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1、Unit10TheFantasticSpurtinTechnologyA.TofflerAlvinTofflerwritesaboutthefactthattechnologyisadvancingmuchfastertodaythaneverbeforeinhistory.Thesymbolsoftechnologyarenolongerfactorysmokestacksorassemblylines.Asweareheadedforthefuture,thepacewillquickenstillfurther.To
2、mostpeoplethetermtechnologyconjuresupimagesofsmokysteelmillsornoisymachines.PerhapstheclassicrepresentationoftechnologyisstilltheassemblylinecreatedbyHenryFordhalfacenturyagoandmadeintoasocialsymbolbyCharlieChaplininModernTimes.Thissymbol,however,hasalwaysbeeninad
3、equateandmisleading,fortechnologyhasalwaysbeenmorethanfactoriesandmachines.TheinventionofthehorsecollarinthemiddleagesledtomajorchangesinagriculturalmethodsandwasasmuchatechnologicaladvanceastheinventionoftheBessemerfurnacecenturieslater.Moreover,technologyinclude
4、stechniques,orwaystodothings,aswellasthemachinesthatmayormaynotbenecessarytoapplythem.Itincludeswaystomakechemicalreactionsoccur,waystobreedfish,plantforests,lighttheaters,countvotesorteachhistory.Theoldsymbolsoftechnologyareevenmoremisleadingtoday,whenthemostadva
5、ncedtechnologicalprocessesarecarriedoutfarfromassemblylinesorblastfurnaces.Indeed,inelectronics,inspacetechnology,inmostofthenewindustries,quietandcleansurroundingsarecharacteristic--evensometimesessential.Andtheassemblyline--theorganizationoflargenumbersofmentoca
6、rryoutsimplerepetitivefunctions--isoutdated.Itistimeforoursymbolsoftechnologytochange--tocatchupwiththequickeningchangeintechnologyitself.Thisaccelerationisfrequentlydramatizedbyabriefaccountoftheprogressintransportation.Ithasbeenpointedout,forexample,thatin6000BC
7、thefastesttransportationavailabletomanoverlongdistanceswasthecamelcaravan,averagingeightmilesperhour(mph).Itwasnotuntilabout1600BCwhenthechariotwasinventedthatthemaximumspeedwasraisedtoroughlytwentymilesperhour.Soimpressivewasthisinvention,sodifficultwasittoexceed
8、thisspeedlimit,thatnearly3,500yearslater,whenthefirstmailcoachbeganoperatinginEnglandin1784,itaveragedameretenmph.Thefirststeamlocomotive,introducedin18
