To live in the United States today is to gain anappreciation for Dahrendorf’s assertion thatsocial change exists everywhere. Technology, theapplication of knowledge for practical ends, is amajor source of social change.
Yet we would do well to remind ourselves that technology is a human creation; it does not existnaturally.A spear or a robot is as much a cultural as a physical object. Until humans use aspear to hunt game or a robot to produce machine parts, neither is much more than a solidmass of matter. For a bird looking for an object on which to rest, a spear or robot serves thepurpose equally well. The explosion of the Challenger space shuttle and the Russian nuclearaccident at Chernobyl drive home the human quality of technology;they provide cases in whichwell-planned systems suddenly went haywire(變得混亂) and there was no ready hand to setthem right. Since technology is a human creation, we are responsible for what is done with it. Pessimists worry that we will use our technology eventually to blow our world and ourselves topieces. But they have been saying this for decades. and so far we have managed to surviveand even flourish. Whether we will continue to do so in the years ahead remains uncertain. Clearly, the impact of technology on our lives deserves a closer examination.
Few technological developments have had a greater impact on our lives than the computerrevolution. Scientists and engineers have designed specialized machines that can do thetasks that once only people could e are those who assert that the switch to aninformation-based economy is in the same camp as other great historical milestones, particularly the Industrial Revolution. Yet when we ask why the Industrial Revolution was arevolution, we find that it was not the machines. The primary reason why it was arevolutionary is that it led to great social change. It gave rise to mass production and, through mass production, to a society in which wealth was not confined to the few.
In somewhat similar fashion, computers promise to revolutionize the struccure of American fife, particularly as they free the human mind and open new possibilities in knowledge andcommunication. The Industrial Revolution supplemented and replaced the muscles of humansand animals by mechanical methods. The computer extends this development to supplementand replace some aspects of the mind of human beings by electronic methods. n is thecapacity of the computer for solving problems and making decisions that represents itsgreatest potential and that poses the greatest difficulties in predicting the impact on society.
1. A spear or a robot has the quality oftechnology only when it_____________.
A) is used both as a cultural and a physical object
B) serves different purposes equally well
C) is utilized by man
D) can be of use co both man and animal
2. The examples of the Challenger and Chernobyl cited by the author serve to showthat_________________.
A) if not given close examination, technology could be used to destroy our world
B) technology is a human creation, so we are responsible for it
C) technology usually goes wrong, if not controlled by man
D) being a human creation. technology is liable to error
3. According to the author. the introduction of the computer is a revolution mainlybecause__________________.
A) the computer has revolutionized the workings of the human mind
B) the computer can do the tasks that could only be done by people before
C) it has helped to switch to an information technology
D) it has a great potential impact on society
4. By using the phrase "the human quality of technology" (Line 7, Para. 2), the authorrefersto the fact that technology_______________.
A) has a great impact on human life
B) has some characteristics of human nature
C) can replace some aspects of the human mind
D) does not exist in the natural world
5. The passage is based on the author's_______________.
A) keen insight into the nature of technology
B) prejudiced criticism of the role of the Industrial Revolution
C) cautious analysis of the replacement of the human mind by computers
D) exaggerated description of the negative consequences of technology
1.長矛和機器人只有在什麼時候纔有技術含量?
A)它們被用作文化和物理實體的時候。
B)它們能同樣滿足不同的需要的時候。
C)它們被人類所利用的時候。
D)它們可以被人類和動物所利用的時候。
[C]第2段第3句提到，除非人們用矛去捕獲獵物或用機器人去生產機器零件，否則二者都只不過是硬梆梆的物體而已。也就是說只有這些東西爲人類所用的時候，它們才具有科技含量，C正確。其他選項利用原文個別信息，胡亂拼湊而成，不符題意。
2.作者引述了挑戰者和切諾比的例子是爲了論證_________________。
A)如果技術沒有經過嚴密的檢查，就告被用來摧毀我們的世界
B)技術是人類創造出來的，所以我們應該對它們負責
C)技術如果不受人類控制的話通常會出問題
D)技術是人類創造出來的，容易出錯
[D]根據題幹關鍵詞the Challenger and Chernobyl查找到第2段第5句。該句提到，美國挑戰者號航天飛機的爆炸以及俄羅斯切爾諾貝利核泄露事件徹底暴露了技術的人爲性特徵。也就是說技術是人爲創造出來的，容易出問題,D正確。B雖然文中有所提及，卻不是作者舉例要說明的問題，A.C在原文中找不到依據。
3.作者認爲，電腦的引入是一種革命，主要的原因是____。
A)電腦大大改變了人類的工作
B)電腦現在可以做以前只能由人來做的工作
C)電腦幫助促成了信息技術
D)電腦對社會有很大的潛在影響力
[D]第3段倒數第2句提到，工業革命之所以是一場革命，原因不在於機器的革新，主要原因是工業革命引發了巨大的社會變化，因此D正確。其他三個選項爲這一變化的某一具體表現，不夠全面，因此排除。
4.作者使用了“技術的人爲性”(第2段第7行)，指的是技術____。
A)能對人類生活產生很大的'影響
B)有着一些人性的特點
C)可以取代人類思維的某些方面
D)在自然世界中不存在
[B]根據題幹查找到第2段，本詞組所在句以兩個技術事件說明技術的人爲性特徵，即技術同人性一樣，存在弱點，B正確。
5.文章是建立在作者____的基礎之上的。
A)對於技術本質的精闢洞察力
B)對於工業革命作用帶有偏見的批判
C)對幹人類思維被電腦取代的謹慎分析
D)對技術的負面影響的誇張描述
[A]本題可用排除法。B中的“批判”，C中的“人類思維被電腦取代”在原文找不到作者的相關觀點;雖然文中提及科技帶來負面的東西，卻沒有對技術的負面影響進行誇大的描述，此三項均可排除，A正確。