The Challenge of Technology and Equity
Information technology is influencing the way many of us live and work today. We use the Internet to look and apply for jobs, shop, conduct research, make airline reservations, and explore areas of interest. We use email and the Internet to communicate instantaneously with friends and business associates around the world. Computers are commonplace in homes and the workplace.
Although the number of internet users is growing exponentially each year, most of the world's population does not have access to computers or the Internet. Only 6 percent of the population in developing countries are connected to telephones. Although more than 94 percent of U.S. households have telephones, only 42 percent have personal computers at home and 26 percent have Internet access. The lack of what most of us would consider a basic communications necessity--the telephone--does not occur just in developing nations. On some native American reservations only 60 percent of the residents have a telephone. The move to wireless connections may eliminate the need for telephone lines, but it does not remove the barrier to equipment costs.
Who has Internet access? Fifty percent of the children in urban households with an income over $ 75,000 have Internet access, compared with 2 percent of the children in low-income, rural households. Nearly half of college-educated people have Internet access, compared to 6 percent of those with only some high school education. Forty percent of households with two parents have access; 15 percent of female, single-parent households do. Thirty percent of white households, 11 percent of black households, and 13 percent of Hispanic households have access. Teens and children are the two fastest-growing segments of Internet users. The digital divide between the populations who have access to the Internet and information technology tools is based on income, race, education, household type, and geographic location. Only 16 percent of the rural poor, rural and central city minorities, young householders, and single-parent female households are connected.
Another problem that exacerbates these disparities is that African-Americans, Hispanics, and native Americans hold few of the jobs in information technology. Women hold about 20 percent of these jobs and are receiving fewer than 30 percent of the computer science degrees. The result is that women and members of the most oppressed ethnic groups are not eligible for the jobs with the highest salaries at graduation. Baccalaureate candidates with degrees in computer science were offered the highest salaries of all new college graduates in 1998 at $ 44,949.
Do similar disparities exist in schools? More than 90 percent of all schools in the country are wired with at least one Internet connection. The number of classrooms with Internet connections differs by the income level of students. Using the percentage of students who are eligible for free lunches at a school to determine income level, we see that nearly twice as many of the schools with more affluent students have wired classrooms as those with high concentrations of low-income students.
Access to computers and the Internet will be important in reducing disparities between groups.

单选题 Why does the author mention the telephone in paragraph 2?
A. To demonstrate that even technology like the telephone is not available to all.
B. To argue that basic telephone service is a first step to using the Internet.
C. To contrast the absence of telephone usage with that of Internet usage.
D. To describe the development of communications from telephone to Internet.

单选题 Which of the sentences below best expresses the information in the highlighted statement in the passage? The other choices change the meaning: or leave out important information.
A. Most of the people in the world use the Internet now because the number of computers has been increasing every year.
B. The number of people who use computers and the Internet is increasing every year, but most people in the world still do not have connections.
C. The number of computers that can make the Internet available to most of the people in the world is not increasing fast enough.
D. The Internet is available to most of the people in the world, even though they don't have their own computer terminals.

单选题 The word "residents" in the passage is closest in meaning to ______.
A. homes B. towns C. people D. locations

单选题 The word "eliminate" in the passage is closest in meaning to ______.
A. accept B. dispute C. define D. remove

单选题 Based on information in paragraph 3, which of the following best explains the term "digital divide"?
A. The number of Internet users in developing nations.
B. The disparity in the opportunity to use the Internet.
C. Differences in socioeconomic levels among Internet users.
D. Segments of the population with Internet access.

单选题 Why does the author give details about the percentages of Internet users in paragraph 3?
A. To prove that there are differences in opportunities among social groups.
B. To argue for more Internet connections at all levels of society.
C. To suggest that improvements in Internet access are beginning to take place.
D. To explain why many people have Internet connections now.

单选题 According to paragraph 3, which of the following households would be least likely to have access to the Internet?
A. A household with one parent.
B. A black household.
C. A Hispanic household.
D. A household with both parents.

单选题 The word "those" in the passage refers to ______.
A. classrooms B. students C. schools D. concentrations

单选题 According to paragraph 4, why are fewer women and minorities employed in the field of computer technology?
A. They are not admitted to the degree programs.
B. They do not possess the educational qualifications.
C. They do not have an interest in technology.
D. They prefer training for jobs with higher salaries.

单选题 The word "concentrations" in the passage is closest in meaning to ______.
A. protections B. numbers C. confidence D. support

单选题 What can be inferred from paragraph 6 about Internet access?
A. Better computers need to be designed.
B. Schools should provide newer computers for students.
C. The cost of replacing equipment is a problem.
D. Technology will be more helpful in three years.

单选题 Look at the four squares, , , and

填空题 Directions: An introduction for a short summary of the passage appears below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that mention the most important points in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not included in the passage or are minor points from the passage. This question is worth 2 points.
The availability of technology is unequal throughout the world.
·______
·______
·______

A. Currently, only about 10 percent of all the schools in the United States are not wired for Internet access.
B. Less affluent schools have fewer Internet connections, and minorities as well as women hold fewer computer science degrees.
C. Children and teenagers are the two fastest-growing segments of the population gaining access to the Internet.
D. Internet access is limited by education, income, geographic location, race, and the age and marital status of the head of household.
E. Computer science graduates can earn almost $ 50,000.

F. Access to the Internet is one way to encourage equality among diverse groups