2018年英语四级美文：Information is Power

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　　Information is Power

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　　In such a changing,

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　　complex society formerly simple solutions to informational needs

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　　become complicated.

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　　Many of life’s problems which were solved by asking family members,

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　　friends or colleagues

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　　are beyond the capability of extended family to resolve.

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　　Where to turn for expert information

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　　and how to determine which expert advice to accept

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　　are questions facing many people today.

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　　Adding to societal changes today is an enormous supply of information.

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　　The individual now has more information available than any generation,

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　　and the task of finding that one piece of information

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　　relevant to his or her specific problem is complicated,

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　　time-consuming and sometimes even overwhelming.

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　　Coupled with the growing quantity of information

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　　is the development of technologies

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　　which enable the storage and delivery of more information

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　　with greater speed to more locations than has ever been possible before.

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　　Computer technology makes it possible

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　　to store vast amounts of data in machine-readable files,

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　　and to program computers to locate specific information.

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　　Telecommunication developments

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　　enable the sending of messages via television, radio,

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　　and very shortly,

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　　electronic mail to bombard people with multitudes of messages.

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　　Satellites have extended the power of communications

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　　to report events at the instant occurrence.

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　　Expertise can be shared world wide through teleconferencing,

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　　and problems in dispute can be settled without participants

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　　leaving their homes and/or jobs to travel to a distant conference site.

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　　Technology has facilitated the sharing of information

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　　and the storage and delivery of information,

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　　thus making more information available to more people.

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　　In this world of change and complexity,

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　　the need for information is of greatest importance.

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　　Those people who have accurate, reliable up-to-date information

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　　to solve the day-to-day problems,

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　　the critical problems of their business,

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　　social and family life,

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　　will survive and succeed.

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　　“Knowledge is power”

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　　may well be the most critical requirement of all people.