Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter.Global VillageA) Does sharing a piece of McDonald's Big Mac with a friend or having a sip of Coke in a local fast food restaurant mean that we are automatically becoming hostages of the contemporary "McDonaldization" or "Coca-colonization" trends? Or, does benefiting from the use of information communication technologies (ICT) by the well-off countries in fact help in solving thorny (棘手的) problems of the third world?B) Nowadays, these and numerous related questions apparently shadow the popular concept of transforming the modern world into a "global village". The very phrase, coined by Marshall McLuhan, is widely used in a variety of contexts, though its genuine content is true just to a limited extent, to say the least. I would classify three misconceptions that overestimate the role of a "global village", specifically:1. We are all living in a homogenous world. C) Since world history has always been overwhelmed with various social divisions, nobody is ever able to ensure global cohesion. Bipolarity (双极性) was well-proven throughout the 20th century when the world fought against Fascism (法西斯主义), the USA clashed with the Soviet Union in the Cold War. What is more, "the clash of civilizations" theory by Samuel P. Huntington clearly shows that the contemporary society is even more multi-polarized due to religious, racial, linguistic and cultural diversification, etc. In particular, he argues, "Global conflict based on ideologies has been replaced by the clash of cultures. It will be where the 'tectonic plates'(构造板块) of different cultures meet that conflicts will erupt. The chaos in the Balkans lends weight to the argument."D) Therefore, the historical agenda of the last century has much determined the present state of international affairs that are more ambiguous (模糊不清的) than ever before. On the one hand, most of the sovereign states tend to observe and promote the whole entirety of democratic values; whereas on the other hand, a few of them are ready to lose a share in competitiveness under the conditions of globalization. Hence, the world is now threatened by the evil of terrorism, multinational conflicts, lack of natural resources and the emergence of environmental disasters, to name a few. These challenges mainly arise due to partial unity of the world leaders under the umbrella of multinational organizations, which are usually established to help the latter fulfill their own ambitions and not to solve urgent problems of humanity. Therefore, due to vivid disintegration (瓦解), the problems placed on the global agenda get partial solutions, which significantly eliminate the priority of global values within the scope of the "global village" concept.2. Information revolution is making the world a better place.E) No matter how much ICT has changed and benefited contemporary interrelations, I fully agree with the statement once expressed by Teresa Newman: "The Internet can be a great tool, and the best way to get information fast, which can be beneficial to anyone in certain circumstances (i.e. medical advice) but it is not going to make a 'village' out of the world." This statement is justified, since most of the world does not reap benefits from the use of high-tech advancement. On the contrary, the so-called "golden billion" states use ICT to get richer and more powerful, whereas poor countries are becoming poorer: "With a rich minority becoming richer and a poor majority becoming poorer, the growing social discrepancies between the different communities making up the global village are becoming more divisive than the highest barrier." This is an apparent and striking diversification, which shows that some people are dying of starvation and disease, while others are making easy cash via the World Wide Web.F) According to Scott P. Crawford, "some actors may become global information powers, but others, notably in the third world countries, fear 'electronic colonization' and 'information imperialism'." The UN World Summit on the Information Society addressed the problem of digital divide on the declarative level, though a real-to-life solution is not soon to emerge.3. Globalization is not impacting national identity.G) National identity is another area affected by the "global village" concept. Along with eliminating time and space borders, we risk losing our identities under the umbrella of multinational corporations and multi-stakeholder organizations, such as the EU, the NATO, the WTO. The problem is that leaders are mainly dictating their rules, while the rest of the member states are often playing minor roles in the decision-making processes. In this respect. Stephen L. Talbott states that "if we really wanted a global village, we would start with the local culture, learn to live in it, share in it, appreciate it, begin to recognize what is highest in it—what expresses its noblest and most universal ideals—and encourage from within the culture the development and fulfillment of these ideals. Only in this way can any culture enlarge itself."H) Apart from political and economic sovereignty, culture, language and tradition are also under the threat of global expansion on the part of artificial tendencies. Owing much to the well thought-out advertising and marketing, in many countries Valentine's Day is joyfully celebrated, while particular national customs are forgotten since they are not so well-promoted, and might be shifted away in a decade or two. The same happens with linguistic, cultural and behavioral aspects, which we are losing through the years due to the permanent promotion of "global values".I) The above-mentioned misconceptions generally underscore the artificiality of the "global village" concept, which is apparently irreplaceable in shifting borders of time and space, though it has nothing to do with making the modern world a less competitive place, solving global problems, and preserving national identity. Therefore, I would rather use the very phrase only in the context determined by the real-life practice.