專八閱讀訓(xùn)練：Importance of a Computer

　　Importance of a Computer

　　As citizens of advanced but vulnerable economies, we musteither relentlessly increase the quality of our skills or see ourstandard of living erode. For the future, competition betweennations will be increasingly based on technological skill. Oil andnatural resources will still be important, but they no longer willdetermine a nation’s economic strength. This will now be amatter of the way people organize them selves and the natureand quality of their work. Japan and the “new Japans “of EastAsia are demonstrating this point in ways that are becoming painfully obvious to the older industrialcountries.

　　There is simply no way to rest on our past achievements. Today’s competition rendersobsolete 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. Toattain this extraordinary level of education, government, business, schools, and even individuals willturn to technology for the answer.

　　In industry, processing the information and designing the changes necessary to keep up withthe 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 isestimated that 500,000 computers are already in use in American high schools and elementaryschools. Although there is an abysmal lack of educational software, the number of computers inschools expands rapidly.

　　The computer is the Proteus of machines, as it takes on a thousand forms and serves athousand 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 becomemore productive and the entire learning environment enriched.

　　It is striking how much current teaching is a product of pencil and paper technology. With thecomputer’s capacity for simulation and diverse kinds of feedback, all sorts of new possibilities openup for the redesign of curriculums. Seymour Papert, the inventor of the computer languageLOGO, believes that concepts in physics and advanced mathematics can be taught in the earlygrades with the use of computers. On every-day level, word-processing significantly improves thecapacity for written expression. In terms of drill and practice, self-paced computer-assistedinstruction enables the student to advance rapidly—without being limited by the conflicting needsof the entire class. In short, once we learn to use this new brain outside the brain, education willnever be the same.

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

　　Without romanticizing the machine, it is clear that computers uniquely change the potential forequipping today’s citizens for unprecedented tasks of the future. Particularly in Europe and theUnited States, innovation will be the basis for continued prosperity.

　　New competitors are emerging to challenge the old economic arrangements. How successfullywe respond will depend on how much we invest in people and how wisely we employ the learningtools 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.

　　答案詳解：

　　1. B. 工藝技術(shù)。這在第一段就講到“在未來，國與國之間的競爭越來越以工藝技術(shù)為基礎(chǔ)。盡管石油和其他自然資源仍很重要，但它們不會再對一個(gè)國家的經(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。并不是直接參與競爭?？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)市場需要意味著越來越多使用計(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)一無二地改變著那種今天公民能擔(dān)當(dāng)未來空前任務(wù)的潛能……新的競爭對手正在崛起，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)，取決于我們對人的投資的多寡，取決于我們怎么聰慧地應(yīng)用新技術(shù)的學(xué)習(xí)工具。”所以

　　A. 計(jì)算機(jī)知識。 C. 知識的功能。 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)今的競爭使我們的大部分知識變得陳舊，非加以革新不可。對每個(gè)人來說，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……。”都說明進(jìn)修學(xué)習(xí)的原因。

　　A. 人們要做更多工作。文內(nèi)沒有提到。 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。

　　詞匯：

　　1. relentlessly 始終不懈的

　　2. obsolete 過時(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)識語，作為標(biāo)志的語言

　　8. rapidly shifting 瞬息萬變的

　　9. romanticizing 使浪漫化，使幻想化

　　難句譯注：

　　1. With the computer’s capacity for simulation and diverse kinds of feedback, all sorts of newpossibilities 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 toadvance rapidly—without being limited by the conflicting needs of the entire class.

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

　　[參考譯文] 就練習(xí)和實(shí)踐來講，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 forequipping today’s citizens for unprecedented tasks of the future.

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)簡析] 邏輯主語句。句前有一狀語成分，without +分詞+名詞的句型。

　　[參考譯文] 不必用浪漫主義的手法來形容計(jì)算機(jī)，我們可清楚看到，它是獨(dú)一無二的改變今天公民的潛力，使他們能承擔(dān)未來的史無前例的任務(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)，否則生活水平就會下降。因?yàn)槲磥韲H競爭取決于技術(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。