Importance of a Computer 閱讀練習與講義
Importance of a Computer
As citizens of advanced but vulnerable economies, we must either relentlessly increase the quality of our skills or see our standard of living erode. For the future, competition between nations will be increasingly based on technological skill. Oil and natural resources will still be important, but they no longer will determine a nations economic strength. This will now be a matter of the way people organize them selves and the nature and quality of their work. Japan and the new Japans of East Asia are demonstrating this point in ways that are becoming painfully obvious to the older industrial countries.
There is simply no way to rest on our past achievements. Todays competition renders obsolete huge chunks of what we know and what forces us to innovate. For each individual. Several careers will be customary, and continuing education and retraining will be inescapable. To attain this extraordinary level of education, government, business, schools, and even individuals will turn to technology for the answer.
In industry, processing the information and designing the changes necessary to keep up with the market has meant the growing use of computers. The schools are now following close behind. Already some colleges in the United States are requiting a computer for each student. It is estimated that 500,000 computers are already in use in American high schools and elementary schools. Although there is an abysmal lack of educational software, the number of computers in schools expands rapidly.
The computer is the Proteus of machines, as it takes on a thousand forms and serves a thousand functions. But its truly revolutionary character can be seen in its interactive potential. With advanced computers, learning can be individualized and self-paced. Teachers can become more productive and the entire learning environment enriched.
It is striking how much current teaching is a product of pencil and paper technology. With the computers capacity for simulation and diverse kinds of feedback, all sorts of new possibilities open up for the redesign of curriculums. Seymour Papert, the inventor of the computer language LOGO, believes that concepts in physics and advanced mathematics can be taught in the early grades with the use of computers. On every-day level, word-processing significantly improves the capacity for written expression. In terms of drill and practice, self-paced computer-assisted instruction enables the student to advance rapidlywithout being limited by the conflicting needs of the entire class. In short, once we learn to use this new brain outside the brain, education will never be the same.
Industry, faced with the pressures of a rapidly shifting market, is already designing new methods to retrain its workers, In the United States, a technological university has been set up to teach engineering courses by satellite. And the advances in telecommunications and computational power will dramatically expand the opportunities for national and international efforts in education and training.
Without romanticizing the machine, it is clear that computers uniquely change the potential for equipping todays citizens for unprecedented tasks of the future. Particularly in Europe and the United States, innovation will be the basis for continued prosperity. New competitors are emerging to challenge the old economic arrangements. How successfully we respond will depend on how much we invest in people and how wisely we employ the learning tools of the new technology.
1.What is the decisive factor in future competition between nations?
[A]. Oil. [B]. Technological skill.
[C]. Natural resources [D] Education
2.The main idea of this passage is
[A]. Knowledge of a Computer. [B]. Importance of a Computer.
[C]. Function of Knowledge. [C]. Function of Technology.
3.Why does further study become indispensable?
[A]. People want to so more jobs.
[B]. People want to attain this extraordinary level of education.
[C]. People would not rest on the past achievements.
[D]. What we know becomes obsolete.
4.The word Proteus is closest in meaning to
[A]. flexibility. [B]. diversity. [C]. variety. [D]. multiplicity.
Vocabulary
1. relentlessly 始終不懈的
2. obsolete 過時的，大量的，絕大部分的
3. chunk 大塊，大量的，絕大部分
4. abysmal 無底的，極端的
5. Proteus 希臘神話中海神，能隨意變化。這里指flexible, 靈活多變
6. take on 顯現，顯示
7. LOGO=logotyre 標識語，作為標志的語言
8. rapidly shifting 瞬息萬變的
9. romanticizing 使浪漫化，使幻想化
難句譯注
1. With the computers capacity for simulation and diverse kinds of feedback, all sorts of new possibilities open up for the redesign of curriculums.
[參考譯文] 由于計算機能進行模擬和提供各種反饋，它就為從新設計學校的課程開辟了各種新的可能性。
2. In terms of drill and practice, self-paced computer-assisted instruction enables the student to advance rapidlywithout being limited by the conflicting needs of the entire class.
[結構簡析] 句子結構為主謂賓補，前后各用一個介詞(短語)，前in term of , 后without
[參考譯文] 就練習和實踐來講，借助自行規定速度的計算機輔助的指令使學生突飛猛進而不受全班互相矛盾的需要所限制。
3. Without romanticizing the machine, it is clear that computers uniquely change the potential for equipping todays citizens for unprecedented tasks of the future.
[結構簡析] 邏輯主語句。句前有一狀語成分，without +分詞+名詞的句型。
[參考譯文] 不必用浪漫主義的手法來形容計算機，我們可清楚看到，它是獨一無二的改變今天公民的潛力，使他們能承擔未來的史無前例的任務。
寫作方法與文章大意
文章論述了計算機的重要性，采用一般到具體寫作手法。一開始就提出：作為經濟上先進而又脆弱的公民，必須始終不懈地提高技術素質，否則生活水平就會下降。因為未來國際競爭取決于技術，一切部門必須迎合這一要求。具體到工業和學校必須使用計算機。重點在學校，因為它是培訓新人才的基地。所以三，四，五，七段涉及計算機在學校的種種功能。最后的結論：人才和計算機是決定性因素。
答案祥解
1. B. 工藝技術。這在第一段就講到在未來，國與國之間的競爭越來越以工藝技術為基礎。盡管石油和其他自然資源仍很重要，但它們不會再對一個國家的經濟實力起決定性的作用。A. 石油。C. 自然資源，這兩項不是決定性因素。D. 教育。文內教育作為改革的一個方面，其重點是在學校內應用計算機，來改變教學質量，達到革新人才的目的。并不是直接參與競爭。可參看第2題的答案及譯注。
2. B. 計算機的重要性。整篇文章都顯示了這一點。第三段工業上，信息處理和制定必要的改革計劃以適應市場需要意味著越來越多使用計算機。學校緊跟工業之后第四段計算機是一種變化多端，神通廣大的機器，因為它顯示千種圖象，發揮千種功能。而它的真正的革命性可在其相互作用的潛能中看出。有了先進的計算機，學習可以個別進行，速度自行規定。教師變得更有成效。第五段由于利用計算機，在學校低年級就能教授物理學和高等數學概念。最后一段畫龍點睛地指出：計算機獨一無二地改變著那種今天公民能擔當未來空前任務的潛能新的競爭對手正在崛起，自由的經濟布局提出挑戰。我們如何才能順利的應戰，取決于我們對人的投資的多寡，取決于我們怎么聰慧地應用新技術的學習工具。所以A. 計算機知識。 C. 知識的功能。 D. 技術功能，這三項只是計算機重要性中涉及到的一個方面，不能作為中心思想。
3. D. 因為我們知道的一切變得陳舊。第二段頭幾句話我們決不能吃老本，當今的競爭使我們的大部分知識變得陳舊，非加以革新不可。對每個人來說，他們將慣常從事某幾種職業，并且非繼續學習進修和從新接受訓練不可。都說明進修學習的原因。A. 人們要做更多工作。文內沒有提到。 B. 人們要到達非同一般的教育水平。這是目的，不是原因。C. 人們不能吃老本。這話并沒有完全講清楚全部原因。
4. A. 靈活多變。 Proteus 一詞，原義是指希臘神話中變幻無常的海神，普羅狄斯，他可以隨心所欲邊成各種形狀。這里指靈活多變。
Importance of a Computer
As citizens of advanced but vulnerable economies, we must either relentlessly increase the quality of our skills or see our standard of living erode. For the future, competition between nations will be increasingly based on technological skill. Oil and natural resources will still be important, but they no longer will determine a nations economic strength. This will now be a matter of the way people organize them selves and the nature and quality of their work. Japan and the new Japans of East Asia are demonstrating this point in ways that are becoming painfully obvious to the older industrial countries.
There is simply no way to rest on our past achievements. Todays competition renders obsolete huge chunks of what we know and what forces us to innovate. For each individual. Several careers will be customary, and continuing education and retraining will be inescapable. To attain this extraordinary level of education, government, business, schools, and even individuals will turn to technology for the answer.
In industry, processing the information and designing the changes necessary to keep up with the market has meant the growing use of computers. The schools are now following close behind. Already some colleges in the United States are requiting a computer for each student. It is estimated that 500,000 computers are already in use in American high schools and elementary schools. Although there is an abysmal lack of educational software, the number of computers in schools expands rapidly.
The computer is the Proteus of machines, as it takes on a thousand forms and serves a thousand functions. But its truly revolutionary character can be seen in its interactive potential. With advanced computers, learning can be individualized and self-paced. Teachers can become more productive and the entire learning environment enriched.
It is striking how much current teaching is a product of pencil and paper technology. With the computers capacity for simulation and diverse kinds of feedback, all sorts of new possibilities open up for the redesign of curriculums. Seymour Papert, the inventor of the computer language LOGO, believes that concepts in physics and advanced mathematics can be taught in the early grades with the use of computers. On every-day level, word-processing significantly improves the capacity for written expression. In terms of drill and practice, self-paced computer-assisted instruction enables the student to advance rapidlywithout being limited by the conflicting needs of the entire class. In short, once we learn to use this new brain outside the brain, education will never be the same.
Industry, faced with the pressures of a rapidly shifting market, is already designing new methods to retrain its workers, In the United States, a technological university has been set up to teach engineering courses by satellite. And the advances in telecommunications and computational power will dramatically expand the opportunities for national and international efforts in education and training.
Without romanticizing the machine, it is clear that computers uniquely change the potential for equipping todays citizens for unprecedented tasks of the future. Particularly in Europe and the United States, innovation will be the basis for continued prosperity. New competitors are emerging to challenge the old economic arrangements. How successfully we respond will depend on how much we invest in people and how wisely we employ the learning tools of the new technology.
1.What is the decisive factor in future competition between nations?
[A]. Oil. [B]. Technological skill.
[C]. Natural resources [D] Education
2.The main idea of this passage is
[A]. Knowledge of a Computer. [B]. Importance of a Computer.
[C]. Function of Knowledge. [C]. Function of Technology.
3.Why does further study become indispensable?
[A]. People want to so more jobs.
[B]. People want to attain this extraordinary level of education.
[C]. People would not rest on the past achievements.
[D]. What we know becomes obsolete.
4.The word Proteus is closest in meaning to
[A]. flexibility. [B]. diversity. [C]. variety. [D]. multiplicity.
Vocabulary
1. relentlessly 始終不懈的
2. obsolete 過時的，大量的，絕大部分的
3. chunk 大塊，大量的，絕大部分
4. abysmal 無底的，極端的
5. Proteus 希臘神話中海神，能隨意變化。這里指flexible, 靈活多變
6. take on 顯現，顯示
7. LOGO=logotyre 標識語，作為標志的語言
8. rapidly shifting 瞬息萬變的
9. romanticizing 使浪漫化，使幻想化
難句譯注
1. With the computers capacity for simulation and diverse kinds of feedback, all sorts of new possibilities open up for the redesign of curriculums.
[參考譯文] 由于計算機能進行模擬和提供各種反饋，它就為從新設計學校的課程開辟了各種新的可能性。
2. In terms of drill and practice, self-paced computer-assisted instruction enables the student to advance rapidlywithout being limited by the conflicting needs of the entire class.
[結構簡析] 句子結構為主謂賓補，前后各用一個介詞(短語)，前in term of , 后without
[參考譯文] 就練習和實踐來講，借助自行規定速度的計算機輔助的指令使學生突飛猛進而不受全班互相矛盾的需要所限制。
3. Without romanticizing the machine, it is clear that computers uniquely change the potential for equipping todays citizens for unprecedented tasks of the future.
[結構簡析] 邏輯主語句。句前有一狀語成分，without +分詞+名詞的句型。
[參考譯文] 不必用浪漫主義的手法來形容計算機，我們可清楚看到，它是獨一無二的改變今天公民的潛力，使他們能承擔未來的史無前例的任務。
寫作方法與文章大意
文章論述了計算機的重要性，采用一般到具體寫作手法。一開始就提出：作為經濟上先進而又脆弱的公民，必須始終不懈地提高技術素質，否則生活水平就會下降。因為未來國際競爭取決于技術，一切部門必須迎合這一要求。具體到工業和學校必須使用計算機。重點在學校，因為它是培訓新人才的基地。所以三，四，五，七段涉及計算機在學校的種種功能。最后的結論：人才和計算機是決定性因素。
答案祥解
1. B. 工藝技術。這在第一段就講到在未來，國與國之間的競爭越來越以工藝技術為基礎。盡管石油和其他自然資源仍很重要，但它們不會再對一個國家的經濟實力起決定性的作用。A. 石油。C. 自然資源，這兩項不是決定性因素。D. 教育。文內教育作為改革的一個方面，其重點是在學校內應用計算機，來改變教學質量，達到革新人才的目的。并不是直接參與競爭。可參看第2題的答案及譯注。
2. B. 計算機的重要性。整篇文章都顯示了這一點。第三段工業上，信息處理和制定必要的改革計劃以適應市場需要意味著越來越多使用計算機。學校緊跟工業之后第四段計算機是一種變化多端，神通廣大的機器，因為它顯示千種圖象，發揮千種功能。而它的真正的革命性可在其相互作用的潛能中看出。有了先進的計算機，學習可以個別進行，速度自行規定。教師變得更有成效。第五段由于利用計算機，在學校低年級就能教授物理學和高等數學概念。最后一段畫龍點睛地指出：計算機獨一無二地改變著那種今天公民能擔當未來空前任務的潛能新的競爭對手正在崛起，自由的經濟布局提出挑戰。我們如何才能順利的應戰，取決于我們對人的投資的多寡，取決于我們怎么聰慧地應用新技術的學習工具。所以A. 計算機知識。 C. 知識的功能。 D. 技術功能，這三項只是計算機重要性中涉及到的一個方面，不能作為中心思想。
3. D. 因為我們知道的一切變得陳舊。第二段頭幾句話我們決不能吃老本，當今的競爭使我們的大部分知識變得陳舊，非加以革新不可。對每個人來說，他們將慣常從事某幾種職業，并且非繼續學習進修和從新接受訓練不可。都說明進修學習的原因。A. 人們要做更多工作。文內沒有提到。 B. 人們要到達非同一般的教育水平。這是目的，不是原因。C. 人們不能吃老本。這話并沒有完全講清楚全部原因。
4. A. 靈活多變。 Proteus 一詞，原義是指希臘神話中變幻無常的海神，普羅狄斯，他可以隨心所欲邊成各種形狀。這里指靈活多變。
