Unit Four

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Unit Four
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Teaching Objectives

• Enlarge vocabulary
• Talk about the Information Superhighway
• Learn to read for details
• Learn to write about the Information Age

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Sections
Section A The Telecommunications
Revolution Section B The Information
Superhighway Section C Privacy in Information
Age
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Section A
The Telecommunications Revolution
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Table of Contents
1. Background Information
2. Warming-up Activities
3. Text Analysis
4. Vocabulary and Structure
5. Vocabulary Testing
6. Translation Writing
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Background Information
Telecommunications
Telecommunications, from Greek, means
communications at a distance.
Telecommunications through voice, data, and image
communication is changing the world. Two major
trends have occurred in the technology that is
applicable to telecommunications. The first trend
has been the incredible increase in the
processing power of digital computers, namely,
dramatic decreases in physical size along with
equally dramatic increases in complexity, speed,
and capacity. The second trend has been the
explosive growth in transmission capacity through
the widespread use of optical fiber across
continents and under oceans. These two trends
have had impressive long-term consequences for
telecommunications around the world. The Internet
and the World Wide Web have already created a
global system for the access of information.
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Information age
The information age is an era of fundamental and
global change in intellectual, philosophical,
cultural and social terms. Todays information
age began with the telegraph. It was the first
instrument to transform information into
electrical form and transmit it reliably over
long distances. New techniques of encoding and
distributing digital information are pacing the
spread of the information age throughout society.
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Information superhighway
A name first used by (former) U.S. Vice
President Al Gore for the vision of a global,
high-speed communications network that will carry
voice, data, video, and other forms of
information all over the world, and that will
make it possible for people to send e-mail, get
up-to-the-minute news, and access business,
government and educational information. The
Internet is already providing many of these
features, via telephone networks, cable TV
services, online service providers, and
satellites. Who first created the idea of
constructing a superhighway? In 1955, Albert
Gore, then Tennessee Democratic senator, put
forward in the U.S. Congress the act of
interstate superhighway, which was later proved
to have greatly promoted the American economic
development. In 1991, his son, Al Gore, proposed
another acthigh performance computing act, HPCA.
For the first time, HPCA demanded high
performance computer and communications. The core
of the act was to set up a national research and
education network, NREN. 
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Warming-up Activities
Comprehension of the Text

• Why are developing countries investing great sums
  of money in telecommunications networks?
• 2. What does China hope to achieve? And what does
  Shanghai hope to achieve?
• 3. What do some people fear?

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Reference for Comprehension Questions (1)

• Their investments have arisen from the major
  factors as follows One is that the transfer of
  information has become a must in promoting the
  foreign and domestic investment another is that,
  with our world depending in a greater degree on
  information for its progress, it is natural for
  telecommunications to take up the role as a
  competitive power between countries and still
  another is that telecommunications determines to
  a large extent the all-dimensional development in
  both urban and rural areas.

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Reference for Comprehension Questions (1)

• China hopes to become an important part of the
  information superhighway. And Shanghai wants to
  realize its dream of becoming a major financial
  center.
• 3. Some people fear that some developing
  countries act too hastily or push themselves too
  hard in fulfilling their purposes. In some sense,
  there is reason to be anxious and worried about
  the fact. Since the U.S. and European countries
  have covered a long way to reach the present high
  level of development, it is of course no easy job
  for some developing countries to achieve it in
  one jump.

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Text analysis
Text main idea
Telecommunications is widely conceived as a key
to developing countries dream of jumping into
the modern world. Although there is some dispute
as to how fast they can push ahead with their
plans, different developing countries still are
seeking their own ways of leaping over their
backwardness with one jump in this direction.
Surely, they will catch up with developed
countries on the information superhighway as long
as they persist in their efforts.
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Text Structure
Para1-2 The advantages of telecommunications
technologies
Para 3 The questions
Para 4-10 Different solutions
Para 11 conclusion
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Main idea for Part I
Advanced telecommunications will boost
living standards in the developing world, speed
its step into Information Age, and accelerate the
rate of its economic development, etc.
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Developing technique (1)
Contrast (???)
It may take a decade for many countries in Asia,
Latin America, and Eastern Europe to improve
transportation, power supplies, and other
utilities. By installing optical fiber, digital
switches, and the latest wireless transmission
systems, a parade of urban centers and industrial
zones from Beijing to Budapest are stepping
directly into the Information Age. Modern
communications will give countries like China
and Vietnam a huge advantage over countries stuck
with old technology
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Main idea for Part II
This part puts forward a question for
consideration How fast to develop telecommunicati
ons technologies in developing countries?
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Developing technique (2)
Exemplification (???)
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Main idea for Part III
This part deals with how 6 different
countries or regions carry out their
telecommunications transformation. Each of them
tries to seek different ways out of its own
problems.
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Developing technique (3)
Comparison and contrast (???)
China has the money to invest. (Implied) China.
A winner. By the end of 1995, Chinas major
cities are getting the basic infrastructure to
become major parts of the information
superhighway. Telecommunications helps Shanghai
to realize its dream of becoming a top financial
center.
Russian economy is stuck in recession and it
barely has the money to even scratch the surface
of the problem. Russia. A loser. (Implied)
Nothing mentioned to show achievements so far.
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Vocabulary and Structure
words phrases
patterns

• to leap over
• to promise to do sth.
• to be stuck with
• to push ahead
• to be desperate for sth.
• to separate A from B
• to pump/pour sth. into
• to scratch the surface of sth.

• across the entire width and breadth of a place
• as compared to
• 3. to become the rage among
• 4. to move ahead
• in/with one jump
• to make a bold leap

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1. to leap over ??
words phrases
????
???????????????,?????
The power of love enables two peoples to leap
over time and space and live in harmony with each
other.
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2. to promise to do sth. ?????
????
??????
A seasonable snow promises to bless the crops in
the coming year.
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3. to be stuck/overcome with????/??
???????????????????,?????????????
????
The true meaning of light lies not in whether
there is any dark in your life but in whether or
not you are overcome with dark.
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4. to push ahead/forward (with)????(??)
?????????,?????????,???????
????
Once you have a goal set in mind, just push
forward with it, regardless of any hardships
involved.
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5. to separate A from B ??A?B
????
????,?????????????????
In general, the litmus test for separating
honesty from corruption in official circles is
money.
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6. to be desperate for sth./to do sth. ??
?????!???,???????????
????
Please save water! More and more places have been
desperate for water in recent years.
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7. to pump/pour sth. into
???/????
??????????????,????????????.
????
Education is not a matter of pumping facts into
students heads, but a matter of tapping their
intellectual resources to the fullest.
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8. to scratch the surface of sth. ????????
????
????????????,??????????
Post-graduates are supposed to be expert in their
areas of study, rather than to scratch the
surface of their fields.
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1. across the entire width and breadth of a place
??(??)??
patterns
?????,??????????????????
????
During the National Day, there is an atmosphere
of peace and happiness across the entire width
and breadth of China.
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2. as compared to ?????
???????7?30???,???5??,????,????????1?
????
Chinas two stock markets nose-dived on July 30,
each by over 5 , as compared to 1 rise at the
same time last year.
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3. to become the rage among ??????
????
????????????????????????????????
Many insiders agree that logging on to the
Internet through broadband networks will be all
the rage in the next decade.
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4. to make a bold leap ???????
???????????????????????????????
????
Modern society works miracles. It can enable a
person to make a leap from rags to riches
overnight.
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5. to move ahead ????
?????????,?????????,??????????
????
To move ahead in your career, you need to draw
more upon your brains than upon your body.
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6. in/with one jump/leap ???
????
??5????????,?????????????????????
The success of Shenzhou 5 in space-flight enabled
China to rank among the worlds most advanced in
space technology with one jump.
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Vocabulary Testing
Test I
Test II
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Test I (1)
Choose the best answer to each question.
1. The class remained ____ when the teacher asked
a formidable question. A) clumsy
B) deaf C) dumb D)
still 2. The captured criminals were ____ in
chains through the streets. A) exhibited
B) displayed C) paraded
D) revealed
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Test I (2)
3. As a summary, the long story was ____ into a
few sentences. A) condensed B)
condemned C) concealed D)
concentrated 4. She took an ____ course in
cooking before her marriage. A) integral
B) intentional C) intensive
D) intense
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Test I (3)
5. Deeply cursed with prison life, the prisoners
became ____ for breakout. A) discarded
B) disappointed C) intensive
D) desperate 6. Being very hungry, she
gave the two dishes a thorough ____. A)
script B) click C) lick
D) scrape
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Test I (4)
7. The problem with the country is how to lift
its economy out of ____. A) reservation
B) recreation C) reversion
D) recession 8. Be careful with a cat. It may
____ you if you make it angry. A) punch
B) scrape C) tear
D) scratch
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Test I (5)
9. He ____ much of his time in learning the new
language. A) invested B)
involved C) invented D)
integrated 10. The farmers were more anxious for
rain than the people in the city because they had
more at ____ A) danger B)
stake C) loss D)
threat
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Test II (1)
Fill in the blanks with the phrases or
expressions given below. Change the form where
necessary. choose between date from lag
behind push ahead separate from go for
leap over make of stick with pump into
1. My interest in stamp collecting ______ my
schooldays. 2. As far as prison reform is
concerned we ______ a lot of other countries for
years.
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Test II (2)
choose between date from lag behind push
ahead separate from go for leap over
make of stick with pump into
3. He said that he was going to ______ the
traditions established by his grandfather. 4. I
probably would not normally ______ a foreign car
but I really liked the steering on this one. 5.
The dog ______ the fence into the field. 6. Has
anyone got any suggestions as to how we can
______ things ______ ? Were rather behind on
our schedule.
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Test II (3)
choose between date from lag behind push
ahead separate from go for leap over
make of stick with pump into
7. They have been ______ money ______ the
business for some years without seeing any
result. 8. Karen walked across the field that
______ the house ______ the stables. 9. The
1,500 meter race next week will be a chance for
her to show what shes really ______ . 10. We
had to ______ leaving early or paying for a taxi.
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Key to Testing
Keys to test I
1. C 2. C 3. A 4.
C 5. D 6. C 7. D 8.
D 9. A 10. B
Keys to test II
1. dates form 2. lagged
behind 3. stick with
4. go for 5. leapt over
6. push ahead 7. pumping into
8. separated from 9. made of
10. choose between
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Translation (1)
1. Widespread access to information technology
promises to condense the time required to change
from labor-intensive assembly work to industries
that involve engineering, marketing and design.
?????????
????
?????????????? ?????????? ?????????????????????
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Translation (2)
2. Modern communications will give countries like
China and Vietnam a huge advantage over countries
stuck with old technologies.
??????
???
?????????????????????????????????????
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Translation (3)
3. There is little dispute that communications
will be a key factor separating the winners from
the losers.
?????????
????
????,??????????????????????
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Translation (4)
4. The economy of the country is stuck in
recession and it barely has the money to scratch
the surface of the problem.
????
???????
??????????,?????????????????
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Writing
2002.6 ?????????
Student Use of Computers 1. ?????1990?,1995?,2000?
?????????????, ?????? 2. ????????????(????????,??
????????????) 3. ????????????????????????
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Sample Writing(1)
Student Use of Computers The computer is
becoming a fact of life. College students are
using it as one of their chief means of
study.students are spending increasingly more
time on the computer. According to figures
available about a known university, in 1990 the
average time a student spent on the computer was
only one hour per week. The number rose to about
three hours in 1995. And in 2000, the number
reached a dramatic high of 20 hours per week.
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Sample Writing(2)
The rise is possibly of two reasons. The first is
the price. Ten years ago, the price of computers
was prohibitively high. This kept the computer
out of the reach of schools and ordinary homes.
In recent years, with the lowing of the price the
computer is no longer a luxury. The second reason
is that useful software is becoming readily
available. With the computer students can
literally do everything.
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Sample Writing(3)
Beneficial and convenient as the computer is,
students should be aware that the human teacher
can and should never be replaced by the machine.
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Section B
The Information Superhighway
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Table of Contents
1. Reading comprehension
2. Vocabulary study
3. Vocabulary test
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Reading Comprehension
Task I
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Task I (1)
Directions Read the following sentences
carefully,and decide whether they are true (T) or
false (F)according to the passage.
1. If you sign up for a language course, a tutor
will give you feedback by a computer. 2. People
have talked a lot about the information
superhighway, and they share the same opinion
about what the information superhighway is. 3.
It is technological advances that make easier
the storage and rapid transmission of information
into homes and offices.
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Task I (2)

• The information superhighway has got its name
  because the greatly increased volume and speed of
  data transmission is much like a highway with
  many lanes which allow more cars to move at a
  faster speed than a two-lane highway.
• The Internet and information superhighway will
  make routine the electronic transmission of data
  in the same formats.
• Some people are afraid that only rich people will
  gain the profits brought by the data highway.

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Task I (3)

• 7. To get high-quality education and a good
  job, it is necessary for poor people to have the
  right to acquire and use high technology.
• 8. While they denied they were avoiding the
  poor, the four regional phone companies were more
  concerned with making profits than providing
  access to the poor.

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Key to Task
Key to Task I 1.F 2.F
3.T 4.T 5.F
6.T 7.T 8.T
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Vocabulary study
words phrases
1. sign up 2. refer to 3. be compared to 4. hence
5. specialize in 6. come up with 7. have access
to 8. crucial
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1. sign up (??????)??,??
?????????
????
They have signed up for the battle against AIDS.
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2. refer to ???,??
???????????????
????
The term arts usually refers to humanities and
social sciences.
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3. be compared to ??
???????????????
????
Mans life is often compared to a candle.
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4. hence adv.??,??
????????????????,???????????
????
A good working environment improves peoples
performance, and hence productivity.
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5. specialize in??????
??????????????
????
We went to a restaurant that specializes in
Chinese food.
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6. come up with ??,??
??????????????
????
He couldnt come up with an appropriate answer
just at the time.
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7. have access to????(???)???,???????
??????????????????????
????
Many divorced fathers only have access to their
children at weekends.
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8. crucial a.?????,???
?????????????
????
Fine weather is crucial to the success of an
expedition.
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Vocabulary test
Test I
Test II
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Test I (1)
Complete the following sentences with the words
given below. Change the form when necessary. dose
hence feedback tutors spokesman
crucial synthetic terminal vacuum
editions
1. The _____ from the customers who have tried
the new soap is very positive. 2. The regional
_____ of the paper contain specific information
for that area. 3. The label on the bottle says
the _____ is three of the pills with every meal.
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Test I (2)
dose hence feedback tutors spokesman
crucial synthetic terminal vacuum
editions
4. During her illness she continued her school
work with home _____ and returned in June to take
her exams. 5. Please do not leave any of your
luggage unattended in the _____ building. 6. A
better working environment improves peoples
performance, and _____ higher productivity(???). 7
. The withdrawal of troops from the area has
created a security _____ which will need to be
filled.
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Test I (3)
dose hence feedback tutors spokesman
crucial synthetic terminal vacuum
editions
8. Mr.Smith was the _____ for the environmental
protection group Greenpeace. 9. The rug is made
from a mixture of wool and _____ fibers. 10.
This will be a _____ decision for the education
services because it sets the standard for all
future years.
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Test II (1)
Fill in the blanks with the phrases or
expressions given below. Change the form where
necessary. refer to hear of specialize in
come up with rely on fall behind
devote to make up of compare to sign up
1. I think youd better consult my colleague,
Mr.Linton-he _____ international law. 2. Children
seem to learn more interesting things _____when
we were at school. 3. During the voyage we
_____the radio for news of the outside world. 4.
Only half our foreign earnings come from
industry the rest is _____financial services and
tourism. 5. This is the first time Ive _____ the
problem.
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Test II (2)
refer to hear of specialize in come up
with rely on fall behind devote to
make up of compare to sign up
6. Of all the ships crossing the Atlantic, his
ship was so slow that it _____ far _____the
others. 7. Although she didnt mention any names,
everyone knew who she was _____. 8. Theyve
finally _____ a solution that pleased all. 9. She
has _____ all her energy _____ the care of
homeless people. 10. The band have just finished
a highly successful tour, and several record
companies have offered to _____them _____.
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Key to tests
Keys to test I.
1. feedback 2. editions
3. dose 4.
tutors 5. terminal 6.
hence 7. vacuum 8.
spokesman 9. synthetic
10. crucial
Keys to test II.
1. specializes in 2. compared to 3.
relied on 4. made up of 5. heard
of 6. fell behind 7. referring to
8. come up with 9. devoted to 10.
sign up
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Section C
Privacy in the Information Age
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Reading Comprehension (1)
Choose the correct version of each statements
below so that each reflects what the author
stated in the article.
1. One positive/negative aspect of the smart card
is that sometimes it is regarded as a crucial
factor in making decisions whether or not to do
business with you. 2. Personal information gets
harder /easier to protect as more companies and
government agencies build computerized databases
that are easily linked.
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Reading comprehension (2)
3. Companies and the government use the database
for the same/different purposes. 4. The database
trend started with Ronald Reagans/George Bushs
stories of people on welfare cheating the
government. 5. Saving the public from cheats and
criminals has been an ineffective/effective
excuse for cutting back everyones personal
privacy. 6. If the government and police agencies
have capital chip in their machines, they could
monitor electronic communications/would invite
terrorists and criminals to plot together.
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Reference for comprehension Questions
1. negative 2. harder 3. different 4. Ronald
Reagans 5. effective 6. could monitor electronic
communications