Hardly a week goes by without some advance in technology that would have seemed incredible 50 years ago. And we can expect the rate of change to accelerate rather than slow down within our lifetime. The developments in technology are bound to have a dramatic effect on the future of work. By 2010, new technology will have revolutionized communications. People will be transmitting messages down telephone lines that previously would have been sent by post. Not only postmen but also clerks and secretaries will vanish in a paper-free society. All the routine tasks they perform will be carried on a tiny silicon chip so that they will be as obsolete(已废弃的) as the horse and cart after the invention of the motorcar. One change will make thousands, if not millions, redundant.
Even people in traditional professions, where expert knowledge has been the key, are unlikely to escape the effects of new technology. Instead of going to a solicitor, you might go to a computer that is programmed with all the most up-to-date legal information. Doctors, too, will find that an electronic competitor will be able to carry out a much quicker and more accurate diagnosis and recommend more efficient courses oftreatment. In education, teachers will be largely replaced by teaching machines far more knowledgeable than any human being. Most learning will take place in the home via video conferencing. Children will still go to school though, until another place is created where they can make friends and develop social skills.
练习题：
Choose correct answers to the question:
1.According to the writer, the rate of change in technology______.
A.will remain the same
B.will slow down
C.will speed up
D.can not be predicted
2.The writer expects that by 2020 new technology will have revolutionized communications and ____
A.people needn’t telephone each other
B.the present postal system will have disappeared
C.people will no longer send letters
D. the postmen will have been replaced by silicon chip.
3.The word “they” (Line 6，Para. 1) refers to _____.
A. the tiny silicon chips
B.the letter written on paper
C. the postmen, clerks and secretaries
D.the routine tasks performed by the postmen
4.From the second paragraph, we can infer that _____
A. professionals won’t be affected by new technology
B.doctor won’t be as efficient by the postmen
C. computers cannot replace lawyers
D.experts will lose job in the future
5.In the writer’s view, _______.
A.people should get prepared for the future
B.there exists no real threat of unemployment
C.the advance of technology is not desirable
D.machines will have control over men
1.[C] 事实细节题。只要知道第1段第2句中的关键词accelerate意为speed up“加速,加快”，就可以排除其他选项。
2.[B] 事实细节题。本题考査对比处。作者在第1段第5句中通过previously将过去与现在作对比,指出现在传递消息的途径与过去不一样了，由此可判断B为正确选项。本题最具干扰性的是选项C，第1段倒数第3句提到以 后邮递员将会消失，但这并不意味着人们不再写信和寄信，以后可能会有新的送信方式，因此选项C是不对的。
3.[C] 词义推断题。they所在的句子是第1段倒数第2句，本句中两个they的指代是一样的，因此，只要找到第一个they的指代就能找到答案了。根据本段倒数第3句中“Not only postmen but also clerks and secretaries will vanish”及倒数第2句中的“All the routine tasks they perform...”可推断，they是指上一句中的postmen，clerks 和secretaries 。
4.[B] 推理判断题。本题考査列举处。在第2段,作者列举了律师、医生、教师将会受到的新技术的影响，第3句指出医生的电子竞争者会做出更快更准的诊断,从而确定选项B说法正确，而选项A和C与原文不符，选项D言过其实，且缺乏合理的原文依据。
5.[A] 观点态度题。作者举出了大量实例暗示和告诫人们：正因为人类技术的发展日新月异，许多职业的存在都将受到威胁，人们应该采取积极态度以应对这种变化。选项B显然与第1段最后一句相悖;选项C无合理的推 断依据;文中虽提到新技术会在多方面影响人类,但并不能由此推断机器会控制人类,所以选项D不对。
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