A great deal of attention is being paid today to the so-called digital divide—the division of the world into the info（information） rich and the info poor. And that divide does exist today. My wife and I lectured about this looming danger twenty years ago. What was less visible then, however, were the new, positive forces that work against the digital divide. There are reasons to be optimistic.
There are technological reasons to hope the digital divide will narrow. As the Internet becomes more and more commercialized, it is in the interest of business to universalize access—after all, the more people online, the more potential customers there are. More and more governments, afraid their countries will be left behind, want to spread Internet access. Within the next decade or two, one to two billion people on the planet will be netted together. As a result, I now believe the digital divide will narrow rather than widen in the years ahead. And that is very good news because the Internet may well be the most powerful tool for combating world poverty that we've ever had.
Of course, the use of the Internet isn't the only way to defeat poverty. And the Internet is not the only tool we have. But it has enormous potential.
To take advantage of this tool, some impoverished countries will have to get over their outdated anti-colonial prejudices with respect to foreign investment. Countries that still think foreign investment is an invasion of their sovereignty might well study the history of infrastructure （the basic structural foundations of a society） in the United States. When the United States built its industrials infrastructure, it didn't have the capital to do so. And that is why America's Second Wave infrastructure—including roads, harbors, highways, ports and so on—were built with foreign investment. The English, the Germans, the Dutch and the French were investing in Britain's former colony. They financed them. Immigrant Americans built them. Guess who owns them now? The Americans. I believe the same thing would be true in places like Brazil or anywhere else for that matter. The more foreign capital you have helping you build your Third Wave infrastructure, which today is an electronic infrastructure, the better off you're going to be. That doesn't mean lying down and becoming fooled, or letting foreign corporations run uncontrolled. But it does mean recognizing how important they can be in building the energy and telecom infrastructures needed to take full advantage of the Internet.
55. Digital divide is something ________.
[A] getting worse because of the Internet
[B] the rich countries are responsible for
[C] the world must guard against
[D] considered positive today
56. Governments attach importance to the Internet because it ________.
[A] offers economic potentials
[B] can bring foreign funds
[C] can soon wipe out world poverty
[D] connects people all over the world
57. The writer mentioned the case of the United States to justify the policy of ________.
[A] providing financial support overseas
[B] preventing foreign capital's control
[C] building industrial infrastructure
[D] accepting foreign investment
58. It seems that now a country's economy depends much on ________.
[A] how well-developed it is electronically
[B] whether it is prejudiced against immigrants
[C] whether it adopts America's industrial pattern
[D] how much control it has over foreign corporations
重点词汇：
divide /di5vaid/（分开；分配；除）是division /di5viVEn/（分开；部门；除法）的动词形式。The only way on earth to multiply happiness is to divide it.世上唯一能使幸福成倍增加的方法是将其分作几份。Grief can take care of itself， but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.悲伤只需其自身就足够了，然而要获取一件乐事的充分价值，你就必须找人分享。Instead of this absurd division into sexes they ought to class people as static and dynamic.为取代性别这种荒唐的区别，他们应该把人分成静态与动态两种。
loom /lu：m/（v.隐约出现；织布机）可看作loo+m，loo即数字100，m即国际单位米，能织出100米长的布的织布机；另外布在织成以前是透明的，所以布后面的东西是可以隐约出现的。
commercialize /kE5mE：FElaiz/（使商业化）即commercial+ize，commercial（商业的）←commerc（e）+ial，-ize动词后缀使……化。Good manners are the settled medium of social， as specie is of commercial life.礼貌是社会生活固定的中介，就像硬币之于商业生活。commercialism—doing well that which should not be done at all商业主义-把根本不该做的事做得很好。
universalize /7ju：ni5vE：sElaiz/（使普遍化）即universal+ize，universal（宇宙的；普遍的）←univers（e）+al，-ize动词后缀使……化。Envy is the most universal passion.忌妒是最普遍的情感。universe—merely a fleeting idea in God's mind—a pretty uncomfortable thought， particularly if you're just made a down payment on a house宇宙-不过是上帝头脑里一个稍纵即逝的想法-一种让人很不舒服的想法，特别是在你刚预付过房子的定金之后。
impoverish /im5pCvEriF/（使贫穷；使枯竭）←im加强前缀+pover词根+ish动词后缀；同根词：poverty /5pCvEti/（贫穷）←pover+ty名词后缀。
prejudice /5predVudis/（偏见v.n.损害）即pre+jud+ice，pre-前缀在前，jud词根判断（=judge），-ice后缀，在弄清事实之前就做出判断→偏见，而偏见是会招致损害的。Prejudice is the child of ignorance.偏见是无知的产物。prejudice—①an unwillingness to be confused with facts②a device enabling you to form opinions without getting the facts偏见-①不愿为事实所困惑②使你能在不了解事实的情况下形成观点的一种装置。
respect /ris5pekt/（v.n.尊敬）即re+spect，re-反复，spect词根看，反复看一个人是对其表示尊敬；with respect to关于。All the great religions are fundamentally equal. We must have innate respect for other religions as we have for our own.一切伟大的宗教在根本上都是等同的。我们对于其它宗教，必须像对自己的宗教一样怀着天然的敬意。To respect a person is not possible without knowing him.不了解一个人却要尊敬他，那是不可能的。respect—to admire from a distance尊敬-从远处赞赏。
sovereignty /5sCvrinti/（主权；主权国家）即sover+（r）eign+ty，sover（=over）在上，reign统治，-ty名词后缀，在上面统治；sovereign（统治的；统治者）←sover+（r）eign.Men in great places are thrice servants： servants of the sovereign or state； servants of fame； and servants of business.身居高位者是三重仆人：统治者或国家的仆人，名声的仆人，以及事务的仆人。
infrastructure /5infrE5strQktFE/（基础设施）即infra+structure，infra-前缀在下，structure（v.n.构造）。以infra-为前缀的词：infrahuman（类人猿的；类人生物）←infra+human；infrared（红外线的；红外线）←infra+red.
telecom /5telEkCm/（电信）即telecommunication.
responsible /ris5pCnsEbl/（负责的；可靠的；责任重大的）即respons（e）+ible，response回应（见2001年Passage 1），-ible能……的，能得到回应的→负责的。An idea isn't responsible for the people who believe in it.一种思想对信仰它的人并不负有责任。To be a man is， precisely， to be responsible.确切地说，做男人就是负责任。
in the interest of为了……的利益；may well很有可能；lie down屈从。
难句解析：
①A great deal of attention is being paid today to the so-called digital divide—the division of the world into the info（information） rich and the info poor.▲本句的结构较简单，抓住attention is being paid to the digital divide就可以了，注意破折号后面的名词短语实际上是对digital divide一词的定义。
△so-called所谓的，注意要学会利用如破折号、括号、逗号等标点符号来定位一个词的补充说明成分。
②As the Internet becomes more and more commercialized， it is in the interest of business to universalize access—after all， the more people online， the more potential customers there are.▲注意主句是It is in the interest of business to do sth.，前面as引导的是伴随状语，而非原因状语，要理解为随着，而非因为。后面破折号的部分是进一步解释说明前面的主句。
△注意几个词的含义：commercialized商业化；universalize access普及上网条件。
③To take advantage of this tool， some impoverished countries will have to get over their outdated anti-colonial prejudices with respect to foreign investment.▲本句的主干是some impoverished countries will have to get over their outdated anti-colonial prejudices.前面的不定式可以被看成是一个目的状语。
△tool指上文的internet；impoverished贫困的；get over克服，摒弃；with respect to在某个方面。
④The more foreign capital you have helping you build your Third Wave infrastructure， which today is an electronic infrastructure， the better off you're going to be.▲此处用了the more…… the more……的句型。逗号之间的which today is an electronic infrastructure是Third Wave infrastructure的非限定性定语从句。
△capital资金；Third Wave第三次浪潮，指后工业时代，即信息时代；infrastructure基础设施；better off的原形是well off家境好，富裕。
55. [C]意为：全世界应该警惕。
第一段第一句对数字分化下了一个定义。其后作者提到，他和妻子20年前就在讲演中谈到这种随时将至的危险，这里，this looming danger当指the digital divide，即在世界范围内产生信息富裕和信息贫乏的两类国家。当时，作者就认为前途是乐观的，因为早在20年前就已经出现了一些防止产生这种分化的积极因素，只是当时这些因索还不太明显。同时，在第二段，作者提到了网络的普及使这种分化正得到缩小。可见，在作者看来，这种分化是不好的现象，而网络的普及能帮助世界战胜贫困（combating world poverty， defear poverty）。
有关选择项A和D，参阅本题对选择项C的解释。
B不对。该选择项表达的内容本文没有提到。
56. [A]
第二段提到，随着国际互联网越来越趋于商业化，普及上网会对商家有利，因为上网的人越多，潜在的顾客人数就越多，因此，许多国家的政府惟恐落后于形势，想要扩大上网率。第二段最后一句指出，数字分化的缩小是一个好现象，因为，国际互联网很可能是我们迄今所拥有的战胜贫困的最强有力的工具。所谓战胜贫困即指使这些贫穷国家富裕起来。第三段第三句则直截了当地指出，国际互联网有巨大的（经济）发展潜力。
B意为：可以带来海外投资。在第四段，作者建议贫穷国家在利用外资方面放弃一些过时的偏见-如殖民、侵犯主权等概念，积极利用外资建立自己的电子基础设施，以便充分利用国际互联网提供的机遇，走向富裕（better off）。这里的逻辑并不是互联网带来外资，而是利用外资发展网络工程。
C意为：能很快消灭贫困。虽然作者提到了国际互联网的利用可能是战胜贫困的工具，但这仅仅是一种潜在的力量，把这种力量转化为现实则取决于不同国家的努力。
D不对。正像上面所分析的，政府关注国际互联网是因为它为经济的发展带来的巨大潜力，而不仅仅是它将世界连成一片这个事实。
57. [D]
在第四段，美国和巴西的例子都用以说明抛弃过去的在利用外资上的错误观念，充分利用外资建立电子基础设施的重要性，因为，哪个国家在建设第三次浪潮（指目前正在进行的信息产业革命）的基础设施上利用外资多，哪个国家就将变得更富裕（见第四段倒数第三句）。
A意为；向海外提供资金援助。
B意为：防止外资的控制。第四段最后两句指出，利用外资并不意味着缴械或受愚弄，也不意味着放任外国公司肆意妄为，但是这的确意味着：对于利用外资建设能源和电信基础设施的重要性人们已有所认识，而这些设施是充分利用国际互联网的基础。
C意为：建立工业基础设施。由以上的分析可以看出，本文提到的不是建立工业基础设施的问题。
58. [A]意为：其电子工业发展的程度e
参阅对以上三个题的题解。
B意为：它是否反对外来移民。
C意为：它是否采用美国的产业模式。美国的例子仅仅是利用外资建设基础设施的一个成功例子。
D意为：它在多大程度上控制着外企。
全文翻译：
今天，人们十分关注所谓的是信息差异问题-世界上信息资源丰富的地区和信息资源贫乏的地区之间的差异；这个差异确实存在，我和我妻子20年前就曾谈及这个临近的危险。然而，那时还不太明显的是一些抵制信息差异的、新的积极因素。实际上我们是完全有理由感到乐观的。
一些技术上的因素使我们有理由期望差异会缩小。随着互联网的日趋商业化，上网普及对商家是有利的-毕竟，上网人数越多，潜在的客户就越多。越来越多的政府，惟恐自己的国家落后，纷纷推广互联网的普及。一二十年之内，全球将有一二十亿人互联。因此，我认为在未来的数年中，信息差异将缩小而不会变大。那是好消息，因为互联网很可能成为我们消除所面临的贫困的最强有效的工具。
当然，使用互联网不是惟一消灭贫困的方法。互联网也不是我们所拥有的惟一工具，但它却有巨大的潜力。
要想利用互联网，某些贫困国家必须克服对国外投资所持的过时了的反殖民的种种偏见。那些认为外国投资是对本国主权的侵犯的国家最好还是研究一下美国的基础设施（社会的基本结构基础）建设历史。当初美国建设自己的工业基础设施时，缺乏必要的资金，因此美国的第二次浪潮基础设施-包括公路、港口，高速公路、港口城市等等-都是用国外资金建造的。英国人、德国人、荷兰人和法国人都在前英国殖民地投资。他们提供资金，美洲移民建造。想想看，现在谁拥有这一切？美国人。我想，在这件事上，像巴西或其他任何地方同样也该这样。你拥有的去建造第三次浪潮基础设施（今天主要指电子基础设施）的外国资金越多，那么你的情况就越好。这并不是说卑躬屈膝，任人愚弄，也不是对外国公司不加控制。但这的确意味着你已认识到外国公司对本国能源及通信基础设施建设的重要性，这些基础设施是充分利用互联网所必要的。