Unit 4

1. Unit 4 The Telecommunications Revolution

2. Background Information: Telecommunications Telecommunications means “communications at a distance”. Telecommunications through voice, data, and image communication is changing the world. The ease of accessing information and people anywhere at anytime is having major impacts on society, business, and finance. For more information, visit http://www.privateline.com/maucal/one.html

3. Background Information: Optical fiber often refers to the medium and the technology associated with the transmission of information as light pulses along a glass or plastic wire or fiber. Optical fiber carries much more information than conventional copper wire and is in general not subject to electromagnetic interference and the need to retransmit signals.

4. Background Information: Information Age refers to a time when information is very important and easy to get. The Information Age is an era of fundamental and global change in intellectual, philosophical, cultural and social terms. Beginning with telegraph, new techniques of encoding and distributing digital information are pacing the spread of the Information Age throughout the society.

5. Background Information: The information superhighway can be understood to be a highway which has computer technology and modern communication technology serving as the base of the road and fiber-optic cables serving as the surface of the road. The vehicles are the multimedia machines equipped with computer, television and telephone. For more information, please visit http://www.abc.net.au/http/sfist/shwy0.htm.

6. Background Information: BellSouth is a telecommunications company in the U.S. that mainly serves the southern states. Its business ranges from voice (such as local and long-distance telephone and wireless) to data (computer networks) services. For more information, please visit http://www.bellsouth.com.

7. Part 1 (Para. 1-2 ): A general introduction: 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. Text Structure Analysis: Part II (Para. 3): This part puts forward a question for consideration: How fast to develop telecommunications technologies in developing countries? Part III (Para. 4-10): 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. Part IV (Para. 11): The author concludes the article with favorable remarks on the revolution of telecommunications.

8. Summary of the Text Surely, they will catch up with developed countries on the information superhighway as long as they persist in their efforts. Today’s 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. 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.

9. Words and Expressions

10. 1. to boost living standards: make sth increase; praise and publicize to make sth more pupular 提高生活水准 (para. 1) 1. L • There is nothing like winning to boost the morale of players. 没有什么比在比赛中获胜更能提高运动员的士气。 • Her books have been boosted in The Observer recently. 她的书近来得到了《观察者》杂志的推荐。

11. 2. Places that until recently were deaf and dumb are rapidly acquiring up-to-date telecommunications that will let them promote both internal and foreign investment. (para. 1) • Sth./Sb. that/who until recently/formerly/ in the past was/did… is now…(that/which will…) 某事／某人不久前／从前还······，如今却正······(，这将······) • Industries that formerly were ignored are now given more attention, which will accelerate the development of economy.

12. 3. utility:a service provided for the public; the quality of being useful (para2) • Rescue teams worked desperately to restore utilities in the area shattered by the hurricane. 救援队竭尽全力恢复该地区被飓风摧毁的设施。 • This information is of the highest utility to a historian. 该信息对历史学家来说十分有价值。

13. economic: relating to economyeconomical: be careful with money (para.2) • Economic conditions are more favorable. 经济形势更加有利。 • People are having to be as economical as possible. 人们只好尽可能地节省。

14. 5. access to: opportunity or right to use, see or reach (sth) (Para2) • Only two men in the company have access to the secret records. 公司里只有两个人有权查看秘密记录。 • The tax inspector gained access to the company files. 税务稽查员拥有、得到查看公司文件的权力。

15. 6. be stuck with:have no choice about dealing with sb/sth (Para2) • Shall we be stuck with the chattering old lady until the end of the holiday? 我们得一直等到假度完了才能摆脱这位喋喋不休的老太太吗？ • Duh. Unless you want to be stuck with the same car till it 4)croaks! 废话。除非你想开到它报废为止！

16. 7. desperate: needing or wanting sth very much; extremely serious or dangerous (Para3) • I was absolutely desperate to see her. 我简直太想见到她了。 • The children are in desperate need of love and attention. 孩子们急需得到照顾和关爱。

17. 8. peak: n, the highest point; v, reach the highest point (Para6) • Demand for coal is at its peak in January and February. 一、二月份是对煤的需求量最大的月份。 • Oil production peaked in the early 1980s. 在20世纪80年代，石油生产创新高。

18. 9. pump sth. into:spend much money to make sth successful (Para7) • Education is not a matter of pumping facts into students’ heads, but a matter of tapping their intellectual resources to the fullest. 教育并非向学生头脑里灌输事实,而是最大限度地开发其智力。

19. 10. stake: n, an interest or concern; money risked on sth, bet (para7) • a controlling/majority/minority stake 控制股/多数股/少数股 • They were playing cards for high stakes. 他们在玩高赌注的牌。

20. 9. across the entire width and breadth of a place:the entire place(Para9) • During the National Day, there is an atmosphere of peace and happiness across the entire width and breadth of China. 国庆节期间，神州大地到处充满着祥和、幸福的气息。

21. 10. disposal:the power to use sth; act of getting rid of sth (para8) • During their visit I put my car at their disposal. 在他们来访期间，我把汽车交给他们随意使用。 • Please see to the disposal of that rubbish. • 请把那堆垃圾清理掉。

22. 11. to become the rage among…:to be very popular (para 9) • Many insiders agree that logging on to the Internet through broadband networks will be all the rage in the next decade. 许多业内人士认为利用宽带网登录国际互联网在未来十年将会非常流行。

23. 12. keep pace with: change quickly in response to sth that is changing(Para10) • Earnings have not kept pace with inflation. 收入的增长赶不上通货膨胀。 • Any country which fails to keep pace with these developments will soon be in trouble. 不能跟上这些发展的国家不久就会碰到麻烦。

24. 13. Lag behind (Para11): fail to remain level with; be slower than • Production is lagging behind last year’s total. • 今年的总产量落后于去年。 • He’s lagging behind a bit—I think we’d better wait for him to catch us up. • 他落后在后边了，我想我们最好等他赶上来。

25. Questions for discussion: 1. What do you know about hi-tech? 2. What does high-tech mean to college students?

26. Writing: A Campaign Speech You are required to write a letter in reply to a friend’s inquiry about applying for admission to your college or university. You should write at least 120 words and base your composition on the outline given in Chinese below:

27. Outline: 1. 你认为自己具备了什么条件（能力、性格、爱好等）可以胜任学生会主席的工作 2. 如果当选，你将为本校同学做些什么