“The creation of the PC is the best thing that ever happened，” said Bill Gates at a conference on “digital dividends” in 2000. He even wondered if it might be possible to make computers for the poor in countries without an electric power grid. The answer is yes， and things are going even further. Villagers in a remote region of Laos that has neither electricity nor telephone connections are being wired up to the Internet.
Lee Thorn， the head of the Jhai Foundation， an American-Lao organisation， has been working for nearly five years in the Hin Heup district. The foundation has helped villagers build schools， install wells and organise a weaving co-operative. But those villagers told Mr Thorn that what they needed most was access to the Internet. To have any hope of meeting that need， in an environment which is both physically harsh and far removed from technical support， Mr Thorn realised that a robust computer was the first requirement.
He therefore turned to engineers working with the Jhai Foundation， who devised a machine that has no moving， and few delicate， parts. Instead of a hard disk， the Jhai PC relies on flash-memory chips to store its data. Its screen is a liquid-crystal display， rather than an energy-guzzling glass cathode-ray tube——an exception to the rule that the components used are old-fashioned， and therefore cheap. (No Pentiums， for example， just a 486-type processor.) Mr Thorn estimates that， built in quantity， each Jhai PC would cost around $400. Furthermore， because of its simplicity， a Jhai PC can be powered by a car battery charged with bicycle cranks——thus removing the need for a connection to the grid.
Wireless Internet cards connect each Jhai PC to a solar-powered hilltop relay station which then passes the signals on to a computer in town that is connected to both the Lao phone system (for local calls) and to the Internet. Meanwhile， the Linux-based software that will run the computers is in the final stages of being “localised” into Lao by a group of expatriates in America.
One thing that the new network will allow villagers to do is decide whether it is worth going to market. Phon Hong， the local market town， is 30km away， so it is worth knowing the price of rice before you set off to sell some there. Links farther afield may allow decisions about growing crops for foreign markets to be taken more sensibly——and help with bargaining when these are sold. And there is also the pleasure of using Internet telephony to talk to relatives who have gone to the capital， Vientiane， or even abroad.
If it works， the Jhai PC and its associated network could be a widespread success. So far， the foundation has had expressions of interest from groups working in Peru， Chile and South Africa. The prototype should be operational in Laos this December and it， or something very much like it， may soon be bridging the digital divide elsewhere as well.
注(1)：本文选自Economist;9/28/2002， p76， 2/3p， 1c;
注(2)：本文习题命题模仿对象2003年真题text 2第1题(1)，2002年真题text 4地1、2题(2，4)，text 3第4题(5)，1998年真题text 2第4题(3);
1. The author begins his article with Bill Gate‘s words to________.
[A] show the great prospect of the PC in improving people‘s life
[B] catch people‘s attention to the importance of the PC
[C] reveal a project that creates miracle
[D] prove the PC can do things even beyond imagination
2. From the second paragraph， we learn that_____________.
[A] villagers are isolated from the outside world
[B] Lee‘s work is to improve the life of people living in the countryside
[C] the harsh environment keeps Lee from doing better job
[D] engineers have moved to far-away towns due to the poverty of the villages
3. Which of the following is NOT a feature of Jhai PC?
[A] delicateness
[B] practicality
[C] simplicity
[D] low cost
4. Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
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