In the late 1980s, Akio Morita, the co-founder of Sony Corp. , embarked on the most costly shopping expedition of his long career. A visionary who believed that Sony’s future lay in the convergence of hardware and “content” such as music and film, Morita eventually set his sights on Columbia Pictures Entertainment, with its two studios and a vast library of movie titles and television series. In September, 1989, after months of on-again, off-again negotiations, Sony agreed to pay the inflated asking price of $3.2 billion and assume $1.6 billion in debt.
What was the rationale for such a decision? According to John Nathan’s Sony: The Private Life, it was motivated only by senior executives’ desire to please the company patriarch. Even Morita, then Sony’s chairman and CEO, believed that Columbia’s price tag, originally $35 per share, was exorbitant. In a closed-door meeting in August, 1989, details of which have never been fully revealed, he told his seven top aides, who made up the decision-making executive committee, that he was abandoning the idea of the acquisition.
That would have been the end of it had Morita not voiced regret over dinner that evening with the committee members. “It’s too bad,” he lamented, “I’ve always dreamed of owning a Hollywood studio.” The next day, the group reconvened and promptly decided that Sony would purchase Columbia after all. In the weeks that followed, Sony upped its bid from an initial $15 to $27 a share and, by late September, made a deal that was ridiculed by industry experts. In 1994, mismanagement forced Sony to write off $2.7 billion and assume a loss of $510 million for its Hollywood experiment.
Sony: The Private Life is filled with such insiders’ tales, making it the most vivid and detailed account in English of the personalities who built the $50 billion-plus consumer-electronics giant. Nathan, a professor of Japanese cultural studies at the University of California, got access to dozens of executives who had contributed to or witnessed Sony’s development since its 1946 founding in war-devastated Tokyo. Nathan offers, however, only limited analysis of Sony, the corporation. And he tends to go over well-trodden ground: how Sony established itself in the U.S. and how it developed famous products or devices. Much of this has appeared before in articles and, to a lesser extent, in books.
This is not to say that Nathan’s book has no point of view. The company’s underlying problem, as illustrated in the Columbia case, is that the environment in which the Sony Corporation has historically conducted its affairs is less public than personal, less rational than sentimental. In conclusion, Nathan says that, under the current leadership of President Nobuyuki Idei, Sony is emerging as a rational company. Moreover, Idei and his practical-minded managers are intent on reinventing Sony as an Internet company. From now on, says Nathan, “personal relationships are not likely again to figure decisively.” But how will this Sony fare? Nathan admits that a dazzling future is far from guaranteed.
1. Which of the following is true of Sony’s acquisition of Columbia Pictures?
［A］ It was motivated by Morita’s desire to project an image of success.
［B］ Sony’s top executives were quite convinced of its benefits for the company.
［C］ Entertainment industry insiders believed it was the failure of Hollywood.
［D］ It was the expensive expansion from electronics into entertainment.
2. The word “patriarch” (line 2, paragraph 2) most probably means_____.
［A］ founder ［B］ monarch ［C］ elder ［D］ forerunner
3. It can be inferred from the last two paragraphs that_____.
［A］ Sony: The Private Life is the biography of Akio Morita
［B］ Sony’s Japanese leaders have been too practical-minded
［C］ this management problem of Sony cannot be rectified overnight
［D］ Nathan did not write about how Sony established itself as the electronics giant
4. Nathan’s attitude towards Morita seems to be of_____.
［A］ strong distaste ［B］ implicit criticism ［C］ enthusiastic support ［D］ reserved consent
5. The best title for the passage may be_____.
［A］ Sony’s Shopping Expedition ［B］ Sony: the Private Life
［C］ Who Drove Sony to Ground ［D］ Sony: Management by Impulse
答案:1.D 2.A 3.C 4.B 5.D
核心词汇和超纲词汇
(1)embark (v.) 上船，装船；~ on/upon sth.从事，着手，开始（新的或艰难的事情）
(2)expedition（n.）远征，探险；探险队；发出，派遣
(3)visionary（n.）空想家，梦想者，好幻想的人 vision（n.）幻想，幻影
(4)convergence（n.）集中，收敛converge（v.）聚合，集中于一点
(5)library（n.）系列丛书（或磁带等），文库，如a ~ of children’s classics儿童文学名著系列丛书
(6)on-again, off-again一上一下，遭遇到种种波折
(7)asking price卖主的开叫价，卖出价
(8)rationale（n）（解释某个特别决定、行动、信仰的）基本原理，根本原因，理论依据
(9)exorbitant（a.）过度的，过高的，昂贵的
(10)lament（v.）悔恨，悲叹，哀悼
(11)reconvene（v.）重新集合，重新召集convene（v.）召集, 集合
(12)tread（v.）trod trodden踩，践踏；行走
(13)ground（n.）（兴趣、知识和思想的）范围、领域，如We have to go over the same~（我们得讨论同样的话题）。
(14)fare（n.）费用，旅客，食物（v.）过日子，遭遇，受招待How did you~in London?（你在伦敦过得怎样?）
全文翻译
在20世纪80年代后期，索尼公司的联合创始人盛田昭夫开始了他长期事业生涯中最昂贵的购物旅行。梦想家盛田昭夫相信索尼公司的未来在于硬件和音乐、电影这样的“内容”相结合，于是最终将目光投向哥伦比亚电影公司及其两个工作室和大量电影字母和电视剧集的文库。1989年9月，经过几个月几经波折的谈判，索尼公司同意支付飞涨的卖出价32亿美元从而承担16亿美元的债务。
这个决定的理论依据是什么？根据约翰内森所著《索尼公司的私人生活》，这个决定是出于高级行政人员要取悦公司创始人的愿望。甚至那时担任索尼公司主席和首席执行管的盛田昭夫也认为哥伦比亚的标价（开始是35美元一股）太昂贵。在1989年8月召开的一次从未完全公开的闭门会议中，他告诉组成具有决策权的执行委员会的七位高级助手，他将放弃收购的想法。
那天晚上用餐时如果盛田昭夫没有向委员会成员表示遗憾的话这件事情本应就这么结束了。他哀叹，“太糟了，我一直想拥有一个好莱坞工作室”。第二天，这个团队重新召开会议并仓促决定索尼公司将最终购买哥伦比亚。在接下来的几周内，索尼公司将其标价从开始的15美元一股上升到27美元。到了九月末，成交了一笔为业界专家嘲笑的交易。1994年，管理不善迫使索尼公司为它的好莱坞实验注销掉27亿美元资产和5.1亿美元的损失。
《索尼公司的私人生活》充满了这样的内幕故事，因此成为对建立价值500亿美元的消费者电子产品巨头的名人们最生动详细的描述。内森是加利福尼亚大学日本文化研究的教授，接触到很多作过贡献或目睹索尼公司自1946年在受战争破坏的东京建立以来的发展的行政人员。然而，内森只提供了对索尼公司的有限的分析，他总是重复老掉牙的话题：索尼公司如何在美国建立起来的，如何发展著名的产品和设备。这些内容很多以前在文章中出现，但较少出现在书中。
这并不是说内森的书没有观点。正如哥伦比亚事件所说明的，公司的潜在问题是“索尼公司历史事件发生的环境较个人化而非公开化，较感性而非理性”。 总之，内森说，在现任主席出井伸之的领导下，索尼公司正成为一个理性的公司。而且，出井伸之和他追求实际的经理们专心把索尼公司重新改造为一家因特网公司。内森说，“从现在开始，个人关系不可能再起决定作用”。但是这个索尼公司将经营得如何？内森承认，美好的未来远不能得到保证。
七、儿童的教育
Not long after the telephone was invented, I assume, a call was placed. The caller was a parent saying, “Your child is bullying my child, and I want it stopped!” the bully’s parent replied, “You must have the wrong number. My child is a little angel.”
A trillion phone calls later, the conversation is the same. When children are teased or tyrannized, the parental impulse is to grab the phone and rant. But these days, as studies in the U.S.show bullying on the rise and parental supervision on the decline, researchers who study bullying say that calling moms and dads is more futile than ever. Such calls often lead to playground recriminations and don’t really teach our kids any lessons about how to navigate the world and resolve conflicts.
When you call parents, you want them to “extract the cruelty” from their bullying children, says Laura Kavesh, a child psychologist in Evanston, Illinois. “But many parents are blown away by the idea of their child being cruel. They won’t believe it.” In a recent police-department survey in Oak Harbor, Washington, 89% of local high school students said they had engaged in bullying behavior. Yet only 18% of parents thought their children would act as bullies.
In a new U.S.PTA survey, 5% of parents support contacting other parents to deal with bullying. But many educators warn that those conversations can be misinterpreted, causing tempers to flare. Instead, they say, parents should get objective outsiders, like principals, to mediate.
Meanwhile, if you get a call from a parent who is angry about your child’s bullying, listen without getting defensive. That’s what Laura McHugh of Castro Valley, California, did when a caller told her that her then 13-year-old son had spit in another boy’s food. Her son had confessed, but the victim’s mom “wanted to make sure my son hadn’t given her son a nasty disease,” says McHugh, who apologized and promised to get her son tested for AIDS and other diseases. She knew the chance of contracting any disease this way was remote, but her promise calmed the mother and showed McHugh’s son that his bad behaviour was being taken seriously. McHugh, founder of Parents Coach Kids, a group that teaches parenting skills, sent the mom the test results. All were negative.
Remember: once you make a call, you might not like what you hear. If you have an itchy dialing finger, resist temptation. Put it in your pocket.
1.The word “bullying” probably means _____.
［A］ frightening and hurting ［B］ teasing ［C］ behaving like a tyrant ［D］ laughing at
2. Calling to a bully’s parent _____.
［A］ has long existed but changed its content ［B］ is often done with careful thinking
［C］ often leads to blaming and misunderstanding ［D］ is used to warn the child not to do it again
3. According to the surveys in the U. S., _____.
［A］ bullying among adults is also rising ［B］ parents are not supervising their children well
［C］ parents seldom believe bullies ［D］ most parents resort to calling to deal with bullying
4. When bullying occurs, parents should _____.
［A］ help the bulling child get rid of cruelty ［B］ resort to the mediator
［C］ avoid getting too protective ［D］ resist the temptation of calling
5.Laura McHugh promised to get the bullied boy tested for diseases because _____.
［A］ her son confessed to being wrong ［B］ she was afraid to annoy the boy’s parent
［C］ he was likely to be affected by these diseases ［D］ she wanted to teach her own son a lesson
答案:1.A 2.C 3.B 4.B 5.D
核心词汇与超纲词汇
(1)bully（n.）仗势欺人者，横行霸道者；（v.）恐吓，伤害，胁迫
(2)tease（v./n.）取笑，戏弄，揶揄；招惹，逗弄（动物）；（n.）爱戏弄人的人，取笑者
(3)tyrannize（v.）对……施行暴政；专横地对待；tyranny（n.）暴虐，专横，苛政；暴君统治；tyrant（n.）暴君
(4)impulse（n.）冲动，一时的念头；推动力，刺激
(5)rant（n./v.）怒吼，咆哮，大声抱怨
(6)navigate（v.）导航，确定位置和方向；航行，航海，横渡；找到正确方法（对付困难复杂的情况）
(7)blow away意思是To affect intensely; overwhelm（强烈影响，征服），如：That concert blew me away（音乐会震撼了我）。
(8)itchy（a.）使人发痒的；itch（n./v.）发痒，渴望
全文翻译
我认为，电话发明后不久，就有人就打这样的电话。打电话的是一位家长，他（她）说：“你的孩子在欺负我的孩子，我希望这样的事情不要再发生！”而这位仗势欺人的孩子的家长却回答到：“你一定拨错号码了，我的孩子是个小天使。”
在以后的岁月中，这样的电话不计其数，但电话内容却没有改变。当孩子遭到取笑或被专横地对待时，冲动的父母抓起电话，大声抱怨。但是最近，当美国的研究表明以强凌弱现象在增多而父母的管教在减少时，以强凌弱现象的研究者们说给父母打电话毫无用处。这样的电话常常只导致责备，并不能真正教育孩子如何在世界上生存和解决冲突。
伊利诺斯州伊文斯顿市区的儿童心理学家劳拉?卡维许说，“当你打电话给仗势欺人的孩子的父母时，是想让对方改掉他们孩子的残忍行为。但是许多父母对自己孩子有这样的残忍行为感到非常震惊，他们不愿意不相信”。最近警察部门在华盛顿橡木港口进行的调查显示，当地89%的高中生承认有过仗势欺人的行为。但只有18%的家长认为他们的孩子会成为仗势欺人者。
在美国家长——教师联合会新的调查中，5%的家长支持和其他家长联系来解决以强凌弱问题。但是很多专家警告说这样的对话可能会被误解，使对方勃然大怒。相反，他们认为父母应该找较客观的旁观者如学校校长等来进行调解。
同时，如果接到了一位对你的孩子仗势欺人的行为感到愤怒的家长的电话，你应该倾听，不要把自己保护起来。当加里福尼亚卡斯楚谷市的劳拉?麦休接到电话，被告知她13岁的儿子朝另外一个孩子的食物中吐吐沫时，她就这样做了。她儿子已经承认了。麦休说，“但受害者的母亲想确保我儿子没有传染给她儿子什么严重的疾病”。她道歉并并许诺让这个男孩做艾滋和其他严重疾病的测试。她知道通过那种方式传染疾病的几率非常小，但她的许诺使对方母亲平静了下来，并且也让自己的儿子知道父母是非常严肃地对待他的恶劣行为。麦休是教授父母技能的“父母教导孩子”组织的创始人。她将测试结果送给那位母亲，所有项目都显示阴性。
记住：一旦打电话，你可能会听到不想听的话。如果你手指发痒，忍住。把手放在口袋里。
八、现代人对维多利亚时代的看法
One of the silliest things in our recent history was the use of “Victorian” as a term of contempt or abuse. It had been made fashionable by Lytton Strachey with his clever, superficial and ultimately empty book Eminent Victorians, in which he damned with faint praise such Victorian heroes as General Gordon and Florence Nightingale. Strachey’s demolition job was clever because it ridiculed the Victorians for exactly those qualities on which they prided themselves—their high mindedness, their marked moral intensity, their desire to improve the human condition and their confidence that they had done so.
Yet one saw, even before the 100th anniversary of the death of Queen Victoria this year, that there were signs these sneering attitudes were beginning to change. Programmes on radio and television about Victoria and the age that was named after her managed to humble themselves only about half the time. People were beginning to realize that there was something heroic about that epoch and, perhaps, to fear that the Victorian age was the last age of greatness for this country.
Now a new book, What The Victorians Did For Us, aims further to redress the balance and remind us that, in most essentials, our own age is really an extension of what the Victorians created. You can start with the list of Victorian inventions. They were great lovers of gadgets from the smallest domestic ones to new ways of propelling ships throughout the far-flung Empire. In medicine, anaesthesia (developed both here and in America) allowed surgeons much greater time in which to operate—and hence to work on the inner organs of the body—not to mention reducing the level of pain and fear of patients.
To the Victorians we also owe lawn tennis, a nationwide football association under the modern rules, powered funfair rides, and theatres offering mass entertainment. And, of course, the modern seaside is almost entirely a Victorian invention. There is, of course, a darker side to the Victorian period. Everyone knows about it mostly because the Victorians catalogued it themselves. Henry Mayhew’s wonderful set of volumes on the lives of the London poor, and official reports on prostitution, on the workhouses and on child labour—reports and their statistics that were used by Marx when he wrote Das Kapital—testify to the social conscience that was at the center of “Victorian values”.
But now, surely, we can appreciate the Victorian achievement for what it was—the creation of the modern world. And when we compare the age of Tennyson and Darwin, of John Henry Newman and Carlyle, with our own, the only sensible reaction is one of humility: “We are our father’s shadows cast at noon”.
1.According to the author, Lytton Strachey’s book Eminent Victorians _____.
[A] accurately described the qualities of the people of the age
[B] superficially praised the heroic deeds of the Victorians
[C] was highly critical of the contemporary people and institutions
[D] was guilty of spreading prejudices against the Victorians
2. The change in the attidues towards the Vcitorians is revealed in the fact that _____.
[A] the 100th anniversary of the death of Queen Victoria is celebrated
[B] the media publicizes events or people about the Victorian age
[C] people begin to highly praise Victorian heroes
[D] a new book regards Victorians as creators of the modern world
3. What is the meaning of the word “gadgets” (Paragraph 4)?
[A] devices [B] tools [C] appliances [D] engines
4. According to the text, the Victorians invented _____.
[A] surgery [B] seaside holiday [C] funfair [D] mass entertainment
5. The author talks about the darker side of the Victorian period to _____.
[A] disclose the social injustices and evils
[B] give proof to Karl Marx’s Das Kapital
[C] manifest the Victorians’ good sense of right and wrong
[D] show the age’s strengths outweigh its weaknesses
答案:1.D 2.D 3.A 4.B 5.C
核心词汇与超纲词汇
(1)damn sb./sth. with faint praise名褒实贬，用冷漠的赞扬贬低，如She damned Reynolds with faint praise, calling him one of the best imitators in the world.
(2)demolition（n.）破坏，毁坏
(3)sneer（n./v.）冷笑，讥笑，嘲笑
(4)epoch（n.）新纪元，时代，时期
(5)redress（v）纠正，矫正；重新穿衣，重新调整
(6)essential（a.）本质的，基本的；必不可少的；精华的（n.）基本必要的东西；本质，实质要素，要点
(7)far-flung（a.）蔓延的，广泛的，广泛传播的，辽阔的
(8)anaesthesia（n.）感觉缺乏，麻木，麻醉（法）；esthe词根表示“感觉”，如esthetic感觉的
(9)catalogue（n.）目录；一连串（糟糕）事，如a ~ of disasters接二连三的灾难（v.）列入目录；记载，登记（某人某事的详情）
(10)testify（v.）（出庭）作证；证实，证明；~ to sth.作为某事的证明，说明，如The film testifies to the courage of ordinary people during the war（这部电影表明老百姓在战争时期的英勇行为）
(11)humility（n.）谦卑［恭，逊］，［pl. ］谦让的行为
全文翻译
我们近代历史上最愚蠢的事之一就是把“Victorian”作为鄙视和漫骂的名称。而使这一说法得以流传开来的是莱顿?斯传策斯那本言辞巧妙但肤浅空洞的《维多利亚时代的俊杰》，在这本书中他讽刺了如戈登将军和弗洛伦斯?南丁格尔这样的维多利亚时代的英雄。斯传策斯破坏性的工作是巧妙的，因为它嘲笑的正是维多利亚人引以自豪的品质：清高、特别的道德强度、想改善人类条件的愿望以及他们认为自己已经做到了的信心。
然而，即使是今年维多利亚女王逝世一百周年纪念日到来之前，人们已看到这种嘲笑的态度正在开始转变。广播和电视中只有半数有关维多利亚及以她的名字命名的时代的节目设法进行自我贬低。人们开始意识到那个时代有些英雄的意味，又或许是开始害怕维多利亚时代是这个国家最后一个伟大的时代。
现在的一本新书《维多利亚时代的人为我们作了什么？》旨在进一步恢复平衡并提醒我们：在大多数基本方面，我们自己的时代实际上是维多利亚时代创造的东西的延伸。可以从列举维多利亚时代的发明开始。他们对设备十分痴迷——小到家用设备，大到为远航整个帝国的船只提供动力的新途径。在医学方面，（在本国和美国都有发展的）麻醉法使外科大夫有更多的时间，从而可以对身体的内部器官进行手术，更不用说减少病人的疼痛和恐惧了。
也因为有了维多利亚人，我们才有了草地网球、在现代规则下的全国足球协会、露天游乐场的动力旋转木马和提供大众娱乐的剧院。当然，现代海边渡假几乎完全就是维多利亚时代的发明。不过，维多利亚时期也有阴暗的一面。大家之所以都知道这一点，主要是因为维多利亚人自己已经将它记录下来了。亨利?梅休描写伦敦贫苦人生活的精彩卷集，官方有关卖淫、济穷院和儿童劳工的报道（马克思写《资本论》时引用的这些方面的数据）都表明了社会良知是“维多利亚价值观”的核心内容。
但是如今，我们应该感激维多利亚创造现代世界所取得的成就。当我们拿丁尼生、达尔文、约翰?亨利?纽曼和卡莱尔的时代与我们自己的时代相比较时，唯一明智的反应就是谦卑：“我们只是父辈在正午投射的影子”。
九、新型通讯技术的广泛运用
One great benefit of the Web is that it allows us to move information online that now resides in paper form. Several states in America are using the Web in a profound way. You can apply for various permits or submit applications for business licences. Some states are putting up listings of jobs—not just state government jobs, but all the jobs available in the state. I believe, over time, that all the information that governments print, and all those paper forms they now have, will be moved on to the Internet.
Electronic commerce notches up month-by-month too. It is difficult to measure, because a lot of electronic commerce involves existing buyers and sellers who are simply moving paperbased transactions to the Web. That is not new business. Microsoft, for example, purchases millions of dollars of PCs online instead of by paper. However, that is not a fundamental change; it has just improved the efficiency of an existing process. The biggest impact has occurred where electronic commerce matches buyers and sellers who would not previously have found each other. When you go to a book site and find an obscure book that you never would have found in a physical bookstore, that is a new type of commerce.
Today, about half of all PCs are still not connected to the Web. Getting communications costs down and making all the software simpler will bring in those people. And that, in turn, will move us closer to the critical mass that will make the Web lifestyle everyone’s lifestyle. One element that people underestimate is the degree to which the hardware and software will improve. Just take one aspect: screen technology. I do my e-mail on a 20-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor. It is not available at a reasonable price yet, but in two years it will be. In ten years, a 20-inch LCD with much higher resolution will be commonplace. The boundary between a television set and a PC will be blurred because even the set-top box that you connect up to your cable or satellite will have a processor more powerful than what we have today in the most expensive PC. This will, in effect, make your television a computer.
Interaction with the Web also will improve, making it much easier for people to be involved. Today the keywords we use to search the Web often return to too many articles to sort through, many of them out of context. If you want to learn about the fastest computer chip available, you might end up getting responses instead about potato chips being delivered in fast trucks. In the future, we shall be either speaking or typing sentences into the computer. If you ask about the speed of chips, the result will be about computers, not potatoes. Speech recognition also means that you will be able to call in on a phone and ask if you have any new messages, or check on a flight, or check on the weather.
To predict that it will take over ten years for these changes to happen is probably pessimistic. We usually overestimate what we can do in two years and underestimate what we can do in ten. The Web will be as much a way of life as the car by 2008. Probably before.
1. Electronic commerce becomes a new type of commerce when_____.
［A］ paperbased transactions are moved on to the Web ［B］ the efficiency of the existing process is improved by Internet
［C］ new buyers and sellers find each other on the Internet ［D］ a book site offers the books several bookstores have altogether
2. The use of computer will be as common as the use of cars when_____.
［A］ governments begin to move administration on-line ［B］ electronic commerce causes a fundamental change
［C］ computer and communication become simpler and cheaper ［D］ the boundary between the computer and the TV disappears
3. What is the current problem with the Web according to the passage?
［A］ Too much information. ［B］ Lack of response. ［C］ Ineffective interaction. ［D］ Slowness of speed.
4. The example of potato chips is used to illustrate_____.
［A］ the defect of computers at the present stage of development ［B］ the similarity between a computer chip and a potato chip
［C］ the richness of information available on the web ［D］ the irrelevant responses the web sometimes offers
5. The passage is mainly trying to show that_____.
［A］ the web is becoming a way of conveying information ［B］ the web will bring about a new way of life
［C］ electronic commerce develops with the Internet ［D］ interaction with the Web will become easier
答案：1.C 2.C 3.C 4.D 5.B
核心词汇与超纲词汇
(1)notch（n.）等级，档次；（表面或边缘的）V形刻痕，圆形切口；（v.）（up）赢得，获得；刻V形痕，刻下切口
(2)measure（v.）测量，度量；估量，判定（重要性、价值或影响等）
(3)obscure（a.）无名的，鲜为人知的；费解的，难以理解的；（v.）使模糊，使晦涩，使费解
(4)physical（a.）身体的，肉体的，躯体的；物质的，现实的；根据自然规律的；物理学的；肉欲的；使用武力的
(5)bring in（sb.）让……参与；逮捕，带到警察局询问；(sth.)提出(新法案);吸引,引入
(6)resolution（n.）正式决定；（问题、纷争的）解决；决定；清晰度；分辨率
(7)commonplace（a.）平凡的，普通的，普遍的；（n.）常见的事；平常的事；老生常谈
(8)article（n.）文章，论文，报道；条款，项；物件，物品
全文翻译
网络的一个很大的好处是它允许我们把如今停留在纸上的信息转移到网上。美国几个州正在以一种意义深远的方式使用网络。人们能申请各种用于营业执照的申请表。一些州正在公布一系列工作，不仅包括州政府的工作，而且包括州内所有的工作。我认为，随着时间的推移，所有政府打印的信息以及所有他们现有的纸的形式，都会转移到网络上。
电子商务也越来越成功。但它很难估量，因为许多电子商务仅仅是现有的买家和卖家把以纸张为基础的交易移到网上进行。这不是一种新的贸易形式。比如，微软每年通过在线购买数百万美元的电脑，而不是通过纸张进行。然而，这不是根本的变化，只是提高了现有交易的效率。当电子商务把以前不可能找到对方的买方和卖方匹配起来时，网络的最大影响力才出现。当你去购书网站找到一本在有形的书店不能找到的晦涩难懂的书，那就是新形式的商务。
如今，几乎一半的个人电脑仍然没有与网络连接。通讯费用的降低以及所有软件的简易化可以使这些人和网络连接起来。而这又将使我们更接近让网络生活方式成为所有人的生活方式的临界点。人们低估了的一个因素是硬件和软件将得到改善的程度。比如，屏幕技术方面。现在我在20英寸的液晶显示器上发电子邮件。虽然它现在还不能以合理的价格购买，但是两年后将可以。十年后，更高清晰度的20英寸液晶显示器将成为普通的事物。电视和个人电脑之间的界限将变得模糊，因为甚至是连着有线或卫星的电视机上的盒子中都会有比如今最昂贵的个人电脑更强大的的处理器。实际上，你的电视将成为一台电脑。
与网络的交流也将得到改善，这使人们更容易参与其中。如今，搜索网络时输入的关键词总会搜出太多的选项让你选择，而其中很多项与你所找的内容无关。当你想知道现有的最快的计算机芯片时，却得到在快速通道上运送的薯片的信息。将来，我们可以对着电脑讲话或者往电脑中输入句子。如果问芯片的速度，结果将是电脑，而不是土豆。声音的识别也意味着你将能够打电话给电脑询问是否有新的信息，或者查询航班和天气。
预计这些变化要花上十多年时间才会发生可能太悲观了。我们经常高估两年内能做的事情，而低估十年之内能做的事情。到了２００８年，或者在这之前，网络会像汽车一样成为生活的一种方式。
十、小说真相
Nadine Gordimer has never written an autobiography or produced testimonies. She works in the imaginative dimension, always on an expedition into the mysteries of human experience. She does not appear “armed and dangerous,” as her friend Ronnie Kasrils, one-time terrorist, later cabinet minister, was described by the police as late as 1992; but, in fact, she is, for hardly anyone has so vividly alerted the world to how apartheid undermined relations between people and made innocence criminal.
“Nothing I say in essays and articles will be as true as my fiction,” she stated in an interview in Transition. Because fiction is a disguise, it can “encompass all the things that go unsaid among other people and in yourself... There is always, subconsciously, some kind of self-censorship in nonfiction.” She added that, in a certain sense, a writer is selected by her subject, which is the consciousness of her own era.
Today, Nadine Gordimer lives and writes in a half-formed society of a kind almost never before seen on earth. Black and white have agreed to bring about a multiracial democracy by their faith as much as by their work. But the present stems from the past, and apartheid’s contempt for human life now expresses itself in street killings, and armed robbery.
Gordimer’s territory has always been the border between private emotions and external forces. There are no neutral zones where people can rest unobserved. In a land of lies, everyone lives a double life. Only love stands for a sort of liberty, the glimpse of a more truthful existence. Outside the lovers’ chamber, there is a society, greedy, immoral where empathy and responsibility for others, whatever skin colour, are rare. Thus, every meeting becomes instrumental or absurd. In many of her stories, Gordimer reminds us that the future of South Africa is not only a question of votes for all but one that requires immense effort to create a civil spirit, allowing people to look each other in the eye.
The responsibility of love and the loss of understanding, the loss of a grip on the world that comes with the end of love, are central themes in all of Gordimer’s books. She is a moralist of a kind Alfred Nobel would have approved. She finds an uncommitted life not worth living. Her revolutionaries or human rights lawyers may have agonising personal problems, but they do not give up. In her later novels, there are people with energy and vision, as well as those who see nothing clearly — the former women, the latter often men. Gordimer seems to keep her characters at a distance in order to maintain a sense of the unknowable. Then one may discover, as André Brink says, “that one’s very attempt at understanding or confronting the mystery opens up spaces of awareness one has not suspected before.” Her true concerns reach beyond issues of the time to test the limits of human relationships and of language itself _____.
1. It is true of Nadine Gordimer that .
［A］ she is a politician and enthusiastic opponent of apartheid ［B］ her work is of moral force but lacking in imagination
［C］ she has kept the true face of racism in front of us ［D］ her work presents the portrait of the development of South Africa
2. To which of the following statements would Nadine Gordimer be least likely to agree?
［A］ Violence should be used during the anti-apartheid struggle. ［B］ Novels are freer in expression and more faithful to truth.
［C］ Spritual equality is as important as political equality. ［D］ A writer is influenced by the context in which he or she is.
3. By “the present stems from the past”(Line 3, Paragraph 3), the author means _____.
［A］ apartheid’s injustice still bring about social crimes today ［B］ South Africa is on the journey towards a multiracial democracy
［C］multiracial democracy can help solve complex society problems ［D］ the influence of racism shows sign of increasing
4. What are the central themes of Gordimer’s works?
［A］ The racism and democracy of South Africa. ［B］ The relations between blacks and whites.
［C］ The growth of black consciousness. ［D］ Impacts of politics on the personal emotions.
5. Gordimer’s main characters seem to be _____.
［A］ the oppressed blacks ［B］ resolute political fighters ［C］ men of extraordinary intelligence ［D］ short-sighted women
答案：1.C 2.A 3.A 4.D 5.B
核心词汇和超纲词汇
(1)testimony（n.）证据、证明；证词，证言；口供
(2)expedition（n.）远征，探险，考察，如to go on an ~ to the North Pole（去北极探险）
(3)apartheid（n.）(南非)种族隔离
(4)encompass（v.）包围，环绕，包含或包括某事物
(5)censorship（n.）审查机构，审查制度；censor（v.）检查，审查
(6)glimpse（n.）（at/of）一瞥，一看；（into/of）短暂的感受（或体验、领会），如a fascinating ~ into life in the ocean（对海洋生物的一次短暂而动人心魄的感受）
(7)instrumental（a.）器具的；作为手段［工具］的；有帮助的，起作用的
(8)grip（n.）紧抓；控制，影响；理解，了解 lose one’s grip on sth.失去（对……的）理解（或控制）
(9)uncommitted（a.）不承担义务的，不受(诺言)约束的；committed（a.）承担义务的； 忠于既定立场的，坚定的
(10)agonising（a.）烦恼的，苦闷的；agonise（v.）（about/over）苦苦思索，焦虑不已
全文翻译
娜汀?葛蒂玛从来不写自传或者创作评述文章。她在想象的空间创作，一直在探索人类之神秘体验。她不像她的朋友罗烈?卡斯瑞斯那样看起来“武装的、危险的”。罗烈．卡斯瑞斯到1992年时被警察描述成“以前的恐怖主义者，后来的内阁大臣”。然而事实上，几乎没有人像葛蒂玛这样如此鲜明地警告世界，种族隔离是怎样破坏了人们之间的关系并制造了无辜的犯人。
娜汀?葛蒂玛在Transition的一次采访中声明：“我的随笔和文章中的内容都不像我的小说那样真实”。因为小说是一个伪装物，它能够“包含所有其他人和你自己没有说出口的所有事情。在非小说作品中却有一种无意识的自我审查”。娜汀?葛蒂玛语气肯定地补充道，作家的主题，即她所处时代的意识，选择作家。
今天，娜汀?葛蒂玛在一个几乎没在地球上出现过的半成形的社会里生活并创作。黑人和白人已经同意以他们的信念和努力建立多民族的民主。但是现在源于过去，种族隔离对人类生命的歧视现在仍以街道谋杀和持枪抢劫的形式出现。
娜汀?葛蒂玛的创作领域一直处于个人情绪和外在因素的分界线，没有可以让人不被觉察的中立领域。在谎言的国度中，每个人都过着双面的生活。只有爱代表着某种自由，以及对更真实的存在的短暂感受。在爱人的房间之外，是一个贪婪和邪恶的社会，在这个社会中，对任何肤色的他人的同情和责任感都是罕见的。因此，所有的会面都成了意义重大或可笑的行为。葛蒂玛在她的许多小说中都提醒我们，南非的未来不仅仅是所有人都具有选举权的问题，而且要求付出极大的努力创造一种公民精神，使人们能够互相坦然地正视。
爱的责任和理解能力的丢失，对爱走到尽头的世界的无能为力，都是葛蒂玛作品的中心主题。她是一个阿尔弗雷德?诺贝尔都会同意的道德家。她发现不承担义务的生命是不值得生存的。她的革命者和人权辩护者可能会有苦闷的个人问题，但是他们并不放弃。在她后来的作品中，有力量和远见兼备的人，也有一些什么也看不清楚的人，前者指女性，后者多指男性。葛蒂玛似乎与她的人物保持一段距离，以便保持不知情的状态。然后如同安德烈?布林克所说的那样，人们可能发现：“人们都试图理解或者面对神秘敞开的人们从未怀疑过的意识空间”。她真挚的关注超越了用时间来检验人类关系和语言本身的界限。
返回列表
上一篇：
下一篇：