阅读理解。
The knowledge society will be a highly competitive one, for organizations and individuals alike.
Information technology, although only one of many new features of the next society, is already
having one hugely important effect: it is allowing knowledge to spread near-instantly , and making
it accessible to everyone. Given the ease and speed at which information travels, every institution
in the knowledge society-not only businesses, but also schools, universities, hospitals and increasingly
government agencies too-has to be globally competitive, even though most organizations will continue
to be local in their activities and in their markets. This is because the Internet will keep customers
everywhere informed on what is available anywhere in the world, and at what price.
This new knowledge economy will rely heavily on knowledge workers. At present, this term is
widely used to describe people with considerable theoretical knowledge and learning :doctors,
lawyers, teachers, accountants chemical engineers. But the most striking growth will be in “knowledge
technologists”: computer technicians, software designers, analysts in clinical labs, manufacturing
technologists, paralegals. These people are as much manual（体力劳动)workers and they are
knowledge workers; in fact, they usually spend far more time working with their hands than with
their brains, but their manual work is based on a substantial amount of theoretical knowledge which
can be acquired only through formal education ,not through an apprenticeship（学徒期). They
are not, as a rule, much better paid than traditional skilled workers, but they see themselves as
"professionals”, just as unskilled manual workers in manufacturing were the dominant social and
political force in the 21th century, knowledge technologists are likely to become the dominant
social-and perhaps also political-force over the next decades.
1. The chief reason for keen （激烈的）competition in the knowledge society is that _________.
A. organizations and individuals are easily influenced by information
B. customers keep track of new products worldwide
C. anyone can have access to knowledge anytime and anywhere
D. local organizations such as universities and hospitals will be globalized.
2. The quick spread of knowledge in the next society___________.
A. is based on information technology
B. results from a highly competitive society
C. is likely to increase information flow
D. will become the biggest problem to tackle
3. “Knowledge workers” mentioned in the essay most probably refer to ________.
A. those with primary and secondary education
B. those who work with hands rather than brains
C. those who have acquired theoretical knowledge through apprenticeship
D. those who have received higher education and got theoretical knowledge
4. All of the following are characteristic of “knowledge technologist” except that ________.
A. they spend more time on manual work than on mental work
B. they are equipped with a large amount of theoretical knowledge
C. they see themselves professionals rather than traditional skilled workers.
D. They acquire skills through traditional apprenticeship
5. The underlined word “dominant” in this passage probably means________.
A. most influential
B. most interesting
C. most diligent
D. quite available
