English 2 (Global
issues)
3-Information Technology
In nearly every corner of the world, from Mumbai to Madrid, one cannot enter a café or walk down the
street without seeing someone talking, texting, or surfing the Internet on their cell phones, laptops or tablet
PCs. Information Technology (IT) has become ubiquitous and is changing every aspect of how people live
their lives.
Recent advances in our ability to communicate and process information in digital form— a series of
developments sometimes described as an “IT revolution”—are reshaping the economies and societies of
many countries around the world.
IT is a driving factor in the process of globalization. Improvements in the early 1990s in computer hardware,
software, and telecommunications greatly increased people’s ability to access information and economic
potential. While advancements in Internet-based tools over the past five to ten years, such as social
networking websites, twitter, and other Web2.0 applications are changing the way people use and share
information for personal, political, and commercial purposes. These developments have facilitated efficiency
gains in all sectors of the economy. IT drives the innovative use of resources to promote new products and
ideas across nations and cultures, regardless of geographic location. Creating efficient and effective channels
to exchange information, IT has been the catalyst for global integration.
Products based upon, or enhanced by, information technology are used in nearly every aspect of life in
contemporary industrial societies. The spread of IT and its applications has been extraordinarily rapid. Just
33 years ago, for example, the use of desktop personal computers was still limited to a fairly small number
of technologically advanced people. The overwhelming majority of people still produced documents with
typewriters, which permitted no manipulation of text and offered no storage.
Twenty-three years ago, large and bulky mobile telephones were carried only by a small number of users in
just a few U.S. cities. According to a 2013 International Telecoms Union (ITU) World Report, there were
6.8 billion cell phone subscriptions worldwide at the end of 2012. Global mobile cellular penetration
reached 96 percent in 2012 (ICT Facts and Figures, 2013). In some developing countries, mobile phones are
used by more people than the fixed line telephone network.
But perhaps most dramatically, just eighteen years ago, only scientists were using (or had even heard about)
the Internet, the World Wide Web was not up and running, and the browsers that help users navigate the
Web had not even been invented yet. Today, of course, the Internet and the Web have transformed
commerce, creating entirely new ways for retailers and their customers to make transactions, for businesses
to manage the flow of production inputs and market products, and for job seekers and job recruiters to find
one another.
The news industry was dramatically transformed by the emergence of numerous Internet-enabled news-
gathering and dissemination outlets. Websites, blogs, instant messaging systems, e-mail, social networking
sites and other Internet-based communication systems have made it much easier for people with common
interests to connect, exchange information, and collaborate with each other. Education at all levels is
continually transforming thanks to innovations in communication and presentation software. Websites now
serve as a primary source of information and analysis for the masses.
1-Find in the text words that are similar in meaning to:
Omnipresent
Developments
Irrespective
Today’s
Huge
Abundance
Emanation
2-Answer these questions using your own words
a-What is Information Technology?
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b-To what extent has IT revolutionized the world?
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3-Write a one-paragraph summary of the reading text
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4-Translate the following paragraph into English
Les nouvelles technologies de l’information et de la communication (NTIC) sont
généralement définies comme l’ensemble des dispositifs et des systèmes
informatiques de stockage, de communication, de traitement et de gestion de
données. Elles constituent un ensemble convergent des technologies de la micro-
électronique, de l’informatique (machines et logiciels) et des télécommunications.
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5-Write an opinion paragraph
Should the world super powers stop their space exploration programs and invest more
in food industries?
