于利用計(jì)算機(jī)，在學(xué)校低年級(jí)就能教授物理學(xué)和高等數(shù)學(xué)概念。最后一段畫龍點(diǎn)睛地指出：計(jì)算機(jī)獨(dú)一無(wú)二地改變著那種今天公民能擔(dān)當(dāng)未來(lái)空前任務(wù)的潛能新的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手正在崛起，自由的經(jīng)濟(jì)布局提出挑戰(zhàn)。我們?nèi)绾尾拍茼樌膽?yīng)戰(zhàn)，取決于我們對(duì)人的投資的多寡，取決于我們?cè)趺绰敾鄣貞?yīng)用新技術(shù)的學(xué)習(xí)工具。所以A. 計(jì)算機(jī)知識(shí)。 C. 知識(shí)的功能。 D. 技術(shù)功能，這三項(xiàng)只是計(jì)算機(jī)重要性中涉及到的一個(gè)方面，不能作為中心思想。

　　3. D. 因?yàn)槲覀冎赖囊磺凶兊藐惻f。第二段頭幾句話我們決不能吃老本，當(dāng)今的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)使我們的大部分知識(shí)變得陳舊，非加以革新不可。對(duì)每個(gè)人來(lái)說(shuō)，他們將慣常從事某幾種職業(yè)，并且非繼續(xù)學(xué)習(xí)進(jìn)修和從新接受訓(xùn)練不可。都說(shuō)明進(jìn)修學(xué)習(xí)的原因。A. 人們要做更多工作。文內(nèi)沒(méi)有提到。 B. 人們要到達(dá)非同一般的教育水平。這是目的，不是原因。C. 人們不能吃老本。這話并沒(méi)有完全講清楚全部原因。

　　4. A. 靈活多變。 Proteus 一詞，原義是指希臘神話中變幻無(wú)常的海神，普羅狄斯，他可以隨心所欲邊成各種形狀。這里指靈活多變。