Part Three

In such a changing , complex society formerly simple solutions to informational needs become complicated. Many of life' s problems which were solved by asking family members, friends or colleagues are beyond the capability of the extended family to resolve. Where to turn for expert information and how to determine which expert advice to accept are questions facing many people today.

In addition to this, there is the growing mobility of people since World War Ⅱ. As families move away from their stable community, their friends of many years, their extended family relationships, the informal flow of information is cut off, and with it the confidence that information will be available when needed and will be trustworthy and reliable. The almost unconscious flow of information about the simplest aspects of living can be cut off. Thus, things once learned subconsciously through the casual communications of the extended family must be consciously learned .

Adding to societal changes today is an enormous stockpile of information. The individual now has more information available than any generation, and the task of finding that one piece of information relevant to his or her specific problem is complicated , time-consuming and sometimes even overwhelming .

Coupled with the growing quantity of information is the development of technologies which enable the storage and delivery of more information with greater speed to more locations than has ever been possible before. Computer technology makes it possible to store vast amounts of data in machine-readable files, and to program computers to locate specific information .Telecommunications developments enable the sending of messages via television, radio, and very shortly, electronic mail to bombard people with multitudes of messages. Satellites have extended the power of communications to report events at the instant of occurrence. Expertise can be shared world wide through teleconferencing , and problems in dispute can be settled without the participants leaving their homes and/or jobs to travel to a distant conference site. Technology has facilitated the sharing of information and the storage and delivery of information, thus making more information available to more people.

In this world of change and complexity , the need for information is of greatest importance. Those people who have accurate , reliable up-to-date information to solve the day-to-day problems, the critical problems of their business, social and family life, will survive and succeed. "Knowledge is power" may well be the truest saying and access to information may be the most critical requirement of all people.

9. The word "it" （line 3, para. 2）most probably refers to__.

（A）the lack of stable communities

（B）the breakdown of informal information channels

（C）the increased mobility of families

（D）the growing number of people moving from place to place

10. The main problem people may encounter today arises form the fact that__.

（A）they have to learn new things consciously

（B）they lack the confidence of securing reliable and trustworthy information

（C）they have difficulty obtaining the needed information readily

（D）they can hardly carry out casual communications with an extended family.

11 . From the passage we can infer that__.

（A）electronic mail will soon play a dominant role in transmitting messages

（B）it will become more difficult for people to keep secrets in an information era

（C）people will spend less time holding meetings or conferences

（D）events will be reported on the spot mainly through satellites

12. We can learn from the last paragraph that __.

（A）it is necessary to obtain as much

（B）people should make the best use of the information

（C）we should realize the importance of accumulating information .

（D）it is of vital importance to acquire needed information efficiently

Unit 2（1995）Part 3

重点词汇：

难句解析：

①Many of life's problems which were solved by asking family members, friends or colleagues are beyond the capability of the extended family to resolve.

本句的主干是Many life's problems... are beyond the capability...。problems后面是一个由which引导的定语从句，而capability后面也是修饰成分。

首先要理解be beyond the capability的意思。在考研的阅读中beyond引导的各种短语层出不穷，这里的意思是“在……的能力之外”。另外，extended family是指“扩展型家庭，几代同堂或者是包含各种亲戚关系的家庭”。

②Where to turn for expert information and how to determine which expert advice to accept are questions facing many people today.

本句的主语由两个并列的结构Where to turn for expert information和how to determine which expert advice to accept构成，表语是questions，后面的facing many people today修饰questions。

首先要注意断句，再看清复杂的主语就能够理解本句的意思，另外注意turn for相当于ask for。

③As families move away from their stable commUnity, their friends of many years, their extended family relationships, the informal flow of information is cut off, and with it the confidence that information will be available when needed and will be trustworthy and reliable.

本句较难，首先应该看到主句就是the informal flow of information is cut off，前面的部分是一个as引导的伴随/原因从句，而在主句后面的只是一个名词性的词组，其核心词是the confidence，前面的with it是个介词结构修饰the confidence，后面的that information will be available when needed and will be trustworthy and reliable只不过是the confidence的同位语，为了方便理解，我们也可以在句末的地方加一个“is gone”，这样就可以把主句后面的部分理解为一个句子：the confidence is gone。

首先要看清句子结构，另外注意and with it the confidence中的it指代的是整个主句the informal flow of information is cut off。

④Thus, things once learned subconsciously through the casual communications of the extended family must be consciously learned.

本句的主干就是things... must be consciously learned。things后面有一个定语从句。

看清句子结构，并且注意subconsciously与consciously之间的对比。

⑤The individual now has more information available than any generation, and the task of finding that one piece of information relevant to his or her specific problem is complicated, time-consuming, and sometimes even overwhelming.

本句由两个并列的子句构成，之间以and连接。前面的有一个more... than...的结构，而后面的主干是the task is complicated, time-consuming, and sometimes even overwhelming。主语task后面的介词of的宾语比较长。

看清句子结构，可以把它一分为二，同时注意最后的三个形容词有一定的递进意味。另外注意that one piece of information中的that用来强调one piece of information。

⑥Telecommunications developments enable the sending of messages via television, radio, and very shortly, electronic mails to bombard people with multitudes of messages.

本句的主语是telecommunications developments，谓语是enable，主要应该看清enable的宾语是两个并列成分：the sending of messages via television，radio和very shortly, electronic mails to bombard people with multitudes of messages。

本句的阅读重点在断句，一定不能把television，radio，electronic mails看成是介词via的三个并列宾语。如果这样理解，那么后面的题目是做不对的。另外，虽然bombard一词超纲，我们通过其基本词形与bomb类似也能猜出其意思。

⑦Expertise can be shared world wide through teleconferencing, and problems in dispute can be settled without the Participants leaving their homes and/or jobs to travel to a distant conference site.

本句由两个结构相仿的子句用and连接而成，它们的结构都是sth. can be done。后面的部分有一个介词without结构，比较复杂。

注意看清句子结构，里面一些词汇如expertise（专家知识），teleconferencing（远程会议）等，我们都可以用构词法把其意思推出来。

⑧"Knowledge is power" may well be the truest saying and access to information may be the most critical requirement of all people.

本句由两个结构相仿的子句用and连接而成，前面一个的主语是个从句Knowledge is power，后面的主语是access to information。

注意看清句子结构，同时注意断句。

试题解析：

9．【正确答案】[B]

第二段指出，第二次世界大战以后，人口的流动性（mobility）变大，一个家庭离开了自己原来的居住区，离开了多年的朋友，不再住在大家庭里（extended family指：三世或四世同堂的家庭），这样，对这个家庭来说，日常的（informal）信息交流没有了（is cut off）。随着日常的信息交流渠道的消失（the breakdown of informal information channels），人们的信心也没有了：他们过去相信需要时总能得到可信可靠的信息。A意为：社会缺乏稳定。C意为：家庭增加了流动性。D意为：越来越多的人流动不定。可见，[A]、[C]、[D]表达的内容近似，因此，都不对。而且，如果它们中任何一个正确，那么，原文句中the confidence就要从肯定方面理解，即：人口的流动性使人们更有信心……，这显然与原文第二段表达的内容是相矛盾的。

10．【正确答案】 [C]

意为：他们对所需的信息不能唾手可得。readily在此不是“有准备地”之意，而是“随时随地”之意。原文第二段指出，随着社会的流动性，人们间的日常的信息交流不存在了。过去一些生活的最基本方面（the simplest aspects）的信息交流几乎是不自觉（或无意识）地（unconscious）进行的，但是现在却不行了，过去下意识地（subconsciously）——随处随时地——可以通过大家庭内部的日常（casual）交流所了解到的（learn）信息现在必须有意识地去了解（或获得）。第二段指出，除了社会的变化以外，现代社会信息的积累量（stockpile）大增，这使得寻找相关信息的过程变得更繁琐，更花时间（time-consuming），有时也很迫切。第三段的最后一句在总结全段时也指出：技术使