题目内容
We should always have been suspicious. After all, computers have spread quickly because they have become cheaper to buy and easier to use. Falling prices and skill requirements suggest that the digital divide would spontaneously shrink—and so it has.
Now, a new study further discredits the digital divide. The study, by economist David Card of the University of California, Berkeley, challenges the notion that computers have significantly worsened wage inequality. The logic of how this supposedly happens is straightforward: computers raise the demand for high-skilled workers, increasing their wages. Meanwhile, computerization—by automating many routine tasks—reduces the demand for low-skilled workers and, thereby, their wages. The gap between the two widens.
Superficially, wage statistics support the theory. Consider the ratio between workers near the top of the wage distribution and those near the bottom. Computerization increased; so did the wage gap.
But wait, point out Card and DiNardo. The trouble with blaming computers is that the worsening of inequality occurred primarily in the early 1980s. With computer use growing, the wage gap should have continued to expand, if it was being driven by a shifting demand for skills. Indeed, Card and DiNardo find much detailed evidence that contradicts the theory. They conclude that computerization does not explain "the rise in U.S. wage inequality in the last quarter of the 20th century".
The popular perception of computers' impact on wages is hugely overblown. Lots of other influences count for as much, or more. The worsening of wage inequality in the early 1980s, for example, almost certainly reflected the deep 1981—1982 recession and the fall of inflation. Companies found it harder to raise prices. To survive, they concluded that they had to hold down the wages of their least skilled, least mobile and youngest workers.
The "digital divide" suggested a simple solution (computers) for a complex problem (poverty). With more computer access, the poor could escape their lot. But computers never were the source of anyone's poverty and, as for escaping, what people do for themselves matters more than what technology can do for them.
It is generally believed that the digital divide is something
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Which of the following would the best title for the text？
Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D.
听力原文： Crocodiles only live where it is hot. They are found in India, Australia, Africa and America. They spend most of their time lying around in the mud or the rivers. The crocodile's long powerful tail is used when the animal is swimming. It is also an excellent weapon, because it can be swung with great speed and force. One blow will knock down a man or even a big animal at once. The crocodile is very well protected against its enemies by the hard bony plates which cover most of its body, but because of the way its neck is formed, it cannot turn its head from side to side and so it can only see in front of itself. The crocodile has its teeth cleaned by the crocodile bird. For its food this bird takes the bits left in the crocodile's mouth. This helps the crocodile, which cannot clean its own teeth, for it cannot move its tongue up and down. With its rows of terrible pointed teeth it seizes its food, which may be a fish, an animal or even a careless man, and then holds it below the water until it drowns.
The long-nosed crocodile is shy and timid and because of this, the people of West Africa where it lives, sometimes catch it for food. Many, many centuries ago there were crocodiles in England. We know this because we have found their bones buried far down in the earth on which London is built. But the Britain of today is too cold for them to live in. This is a good thing for English people for crocodiles may grow to over thirty feet in length. When they lie floating in the water, they look like floating tree-trunks and it is often impossible to tell that they are there.
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A．He smashes it with its long powerful tail.B．He bites it with its terrible pointed te
A．shieldingB．shiftingC．shelteringD．shattering
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