2007年考研《英語模擬考場》模擬試題(2)及答案

Text 4

 In promising to fuse media as diverse as television， telephone communication， video   games， music and data transmission， the era of digital convergence goes better than   yesterday's celebrated “information superhighway”. Yet achieving this single technology is far from straightforward. There are currently three major television broadcast standards， and they are all incompatible with each other. But this is nothing compared to the many technologies supporting the Internet， each with a different bandwidth and physical media. The problems faced in designing platforms and communication systems that will be   accepted across the world can appear insuperable. 

Even once global standards are assured， however， a further obstacle lies in wait. The   Internet is plagued by long， erratic response times because it is a pull-technology， driven   by patterns of user demands. Push technology， on the other hand， reverses the   relationship: servers simply send information to passive users， as in television and radio.   But if some form of combination between one-way television flow and interactive Internet is   to be the basis of our future media， it is hard to see how it could be operated. Moreover，   the problem of fusing Internet with television is also one of defining the services offered.   Information， entertainment and relaxation appear at first to be quite different needs.   Serious doubts remain over whether consumers will be interested in having to make the sort   of mental effort associated with computing while also settling down in front of a sitcom.

 Besides the issue of consumer habits， infrastructure costs are set to be immense， and   will have to be met by national states or the private sector before being passed on to users.   Platforms do not necessarily have to be expensive. The mobile phone is a good example of   how something that is technologically sophisticated can almost be given away， with its cost   recovered through service charges. Users are then coerced through clever marketing to   upgrade to newer phones with more features to reinforce their dependence. 

Whatever the outcome， it is obvious that technology will play an increasing part in our   everyday lives. Beyond technology， digital convergence embraces the services， industrial   practices and social behavior that form modern society. We have in our hands the   technology to construct the most sophisticated machines ever built， but if they are   unusable， simply because of their operating instructions， then recent lessons have taught   us they will not survive. Whatever we design must be simple， reliable and useful. Perhaps   this is where artificial intelligence will come in.  

36. By digital convergence， the writer means  

［A］ diversification of communication systems. 

［B］ integrating a wide range of means of media. 

［C］ adaptation of global standards to consumer habits. 

［D］ detaching entertainment from communications. 

37. In pointing out the problems faced in digital convergence， the author mainly employs   the technique of  

［A］ cause and effect analysis.                          ［B］ argumentation and comments. 

［C］ contrast and comparison.                           ［D］ enumeration and elaboration. 

38. By referring to the mobile phone， the author intends to show  

［A］ a solution to costs involved in the technology. 

［B］ the importance of catering to customers' needs. 

［C］ a trick imposed on users by telephone companies. 

［D］ the necessity of adding more features to phones. 

39. The author asserts that the success of digital convergence will ultimately depend upon  

［A］ considerable reduction of infrastructure costs. 

［B］ standardization of communications systems. 

［C］ practical designs by artificial intelligence. 

［D］ dismissal of conventional consumer habits. 

40. Towards the technology of digital convergence， the author's attitude can best be said to   be one of  

［A］ suspicion.                                                ［B］ optimism. 

［C］ frustration.                                               ［D］ pessimism.