Think of those fleeting moments when you look out of an aeroplane window and realise that you are flying, higher than a bird. Now think of your laptop, thinner than a brown-paper envelope, or your cellphone in the palm of your hand. Take a moment or two to wonder at those marvels. You are the lucky inheritor of a dream come true.

The second half of the 20th century saw a collection of geniuses, warriors, entrepreneurs and visionaries labour to create a fabulous machine that could function as a typewriter and printing press, studio and theatre, paintbrush and gallery, piano and radio, the mail as well as the mail carrier. (41)___________.

The networked computer is an amazing device, the first media machine that serves as the mode of production, means of distribution, site of reception, and place of praise and critique. The computer is the 21st century’s culture machine.

But for all the reasons there are to celebrate the computer, we must also act with caution. (42) ___________. I call it a secret war for two reasons. First, most people do not realise that there are strong commercial agendas at work to keep them in passive consumption mode. Second, the majority of people who use networked computers to upload are not even aware of the significance of what they are doing.

All animals download, but only a few upload. Beavers build dams and birds make nests. Yet for the most part, the animal kingdom moves through the world downloading. Humans are unique in their capacity to not only make tools but then turn around and use them to create superfluous material goods— paintings, sculpture and architecture — and superfluous experiences —music, literature, religion and philosophy. (43) ___________.

For all the possibilities of our new culture machines, most people are still stuck in download mode. Even after the advent of widespread social media, a pyramid of production remains, with a small number of people uploading material, a slightly larger group commenting on or modifying that content, and a huge percentage remaining content to just consume. (44) ___________.

Television is a one-way tap flowing into our homes. The hardest task that television asks of anyone is to turn the power off after he has turned it on. (45) ___________.

What counts as meaningful uploading? My definition revolves around the concept of “stickiness” — creations and experiences to which others adhere.

[A] Of course, it is precisely these superfluous things that define human culture and ultimately what it is to be human. Downloading and consuming culture requires great skills, but failing to move beyond downloading is to strip oneself of a defining constituent of humanity.

[B] Applications like tumblr.com, which allow users to combine pictures, words and other media in creative ways and then share them, have the potential to add stickiness by amusing, entertaining and enlightening others.

[C] Not only did they develop such a device but by the turn of the millennium they had also managed to embed it in a worldwide system accessed by billions of people every day.

[D] This is because the networked computer has sparked a secretwar between downloading and uploading — between passive consumption and active creation — whose outcome will shape our collective future in ways we can only begin to imagine.

[E] The challenge the computer mounts to television thus bears little similarity to one format being replaced by another in the manner of record players being replaced by CD players.

[F] One reason for the persistence of this pyramid of production is that for the past half-century, much of the world’s media culture has been defined by a single medium — television — and television is defined by downloading.

[G] The networked computer offers the first chance in 50 years to reverse the flow, to encourage thoughtful downloading and, even more importantly, meaningful uploading.

答案解析

41.【答案】C

【解析】略读第一自然段得知这篇文章的主题是科技给人们的生活带来的便利，重点论述了媒介。此题空在末尾，那么通读空前的内容，可以找到特征词或者中心词"creat a fabulous machine"浏览七个选项，C项中的"develop such a device"刚好与此对应

42.【答案】D

【解析】此题空在了段落的中间，需要在空前和空后找关联词，空前出现了"reason"这个特征词，而空后出现了"war"这个特征词，浏览七个选项，D项的"because"和"war"刚好与此对应，所以答案选D.

43.【答案】A

【解析】此题空在段末，因此要在空前以及下一自然段的段首找关联词，浏览空前可以找到"superfluous material goods" ,而浏览下一自然段的句首可找到"download"这个词;那么浏览七个选项，答案A出现了"these superfluous things"，接下来也提及到了"download"，因此可以锁定答案A.

44.【答案】F

【解析】此题空在句末，所以需要浏览下空前以前下一个自然段的句首，通读空前的内容可以找到关联词"a pyramid of production remains,"，而下一个自然段的段首提到了"television"，那么浏览七个选项，跟此关联的有两项E和F,再继续分析，E项只有"television"这个词与空后对应，而F项不仅出现了"television"这个词，而且出现了"this pyramid of production"这个特征词，所以，答案为F.

45.【答案】G

【解析】此题空在段末，那么需要浏览下空前的句子，寻找关联词，在B和G之间进行选择，通读可知，空前的"flow"与G项的"the flow"是相对应的，B项的"applications"在文中没有提及，所以此题锁定答案G。