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  3. The idea is as audacious as it altruistic: provide a personal laptop computer to every schoolchild—particularly in the poorest p

The idea is as audacious as it altruistic: provide a personal laptop computer to every schoolchild—particularly in the poorest p

admin2011-04-12  83
问题     The idea is as audacious as it altruistic: provide a personal laptop computer to every schoolchild—particularly in the poorest parts of the world. The first step to making that happen is whittling the price down to $100. And that is the goal of a group of American techno-gurus led by Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of the fabled MIT Media Lab. When he unveiled the idea at the World Economic Forum in January it seemed wildly ambitious. But surprisingly, it is starting to become a reality. Mr. Negroponte plans to display the first prototype in November at a UN summit. Four countries—Brazil, Egypt, Thailand and South Africa—have said they will buy over 1 m units each. Production is due to start in late 2006.
    How is the group, called One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), able to create a laptop so inexpensively? It is mainly a matter of cleverly combining existing technologies in new ways. The laptop will have a basic processor made by AMD, flash memory instead of a hard disk, will be powered by batteries or a hand- crank, and will run open-source software. The $100 laptop also puts all the components behind the screen, not under the keyboard, so there is no need for an expensive hinge. So far, OLPC has got the price down to around $130.
    But good news for the world’s poor, may not be such great news for the world’s computer manufacturers. The new machine is not simply of interest in the developing world. On September 22nd, Mitt Romney, the governor of Massachusetts, said the state should purchase one for every secondary-school student, when they become available.
    Sales to schools are just one way in which the $100 laptop could change the computer industry more broadly. By depressing prices and fuelling the trend for "good-enough computing", where customers upgrade less often, it could eventually put pressure on the world’s biggest PC-makers.
The creation of the cheap laptop mentioned in the text relies on______.
选项 A、hi-tech innovation by experienced scientists
B、novel means of combination
C、basic processors manufactured by AMD
D、the state-of-art facilities and equipment
答案B
解析 本题是一道细节题，测试考生识别理解问答句的能力。本题的答案信息在原文第二段的首句和第二句。第二段首句设问：“OLPC如何能生产出如此廉价的电脑?”第二段第二句回答：“主要是通过以新的方法把现存的技术巧妙地结合起来”(It is mainly a matter of cleverly combining existing technologies in new ways)。可见，本题的答案是B“novel means of combination”(新的组合方法)。
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