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1、TheInformationSuperhighwayAreyoutootiredtogotothevideostorebutyouwanttoseethemovieBeautyandtheBeastathome?Wanttolistentoyourfavoriteguitarplayer'slatestjazzcassette?Needsomenewreadingmaterial,likeamagazineorbook?Noproblem.JustsitdowninfrontofyourhomecomputerorTVandenterwhatyouwant,whenyouwantit,f
2、romanelectroniccataloguecontainingthousandsoftitles.YourschoolhasnoprofessorsofJapanese,alanguageyouwanttolearnbeforevisitingJapanduringthecomingsummerholiday.Don'tworry.Justsignupforthelanguagecourseofferedbyaschoolinanotherdistrictorcity,havethelatesteditionofthecourseteachingmaterialssenttoyou
3、rcomputer,andattendbyvideo.Ifyouneedextrahelpwithatranslationassignmentoryourpronunciation,atutorcangiveyoufeedbackviayourcomputer.Welcometotheinformationsuperhighway.Whilenearlyeveryonehasheardoftheinformationsuperhighway,evenexpertsdifferonexactlywhatthetermmeansandwhatthefutureitpromiseswilllo
4、oklike.Broadlyspeaking,however,thesuperhighwayreferstotheunionoftoday'sbroadcasting,cable,video,telephone,andcomputerandsemiconductorindustriesintoonelargeall-connectedindustry.Directingtheunionaretechnologicaladvancesthathavemadeiteasiertostoreandrapidlytransmitinformationintohomesandoffices.Fib
5、er-opticcable,forexample—madeupofhair-thinglassfibers—isatremendouslyefficientcarrierofinformation.Lasersshootinglightthroughglassfibercantransmit250,000timesasmuchdataasastandardtelephonewire,ortensofthousandsofparagraphssuchasthisoneeverysecond.Thegreatlyincreasedvolumeandspeedofdatatransmissio
6、nthatthesetechnologiespermitcanbecomparedtothewayinwhichahighwaywithmanylanesallowsmorecarstomoveatfasterspeedsthanatwo-lanehighway—hence,theinformationsuperhighway.TheclosestthingtoaninformationsuperhighwaytodayistheInternet,thesystemoflinkedcomputernetworksthatallowsupto25millionpeoplein135coun
7、triestoexchangeinformation.ButwhiletheInternetprimarilymoveswords,theinformationsuperhighwaywillsoonmakeroutinetheelectronictransmissionofdatainotherformats,suchasaudiofilesandimages.Thatmeans,forexample,thatadoctorinE
