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
70
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
"TheIcarusGirl"isthestoryof8-year-oldJessamyHarrison,nicknamedJess.ThedaughterofaNigerianmotherandanEnglish
Societywasfascinatedbyscienceandscientificthingsinthenineteenthcentury.Greatbreakthroughsinengineering,theuseo
WhichofthefollowingwordsisNOTformedthroughclipping?
1 "Internationalcommunication"iscommunicationbetweenmembersofdifferentcultures.Thisdefinitionissimple.Butt
CommunicatingThroughInternetThehistoryoftheInternetcanbedatedbacktothe1960’s,whentheDepartmentof【1】______
PrimaryFunctionsoftheFamilyThefamilyisabasicunitinasociety.Sociologistshaveclonemuchresearchaboutthefunc
1 InproposedchangestoTitleIX,thefederallawprohibitingsexdiscriminationineducation,theBushadministrationwantst
Thetraditionalpatternofclassroomexperienceatthecollegelevelbringstheprofessorandagroupof20to30studentstoget
细娃盼过年,大人盼开春。儿时,对于大人的盼是不能理解的,但过年,对于我来说,可是一年的大盼头了。过年,不但好玩,且有肉吃,那气氛是迷人的。年一过,又盼日子快些流,好流来又一个春节。在盼中,日子真的流得飞快,转眼上了小学。继而初中,然后高中.最后大学,盼的欲
WeliveinsouthernCaliforniagrowinggrapes,afirstgenerationofvintners,ourhomeadjacenttothevineyardsandthewinery
随机试题
证明:对有向图的顶点适当地编号,可使其邻接矩阵为下三角形且主对角线为全0的充要条件是该图为无环图。
镜影细胞的特点包括
影响访谈调查质量及完成情况的一个主要因素是
男,52岁,劳累后突然出现胸痛,呈压榨性,较剧烈,伴大汗、面色苍白,休息后缓解,但反复发作。此时最有效的办法是
某县的甲公司未经漫画家乙许可,将其创作的一幅漫画作品作为新产品的商标使用,并于2003年3月3日被核准注册。乙认为其著作权受到侵害,与甲发生纠纷。乙应当采取下列哪种方式保护自己的合法权益?(2008年试卷三第22题)
开发区大气环境容量是指满足环境质量目标的前提下污染物的()。
合伙人应当按照合伙协议约定的(),履行出资义务。
金融租赁公司是以资金融通为目的,以租赁业务为载体的非银行金融机构。()
既可以用于证明应聘者在求职申请表中所提供信息的真实性,也可以说明其过去的经历,以及目前的现状,乃至未来发展的可能性的背景材料是()。
材料:刘老师讲到“白求恩不远万里来到中国”时,一个学生突然大声说:“那么远?怎么来?是坐飞机,还是坐轮船?”同学们都笑了起来。刘老师也笑了,想了想,向同学们提出了这样几个问题:白求恩来中国的方式可能有哪几种?“不远万里”又该怎样解释?这体现了白求
最新回复
(
0
)