How Important Is Knowledge Knowledge Makes the Difference between Poverty and Wealth Forty years ago, Ghana and the Republic of Korea had about the same income per capita. By 1990, Korea’’s income was six times higher than Ghana’’s. While part of the difference is due to more investment and more workers, half of the difference is attributed to Korea’’s greater success in organizing and using knowledge.’’Knowledge Makes the Difference between Sickness and Health Knowledge doesn’’t only mean higher economic growth and higher incomes. It can also mean a better quality of life, such as a cleaner environment and better health. In recent decades, infant mortality rates have declined sharply for people in all income groups. Even very poor families suffer fewer infant deaths today than equally poor families suffered ten years ago. Reason: the advance of knowledge has made possible new drugs and vaccines, better sanitation practices, and more effective public health campaigns.What Kind of Knowledge Our report focuses on two types of knowledge that are especially important to development. First, technical knowledge or simply know-how. Examples are nutrition and birth control, engineering and accounting. Poor countries and poor people have less know-how than others, and these knowledge gaps make it harder for people to escape poverty. Second, knowledge about attributes or characteristics, such as the purity of milk, the diligence of a worker, the solvency (偿付能力) of a firm, and the security of a bank. When this information is lacking, markets function badly ―or fail. We call the difficulties arising from lack of this type of knowledge information problems. Information problems are often worse in developing countries and they especially hurt the poor.Knowledge Gaps and Information Problems in the Green Revolution The Green Revolution illustrates how dealing with both types of problems can improve people’’s lives. The first steps in the Green Revolution involved narrowing knowledge gaps ― research to develop new seed and techniques, and teach the new techniques to farmers. But the potential of the Green Revolution could not be dug up unless poor farmers obtained loans to buy new seeds and fertilizer. As we will see, credit for the poor is a classic information problem. Lack of credit and other information problems turned out to be as important and difficult as the original agricultural research. One study in India found that for a typical family with a small parcel of land, the loss of potential income over five years from slow adoption and inefficient use of high-yielding varieties was nearly four times its annual income before the introduction of the new seeds. As these problems were solved, through research, agricultural extension services and later through micro credit, the Green Revolution indeed helped the poor. Incomes of small farmers almost doubled and the incomes of landless laborers ― the poorest of the poor ― more than doubled. The two types of problem often overlap and interact, as in the case of the Green Revolution. To narrow knowledge gaps ― both between and within countries ― it is necessary to know how knowledge can be acquired, how it can be absorbed, and how it can be communicated.Acquiring Knowledge Most new knowledge is being created in richer countries, where spending on research and development is the highest. Fortunately, developing countries don’’t need to re-invent the light bulb, or the computer, or the vaccine for measles. In many cases, tapping global knowledge will be quickest and easiest way to narrow knowledge gaps. How Foreign direct investment, trade, and ― in an era of strengthened intellectual property rights ― licensing are all important mechanisms for acquiring knowledge from abroad. And countries should not neglect the knowledge in their own backyard, such as traditional knowledge about ecosystems and medicinal plants. China, Brazil, India and Korea are building their own research capacity, to complement the acquisition of knowledge from abrade.Absorbing Knowledge Education is more important than ever before. In the past 20 years, the share of medium and high-technology goods in world trade has more than doubled, to half of world trade. Basic education remains crucial, but it is no longer enough. To compete globally, a country’’s workforce must include people with advanced technical training and higher education. At the household level, too, education is crucial. It is well known that educated women have healthier children and that farmers with more schooling are quicker to adopt new techniques. Despite great changes, too many poor people ― especially women ― remain illiterate. In low-income countries, four out of ten women do not know how to read.Communicating Knowledge Falling communication costs offer new opportunities to cope with these old problems. Computing power and telephone lines cost only one ten-thousandth of what they cost two decades ago. Yet millions of people remain isolated. In the U.S. there are more than 600 telephone lines for every 1,000 people. But in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, there are only 20 telephone lines for every 1,000 people. The problem isn’’t lack of demand. Worldwide about 28 million households and businesses in developing countries are on waiting lists for a telephone line. Many more would gladly pay if only service were available. Breaking up monopolies and introducing more competition can help to increase the supply of phones. In Ghana the number of phone lines increased by 25 percent in the first year after the market was opened to competition. Chile used an innovative scheme to award subsidies to companies that install pay phones in remote villages. By the end of this year almost everybody in Chile will have access to a phone. Even if knowledge gaps were closed entirely, with everyone in the world having the same access to know-how as well-educated people in rich countries, people in poorer countries would still face more serious information problems. Knowledge about attributes ― the quality of a product or the solvency of a firm ― cannot be stored for long. It must be generated on the spot and constantly refreshed. Many of the institutions needed to collect and spread this information are weak or lacking in developing countries. Information problems are especially important in three areas: poverty as is discussed above, finance, and environment.Finance The financial crisis in East Asia is clear reminder of the severity of information problems and the need to develop institutions to deal with them. By now the story is familiar. A build-up of short-term debt inevitably exposes a country to risk. But why was the withdrawal of funds so great Part of the answer lies with inadequate information: depositors, unable to distinguish good banks from bad ones, withdrew their money from all banks; investors, unable to distinguish good firms from bankrupt ones, dumped the shares of all companies. The importance of good accounting standards and the disclosure of information has now been revealed in the worst way possible. Part of the solution then lies in standardized balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements, loan loss provisions, realistic valuation of collateral (抵押品) and so on. Argentina has greatly strengthened its financial sector by adopting a "multiple eyes" approach that involves as many agents as possible in monitoring bank behavior. Capital adequacy ratios are a stiff 11.5 percent; foreign banks hold 45 percent of banking assets, the central bank provides on-line information about companies’’ balance sheets and income statements, and overall supervision of the banks has been greatly strengthened.Environment Information problems underlie many environmental problems, because information about environmental concerns is often unavailable. Some governments have discovered that by gathering and disclosing this information, they can make unexpected progress on tough issues. In Indonesia, the government created incentives for firms to reduce pollution by rating factories’’ environmental performance, from black for the worst water polluters to gold for the very cleanest. In barely a year, one-third of the firms found to be in violation of environmental laws―some of which had been polluting for years ― cleaned up enough to earn the blue rating of firms that comply with the law. Why Partly because investors care about the environment. A recent World Bank study of stock markets in Argentina, Chile, Mexico and the Philippines found that bad environmental news about a company depressed the price of its shares by about 15 percent, while good news raised its share prices about 20 percent.Lack of information can be so severe as to cause a financial crisis. A．YB．NC．NG

Having finished their morning work, the clerks stood up behind their desks, ______ themselves.A. expandingB. stretchingC. prolongingD. extending

Very few people understood his lecture, the subject of which was very ______.A. intelligibleB. obscureC. dimD. conspicuous

Some years ago I was offered a writing assignment that would require three months of travel through Europe. I had been abroad a couple of times，but I could hardly claim to know my way around the continent. Moreover, my knowledge of foreign languages was limited to a little college French. I hesitated. How would I, unable to speak the language, totally unfamiliar with local geography or transportation systems, set up interviews and do research? It seemed impossible, and with considerable regret. I sat down to write a letter begging off. Halfway through, a thought ran through my mind： you can't learn if you don't try. So I accepted the assignment. There were some bad moments. But by the time I had finished the trip I was an experienced traveler. And ever since，I have never hesitated to head for even the most remote of places，without guides or even advanced bookings, confident that somehow I will manage. The point is that the new, the different, is almost scary by definition. But each time you try something, you learn, and as the learning piles up, the world opens to you. I've learned to ski at 40, and flown up the Rhine River in a balloon. And I know I'll go on doing such things. It's not because I'm braver or more daring than others. I'm not. But I'll accept anxiety as another name for challenge and I believe I can accomplish wonders. 1. The author accepted the assignment because _____ A. he had never travelled abroad before B. he hardly knew any foreign languages C. he was familiar with any other country in Europe D. he would learn something new and different by trying 2. Which of the following statements is TRUE? A. The author had been abroad only twice. B. The author thought the trip was hard but worthwhile. C. The author admitted that anything different was terrible. D. The author must be good at doing research and making interviews. 3. We can infer from the text that the author is _____. A. awkward B. generous C. stubborn D. brave 4. What's the best title of the text? A. An Interesting Trip Abroad B. My First Writing Assignment C. Ready to Try and Challenge D. How to Be Daring and Brave

Even the political market tends to increase in autonomy ____ the social field during the process of modernization. 29.In order to take pleasure ____ mountaineering one must maintain all the necessary skills while taking all necessary safety precautions. 30.I know the charms of my rival are too powerful for me to contend ____.31.Under these contracts, we must live up ____ a great many obligations and put up with a great many restrictions. 32.It would be fun skiing on this light powdery snow, but it would also be hard ____ his legs.

Fill in the blanks with the words given below.Change the form where necessary.Each word can be used only once.await；curb；donation；dump；efficiency；embarrassment；emotional；historical；polish；stuff（1）He loves the brightly-colored birds，and each spring he eagerly ____ them return.（2）Thanks to the ____ of the huge metro system in the city，transportation in Shanghai has never been this easy.（3）If you want to assist animals，children，or people，go and make a（n） ____ or volunteer your time somewhere.（4）Mary was a careful speaker；every word seemed to have been ____ before it was allowed to escape through her lips.（5）When she heard it was snowing in the city she was going to，she ____ her suitcase with sweaters and coats.（6）During our stay in Xi'an，we visited many places of ____ interest，including the famous Terracotta Army（兵马俑）.（7）I became ____ and cried tears of joy at my sister's wedding ceremony.（8）His face burnt with ____ when he discovered that he had neither his wallet nor his smartphone with him to pay for the me all he had ordered.（9）The company is looking for new ways to recycle industrial waste instead of just ____ it.（10）The new system，designed to ____ air pollution from factories，will be put to use soon.

Albert Einstein's 1915 masterpiece "The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity" is the first and still the best introduction to the subject，and I recommend it as such to students.But it probably wouldn't be publishable in a scientific journal today. Why not？After all，it would pass with flying colours the tests of correctness and significance.And while popular belief holds that the paper was incomprehensible to its first readers，in fact many papers in theoretical physics are much more difficult. As the physicist Richard Feynman wrote， "There was a time when the newspapers said that only 12 men understood the theory of relativity.I do believe there might have been a time when only one man did，because he was the only guy who caught on，before he wrote his paper.But after people read the paper a lot understood the theory of relativity in some way or other，certainly more than 12." No，the problem is its style.It starts with a leisurely philosophical discussion of space and time and then continues with an exposition of known mathematics.Those two sections，which would be considered extraneous today，take up half the paper.Worse，there are zero citations of previous scientists' work，nor are there any graphics.Those features might make a paper not even get past the first editors. A similar process of professionalization has transformed other parts of the scientific landscape.Requests for research time at major observatories or national laboratories are more rigidly structured.And anything involving work with human subjects，or putting instruments in space，involves piles of paperwork. We see it also in the Regeneron Science Talent Search，the Nobel Prize of high school science competitions.In the early decades of its 78-year history，the winning projects were usually the sort of clever but naive，amateurish efforts one might expect of talented beginners working on their own.Today，polished work coming out of internships （实习） at established laboratories is the norm. These professionalizing tendencies are a natural consequence of the explosive growth of modern science.Standardization and system make it easier to manage the rapid flow of papers，applications and people.But there are serious downsides.A lot of unproductive effort goes into jumping through bureaucratic hoops （繁文缛节），and outsiders face entry barriers at every turn. Of course，Einstein would have found his way to meeting modern standards and publishing his results.Its scientific core wouldn't have changed，but the paper might not be the same taste to read.（1）According to Richard Feynman，Einstein's 1915 paper ____ .A.was a classic in theoretical physicsB.attracted few professionalsC.needed further improvementD.turned out to be comprehensible（2）What does the underlined word "extraneous" in Paragraph 4 mean？ ____ A.Unrealistic.B.Unattractive.C.Irrelevant.D.Imprecise.（3）According to the author，what is affected as modern science develops？ ____ A.The application of research findings.B.The selection of young talents.C.The principle of scientific research.D.The evaluation of laboratories.（4）Which would be the best title for this passage？ ____ A.Could Einstein get published today？B.Will science be professionalized？C.What makes Einstein great？D.How will modern science make advances？

What does the speaker find most suitable for her now?A. Working in a company.B. Starting her own business.C. Testing out different investment strategies.D. Sharing ideas and thoughts through blogging.

Ⅰ. 填空题Fill in the blanks using the words given below.integrated ,calm ,outdoor ;evolved ,court ,tablet ,courting ,figgety ,squid ,sipping A 40-something couple sat at table A, a 30-something couple with a child sat at table B, a group of 20-somethings at table C and a courting couple at table D.The 40-something couple had their drinks served. They were both 1.____ their drinks and reading something off their smartphones. The 30-something husband was busy talking on his smartphone while his wife tended to their 2.____ child. At table C, everyone had a laptop or tablet and was very busy with it. Then at table D, the 3.____ couple were actually looking into each other's eyes and talking and laughing. The couple at table A were still reading something off the smartphone while eating. At table B, the husband was still busy talking on his smartphone and eating his food 4.____, but his wife was carrying the child and walking up and down the restaurant, probably 5.____ the child.