A great deal of attention is being paid today to the so called digital divide—the division of the world into the info（information）rich and the info poor. And that divide does exist today. My wife and I lectured about this looming danger twenty years ago. What was less visible then, however, were the new, positive forces that work against the digital divide. There are reasons to be optimistic.

　　There are technological reasons to hope the digital divide will narrow. As the Internet becomes more and more commercialized, it is in the interest of business to universalize access—after all, the more people online, the more potential customers there are. More and more governments, afraid their countries will be left behind, want to spread Internet access. Within the next decade or two, one to two billion people on the planet will be netted together. As a result, I now believe the digital divide will narrow rather than widen in the years ahead. And that is very good news because the Internet may well be the most powerful tool for combating world poverty that we’ve ever had.

　　Of course, the use of the Internet isn’t the only way to defeat poverty. And the Internet is not the only tool we have. But it has enormous potential.

　　To take advantage of this tool, some impoverished countries will have to get over their outdated anticolonial prejudices with respect to foreign investment. Countries that still think foreign investment is an invasion of their sovereignty might well study the history of infrastructure （the basic structural foundations of a society）in the United States. When the United States built its industrial infrastructure, it didn’t have the capital to do so. And that is why America’s Second Wave infrastructure—including roads, harbors, highways, ports and so on—were built with foreign investment. The English, the German, the Dutch and the French were investing in Britain’s former colony. They financed them. Immigrant Americans built them. Guess who owns them now? The Americans believe the same thing would be true in places like Brazil or anywhere else for that matter. The more foreign capital you have helping you build your Third Wave infrastructure, which today is an electronic infrastructure, the better off you’re going to be. That doesn’t mean lying down and becoming fooled, or letting foreign corporations run uncontrolled. But it does mean recognizing how important they can be in building the energy and telecom infrastructures needed to take full advantage of the Internet.

　　55．Digital divide is something.

　　［A］getting worse because of the Internet

　　［B］the rich countries are responsible for

　　［C］the world must guard against

　　［D］considered positive today

　　56．Governments attach importance to the Internet because it .

　　［A］offers economic potentials

　　［B］can bring foreign funds

　　［C］can soon wipe out world poverty

　　［D］connects people all over the world

　　57．The writer mentioned the case of the United States to justify the policy of .

　　［A］providing financial support overseas

　　［B］preventing foreign capital’s control

　　［C］building industrial infrastructure

　　［D］accepting foreign investment

　　58．It seems that now a country’s economy depends much on .

　　［A］how well developed it is electronically

　　［B］whether it is prejudiced against immigrants

　　［C］whether it adopts America’s industrial pattern

　　［D］how much control it has over foreign corporations

　　核心词汇：

　　attach［E5tAtF］v.系，贴，装，连接；使成为一部分；使依恋（at+tach→钉子→附上）

　　attention［E5tenFEn］n.注意，注意力；立正；特别照顾；照料（at+tent+ion名词后缀→思维伸展出去→注意）

　　colony［5kClEni］n.殖民地；侨民；聚居区；（动植物的）群体

　　combat［5kCmbAt］v./n.战斗,搏斗,格斗(com共同+bal打，击→共同→共同打→战斗)

　　divide［di5vaid］v.分,划分,分开;分配;（by）除（di分开+vid+e分开）

　　enormous［i5nC:mEs］a.巨大的; 极大的(e出+norm规则，规范+ous形容词后缀→出了正常状态→巨大的，过分的)

　　finance［5fainAns］n.财政,金融v.为……提供资金（fin+ance→最后起作用的东西→资金）

　　foundation［faun5deiFEn］n.建立，设立，创办;地基；基金，捐款；机构(found基础+ation名词后缀→基础，地基)

　　impoverish［im5pCvEriF］v.使贫穷；使枯竭(im加强前缀+pover词根+ish动词后缀)；同根词：poverty （贫穷）←pover+ty名词后缀。

　　infrastructure［5infrE9strQktFE］n.基础结构，基础设施（infra内+struct+ure名词后缀→基础结构）

　　invasion［in5veiVEn］n.入侵,侵略,侵犯（in+vas+ion名词后缀）

　　investment［in5vestmEnt］n.投资,投资额

　　loom［lu:m］n.织布机,织机v.隐现,(危险、忧虑等)迫近

　　prejudice［5predVudis］n.偏见,成见;损害,侵害v.使抱偏见,损害（pre预先+judice→预先判断→偏见）

　　respect［ris5pekt］n./v.尊敬,尊重n.敬意,问候,关系,方面（re再+spect→反复看→尊敬）

　　responsible［ris5pCnsEbl］a.承担责任 ;（指人）可靠的, 可信赖的(response回应+ible形容词后缀→能回应的→负责任的)

　　sovereignty［5sCvrinti］n.主权；主权国家(sover+（r）eign+ty)，sover（=over）在上，reign统治，ty名词后缀，在上面统治；sovereign（统治的；统治者）←sover+（r）eign。

　　universal［ju:ni5vE:sEl］a.普遍的,全体的,通用的;宇宙的,世界的（univers+al形容词后缀）;universalize（v.使普遍化）即universal+ize