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
Science writer Tom Standage draws apt parallels between the telegraph and the gem of late 20th-century technology, the Internet.
Science writer Tom Standage draws apt parallels between the telegraph and the gem of late 20th-century technology, the Internet.
admin
2011-06-29
77
问题
Science writer Tom Standage draws apt parallels between the telegraph and the gem of late 20th-century technology, the Internet. Both systems grew out of the cutting edge science of their time. The telegraph’s land lines, underwater cables, and clicking gadgets reflected the 19th century’s research in electromagnetism. The Internet’s computers and high-speed connections reflect 20th-century computer science, information theory, and materials technology.
But, while gizmos make a global network possible, it takes human cooperation to make it happen. Standage’s insight in this regard adds depth to his technological history. It underscores the relevance to our own time of the struggles of Samuel Morse in America, William Cooke in England, and other telegraph pioneers. They made the technology work efficiently, sold it to a skeptical public, and overcame national and international bureaucratic obstacles. The solutions they found smooth the Internet’s way today.
Consider a couple of technical parallels. Telegrams were sent from one station to the next, where they were received and retransmitted until they reached their destination. Stations along the way were owned by different entities, including national governments. Internet data is sent from one server computer to another that receives and retransmits it until it reaches its destination. Again the computers have a variety of owners.
Then there is the social impact. The Internet is changing the way we do business and communicate. It makes possible virtual communities for individuals scattered around the planet who share mutual interests. Yet important as this may turn out to be, it is affecting a world that was already well connected by radio, television, and other telecommunications. The Associated Press, Reuters, and other news services would have spread the Start report quickly without the Internet. In this respect, the global telegraph network was truly revolutionary. The unprecedented availability of global news in real time gave birth to the Associated Press and Reuters news services. It gave a global perspective to newspapers that had focused on local affairs. A provincialism that geographical isolation had forced on people for millennia was gone forever.
Some prophets naively hailed this as a force for world peace. They predicted that tensions over cultural and ethnic differences would relax as people interacted in real time. Visionaries say the same about the Internet. While communications can smooth this process, they don’t automatically make it happen. As the experience of the past century and a half has shown, peace takes the will to make it work and sustained effort by all parties.
The word "gizmos" (Paragraph 2) most probably means______
选项
A、scientists.
B、devices.
C、pioneers.
D、institutions.
答案
B
解析
题干问:“这个词‘gizmos’最可能的意思是……”,这个词在第2自然段的第1句,起到承上启下的作用,所归纳的是上段的电讯设施和装置以及下一段的网络、电报和科学家的发现和发明;因此选项B“设备”为正确选项。而选项A“科学家”,选项C“先驱者”和选项D“机构”都不是这个词上下文的含义。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/be6O777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
ThehistoryofWesternmusicprobablybeginswiththemusicoftheChristianChurch.ButallthroughtheMiddleAgesandevento
Therearesome______betweentheirtwodescriptions;wearepuzzledwhichweshouldbelieve.
ThereisnothinginscienceAstalingthatitisgoodtoattempttosavehumanlives.SavingHumanlivesBseemstobeaCgenerall
Atthefall2001SocialScienceHistoryAssociationconventioninChicago,theCrimeandJusticenetworksponsoredaforumonth
Atthefall2001SocialScienceHistoryAssociationconventioninChicago,theCrimeandJusticenetworksponsoredaforumonth
Atthefall2001SocialScienceHistoryAssociationconventioninChicago,theCrimeandJusticenetworksponsoredaforumonth
Accordingtothelatestreport,consumerconfidence______abreathtaking15pointslastmonth,toitslowestlevelin9years.
Inthefollowingpassage,PhilipRothistalkingtoafriend,Joanna,abouthisfather."DidIevertellyouwhathappenedwh
Ⅱ.Direction:ReadthefollowingpassagecarefullyandthenexplaininyourownEnglishtheexactmeaningofthenumberedandun
Computersarepermeatingalmosteveryaspectofourlives,includingmanyareaspreviouslyuntouchedbytechnology.【B1】Butunl
随机试题
《全国税收实施要则》是我国第一部税收基本法。()
在中国历史上,从封建社会起,可以把外国人在中国的民事法律地位划分为几个不同的时期:_____;_____;_____;_____。
A.凝固性坏死B.液化性坏死C.湿性坏疽D.干性坏疽动脉阻塞但静脉回流通畅的下肢易发生
()是实现我国宏观经济管理目标和任务的主要调控手段。
FNPV=0表明该项目在计算期内所获得的收益额()。
当梁中配有按计算需要的纵向受压钢筋时,箍筋应符合的规定有()。
《白沙细乐》是我国()族的传统音乐。
记得在一个寒冬的早晨,同学们在上早读。我刚到校,来到班上。这时,一个学生走进教室。我大声说:“××,你为什么又迟到?把手放下站好……”忽然,我听到有人叽咕:“……自己也迟到……”一个女同学正在向旁边的同学使眼色,脸上露出不服气的神情。我心头一惊,正要发作的
在手机和电子信箱越来越便捷的当下社会,能够收到一封手写的信件已是一种幸运,能够收到一封文辞醇美朴实、书法俊逸洒脱的书信,简直就是一种奢望。传统尺牍信札中所包含的博大精深的中华文明,似乎正渐行渐远,使即使不算老派的中年人,也不免感到一丝惆怅。这段文字最恰当的
【《赫梯法典》】
最新回复
(
0
)