单选题
Technological Utopia for Developing Countries

Cyberspace (网络空间), data superhighways, multimedia for those who have seen the future, the linking of computers, television and telephones will change our lives forever. Yet for all the talk of a forthcoming technological Utopia (乌托邦) ,little attention has been given to the implications of these developments for the poor. As with all new high technology, while the West concerns itself with the "how", the question of "for whom" is put aside once again.
Economists are only now realizing the full extent to which the communications revolution has affected the world economy. Information technology allows the extension of trade across geographical and industrial boundaries, and transnational corporations take full advantage of it. Terms of trade exchange, interest rates and money movements are more important than the production of goods. The electronic economy made possible by information technology allows the haves to increase their control on global markets with destructive impact on the have-nots.
For them the result is instability. Developing countries which rely on the production of a small range of goods for export are made to feel like small parts in the international economic machine. As "futures" (期货) are traded on computer screens, developing countries simply have less and less control of their destinies.
So what are the options for regaining control? One alternative is for developing countries to buy in the latest computers and telecommunications themselves—so-called "development communications" modernization. Yet this leads to long-term dependency and perhaps permanent constraints on developing countries" economies.
Communications technology is generally exported from the U.S., Europe or Japan; the patents, skills and ability to manufacture remain in the hands of a few industrialized countries. It is also expensive, and imported products and services must therefore be bought on credit—credit usually provided by the very countries whose companies stand to gain.
Furthermore, when new technology is introduced there is often too low a level of expertise to exploit it for native development. This means that while local elites, foreign communities and subsidiaries of transnational corporations may benefit, but not developing countries.
单选题 From the passage we know that the development of high technology is in the interests of ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 第一段第二、三句表明,所有对即将到来的科技乌托邦的说法,都没有关注贫穷国家的发展,随着高新科技的发展,西方国家只关注本身从中获益,“为谁”这个问题再度被搁置。由此可知,高新科技的发展对富裕国家有益。
单选题 It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 根据第一段第二句可知,贫穷国家的利益没有得到足够的考虑。
单选题 Why does the author say that the electronic economy may have a destructive impact on developing countries?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 根据第二段最后一句可知,信息革命将电子经济变得可能,而电子经济会让富裕国家增加对全球市场的控制,会对贫穷国家带来毁灭性影响。
单选题 The development of modern communications technology in developing countries may ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 第四段最后一句中的“this”指的是前一句中的“"development communications" modernization”。这句话表明,现代通信技术的发展会让发展中国家的经济产生长期依赖,甚至是永久的限制。由此不难推测,发展中国家发展现代通信技术,可能会以丧失经济独立性为代价。
单选题 The author"s attitude toward the communications revolution is ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 通读文章可知,作者批评了通信革命对发展中国家造成的不利影响。positive积极的;critical批评的;indifferent冷漠的;tolerant宽容的。故选B。