【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】 [听力原文]
   As most of us currently are working for this or that kind of modern media, information really is the name of the game in our jobs. In this information era, there are merits and demerits of the so called "information explosion". In my speech, I'd like to address some of the demerits first. I suppose part of the problem today is that there's too much information out there, and not all of it is reliable. It's a complete maze of information and you can easily get lost in it. Actually, Reuters produced a report on this very topic for this forum: information overload. The report had a very appropriate title Dying for Information. It was based on interviews with 1300 managers in different countries, so it was very thorough. The report showed that two thirds of managers suffer from stress and poor health, and one of the main causes is what they're calling 'information anxiety syndrome'. It was caused mostly by the Internet. Apparently, managers are getting so frustrated knowing that the information they need is out there somewhere. But it could take them the rest of their lives to find it, which is driving them crazy! Second, it's ever getting too fast now in these days of computerised world. As a result, people start making mistakes with all this information coming at them. In the financial markets, losing a fortune can be as easy as pressing the wrong button! A few years ago the whole London FTSE 100 Index actually fell by two per cent when some trader typed ￡300 million into his computer instead of ￡30 million. Another example was back in the late 90s, some guy at Salomon Brothers, I think it was, made an even bigger mistake. Sold 850 million pounds' worth of French government bonds—by accident. Well, he leaned on his computer keyboard and sold the lot!
   Of course, there are merits. With fast and easy access, people are much better informed than they used to be. We all enjoy the ubiquitous mobile phone, which connects us with the rest of the world. I had the opportunity to work with the subsidiary of a multinational mobile phone company. The managers of the company regularly benchmark all its national divisions against each other, i.e. comparing individuals' performances, according to different criteria, to see who's outperforming whom. And then, the top performers in each category coach the others on how to get the same results. Actually, it was estimated that just one knowledge-sharing exercise like this boosted the company's sales revenue by $65 million. It's a typical example of what we call 'knowledge management', or KM. Today, the most important asset is the information our employees carry around in their heads: their intellectual capital. If you think about it, so much routine work can be automated, digitised or outsourced, your knowledge—your expertise—is all you've got, really. In fact, KM guru Thomas A. Stewart has calculated that whereas the cost of a product used to be about 80% materials and 20% know-how, now in this information and digital age it is split 70:30 the other way.
   What is the main idea of the talk?