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 __1__ does exist today. My wife and I lectured about this looming danger twenty years ago. What was less __2__ then, however, were the new, positive __3__ that work against the digital divide. __4__,there are reasons to be __5__.
There are technological reasons to hope the digital divide will narrow. As the Internet becomes more and more __6__, it is in the interest of business to universalize access-after all, the more people online, the more potential __7__ there are. More and more __8__, afraid their countries will be left __9__, want to spread Internet access. Within the next decade or two, one to two billion people on the planet will be __10__ together. As a result, I now believe the digital divide will __11__ rather than widen in the years ahead. And that is very good news because the Internet may well be the most powerful tool for __12__ world poverty that we’ve ever had.
Of course, the use of the Internet isn’t the only way to __13__ poverty. And the Internet is not the only tool we have. But it has __14__ potential.
To __15__ advantage of this tool, some poor countries will have to get over their outdated anti-colonial prejudices __16__ respect to foreign investment. Countries that still think foreign investment is a/an __17__ of their sovereignty might well study the history of __18__ (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 __19__ America’s Second Wave infrastructure-__20__ roads, harbors, highways, ports and so on-were built with foreign investment.
__1. A) divide B) information C) world D) lecture
__2. A) obscure B) visible C) invisible D) indistinct
__3. A) forces B) obstacles C) events D) surprises
__4. A) Seriously B) Entirely C) Actually D) Continuously
__5. A) negative B) optimistic C) pleasant D) disappointed
__6. A) developed B) centralized C) realized D) commercialized
__7. A) users B) producers C) customers D) citizens
__8. A) enterprises B) governments C) officials D) customers
__9. A) away B) for C) aside D) behind
__10. A) netted B) worked C) put D) organized
__11. A) decrease B) narrow C) neglect D) low
__12. A) containing B) preventing C) keeping D) combating
__13. A) win B) detail C) defeat D) fear
__14. A) enormous B) countless C) numerical D) big
__15. A) bring B) keep C) hold D) take
__16. A) at B) with C) of D) for
__17. A) offence B) investment C) invasion D) insult
__18. A) construction B) facility C) infrastructure D) institution
__19. A) why B) where C) when D) how
__20. A) concerning B) concluding C) according D) including
参考答案：
1.A 由文中第一行的digital divide得出答案。
2.B obscure模糊的，不清楚的;visible看得见的，明显的;invisible看不见的;indistinct不清楚的，模糊的。空格前的less已有否定意义
3.A force力量，武力;obstacle障碍;event事件;surprise惊奇，诧异。句意：现在有新的、乐观的力量来对抗数字鸿沟。
4.C seriously认真地;entirely完全的;actually实际上;continuously 连续地。
5.B negative消极的;optimistic乐观的;pleasant令人愉快的; disappointed令人失望的。前文说有积极的力量在对抗数字鸿沟的不利因素，因此，实 际上我们有理由保持乐观的态度。
6.D develop发展;centralize集中;realize认识到;commercialize使商业化，由下文“网络有利于商业途径的普及”，可知此处表述的意思是网络越来越商业化。in the interest of...为了...的利益
7.C user使用者;producer生产者;customer消费者;citizen公民。句意：越多的人上网就有越多的潜在消费者。
8.B enterprise企业，事业;government政府;official官员;句意：越来越多的政府害怕他们的国家...
9.D leave behind 留下，超过
与leave相关的短语：leave aside把某事搁置一边
leave out 省去，遗漏，不考虑
leave off 停止，不再穿
10.A 网络把人们联系在一起，选netted
11.B decrease减少，narrow变窄;neglect忽视，疏忽;low降低 句意：因此，我现在认为数字鸿沟是在变窄而不是在拓宽
12.D contain包含，容纳;prevent防止，阻止;keep保留，保持;combat战斗，搏斗
13.C win赢得;detail详述，细说;defeat击败，战胜;fear畏惧。
14.A enormous巨大的;countless无数的;numerical数字的。potential作名词为不可数，不能用countless修饰，big一般表示尺寸、数字、范围上的大。
15.D take advantage of 利用
16.B with respect to 关于，至于 with也可换成in.表示关于的还有with regard to,concerning等。
17.C offence冒犯;investment投资;invasion入侵;insult侮辱
18.C construction建筑;facility设备;infrastructure基础设施;institution公共机构，制度。从后文中出现的infrastructure可以轻易得到答案。
19.A 表语从句，表示原因，“这也就是为什么...”
20.D concerning关于;concluding结束的;according根据;including包括