首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
It was the English scientist-philosopher Francis Bacon who said, "Knowledge itself is power. "This is an important dictum, but i
It was the English scientist-philosopher Francis Bacon who said, "Knowledge itself is power. "This is an important dictum, but i
admin
2011-01-02
58
问题
It was the English scientist-philosopher Francis Bacon who said, "Knowledge itself is power. "This is an important dictum, but it has never been so true as today, with the advent of the Information Age.
At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, a country’s comparative advantage depended largely on the natural resources it was endowed by Nature. People had to learn rudimentary skills when they joined manufacturing industries. They were called blue-collar workers, and they formed the majority, directed by a minority of managers.
After World War II, the invention and increasing use of the microchip brought about great changes in the structure of man’s social production. While the primary industry (agriculture) and the secondary industry (manufacturing) remain to be important, there have been rapid advances in the tertiary industry (services). And there is now talk of a fourth industry, the information industry.
In the industrialized world, that is, in the US, Europe and Japan, about two thirds of jobs are now in the service sector, and the number is on the rise. Of course, there are roughly two different groups of job-holders in the service sector itself. The jobs in the first group, such as retail sales, food services, trucking and janitorial services, which are unskilled occupations, are low-wage, while in the second group are high-paid investment banker, computer programmers, high technicians, etc. , who are able to solve complicated problems by applying information. And the second group of service job-holders represent the future in economic development.
It is argued that in future people should no longer be classified as white collar or blue collar, but rather as knowledge workers and non-knowledge workers. The knowledge workers cannot only read and write and perform rote tasks, they must meet the basic requirement of computer literacy and constantly think up new ways to meet the changing demands of increasing productivity.
More and more people are learning to be competent in using personal computers, digital communications and factory robots. Breakthroughs in bio-engineering, artificial intelligence, new materials, and still unimagined fields of technology and management will greatly advance productivity. It is people with the most advanced knowledge who will take the lead. Systems analysts, computer scientists and programmers, management analysts and inventors and developers are in most demand in the industrialized countries.
In manufacturing itself, for example, there is a move away from standardized production and toward more flexible, customized manufacturing. Hence the growth of a large number of small factories, which are owned by a few multi-skilled and ever-retrained worker-engineer-managers, and equipped with precision, reset table machines working special materials like stainless steel and titanium. They are able to produce new-designed precision turned parts at the bidding of customers, often bigger factories, and their managers work with their hands and brains at the same time.
The only way to greater knowledge is through education and training. Knowledge, as much as capital, material resources and sweat, has become an essential factor of production. The educational system of a society ought to enable its members to make a rapid transition to the above-described knowledge-based work. Otherwise, that society will inevitably lag behind.
It has been the way of developed countries to automate out of existence low-productivity factories and jobs; or transfer them to a country where costs are lower. In other words, the developed countries have been trying to keep higher wage jobs, while moving lower wage jobs to the developing countries. However, in the great worldwide movement to the Information Age, if a developed country should fail to bring up-to date its system of education and training, it may not be able to continue growing richer.
So now we come to understand Bacon’s dictum better. Knowledge itself is power. The challenge facing every country is to resuscitate its investment and training. If the intellectual capacity is not there, the investments won’t come. And the raw materials of the new economy-information and knowledge--will be of a nation’s own making.
According to the passage, in the Information Age, a nation will develop faster than the others if it has
选项
A、an abundance of natural resources
B、a highly-developed service industry
C、a better-adjusted educational system
D、many higher wage jobs
答案
C
解析
第八段最后两句的意思是:一个社会的教育体系应该使其社会成员能迅速转移到从事上述知识型工作,否则这个社会注定会落后。反过来说,如果一个国家的教育体系更能适应其发展需要,它就会比其他国家发展得快。因此C正确。A不正确,因为在信息时代,原材料丰富已不是优势。B和C也不正确,因为发达的服务行业和大量的高收人工作是一个国家发达的结果而不是原因。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/BdlO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Justas【1】______isfamousforthetango,soAmerican【1】______iswell-knownforjazz,atypicalAmericaninvention
Peopledonotanalyzeeveryproblemtheymeet.Sometimestheytrytorememberasolutionfromthelasttimetheyhadasimilarp
PrimaryFunctionsoftheFamilyThefamilyisabasicunitinasociety.Sociologistshaveclonemuchresearchaboutthefunc
A、websetB、educationalschoolC、InternetportalD、foreigncompanyC
"Ido."ToAmericansthosetwowordscarrygreatmeaning.Theycanevenchangeyourlife.Especiallyifyousaythematyourown
WhichofthefollowingisNOTafreemorpheme?
WhenaScottishresearchteamstartledtheworldbyrevealing3monthsagothatithadclonedanadultsheep,PresidentClinton
A、School.B、Cleanhouse.C、TheEnvironmentalProtectionAgency’sheadquarters.D、Noneoftheabove.D
InformationSuperhighwayatWorkThechangesinhowwecommunicatemakeitnecessarytochangehowwethinkaboutcommunicati
A、EasternEuropeB、NorthernEuropeC、WesternEuropeD、SouthernEuropeA
随机试题
用高级语言编写的源程序转换成目标程序,是通过()来实现的。
根据重烃含量分类,一般情况下气体相对密度在0.58~1.6之间的多为()。
物流
腰椎间盘突出症引起坐骨神经痛,向下肢放射和典型部位是
大环内脂类抗菌药通常对下列哪类细菌无效?()
施工水泥混凝土路面时,应()。
某土方工程直接工程费为300万元,以直接费为计算基础计算建筑安装工程费,其中措施费为直接工程费的5%,间接费费率为8%,利润率为4%,综合计税系数为3.41%,则该工程的建筑安装工程含税造价为( )万元。
材料1:建立新型农村合作医疗制度,是新形势下党中央、国务院为切实解决农业、农村、农民问题,统筹城乡、区域、经济社会协调发展的重大举措,对于提高农民健康保障水平,减轻医疗负担,解决因病致贫、因病返贫问题,具有重要作用。我国现阶段在农村医疗改革方面做了很多努力
立案监督的内容是公安机关作出的立案决定。()
Thefollowingisajobadvertisement.Afterreadingit,youshouldcompletetheinformationbyfillingintheblanksmarked46t
最新回复
(
0
)