Section B: Information Matching
Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.
How Marconi Gave Us the Wireless World
[A] A hundred years before iconic figures like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs permeated our lives, an Irish-Italian inventor laid the foundation of the communication explosion of the 21st century. Guglielmo Marconi was arguably the first truly global figure in modern communication. Not only was he the first to communicate globally, he was the first to think globally about communication. Marconi may not have been the greatest inventor of his time, but more than anyone else, he brought about a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.
[B] Today’s globally networked media and communication system has its origins in the 19th century, when, for the first time, messages were sent electronically across great distances. The telegraph, the telephone, and radio were the obvious predecessors of the Internet, iPods, and mobile phones. What made the link from then to now was the development of wireless communication. Marconi was the first to develop and perfect this system, using the recently-discovered “air waves” that make up the electromagnetic spectrum.
[C] Between 1896, when he applied for his first patent in England at the age of 22, and his death in Italy in 1937, Marconi was at the center of every major innovation in electronic communication. He was also a skilled and sophisticated organizer, an entrepreneurial innovator, who mastered the use of corporate strategy, media relations, government lobbying, international diplomacy, patents, and prosecution. Marconi was really interested in only one thing: the extension of mobile, personal, long-distance communication to the ends of the earth (and beyond, if we can believe some reports). Some like to refer to him as a genius, but if there was any genius to Marconi it was this vision.
[D] In 1901 he succeeded in signaling across the Atlantic, from the west coast of England to Newfoundland in the USA, despite the claims of science that it could not be done. In 1924 he convinced the British government to encircle the world with a chain of wireless stations using the latest technology that he had devised, shortwave radio. There are some who say Marconi lost his edge when commercial broadcasting came along; he didn’t see that radio could or should be used to frivolous ends. In one of his last public speeches, a radio broadcast to the United States in March 1937, he deplored that broadcasting had become a one-way means of communication and foresaw it moving in another direction, toward communication as a means of exchange. That was visionary genius.
[E] Marconi’s career was devoted to making wireless communication happen cheaply, efficiently, smoothly, and with an elegance that would appear to be intuitive and uncomplicated to the user—user-friendly, if you will. There is a direct connection from Marconi to today’s social media, search engines, and program streaming that can best be summed up by an admittedly provocative exclamation: the 20th century did not exist. In a sense, Marconi’s vision jumped from his time to our own.
[F] Marconi invented the idea of global communication—or, more straightforwardly, globally networked, mobile, wireless communication. Initially, this was wireless Morse code telegraphy, the principal communication technology of his day. Marconi was the first to develop a practical method for wireless telegraphy using radio waves. He borrowed technical details from many sources, but what set him apart was a self-confident vision of the power of communication technology on the one hand, and, on the other, of the steps that needed to be taken to consolidate his own position as a player in that field. Tracing Marconi’s lifeline leads us into the story of modern communication itself. There were other important figures, but Marconi towered over them all in reach, power, and influence, as well as in the grip he had on the popular imagination of his time. Marconi was quite simply the central figure in the emergence of a modern understanding of communication.
[G] In his lifetime, Marconi foresaw the development of television and the fax machine, GPS, radar, and the portable hand-held telephone. Two months before he died, newspapers were reporting that he was working on a “death ray,” and that he had “killed a rat with an intricate device at a distance of three feet.” By then, anything Marconi said or did was newsworthy. Stock prices rose or sank according to his pronouncements. If Marconi said he thought it might rain, there was likely to be a run on umbrellas.
[H] Marconi’s biography is also a story about choices and the motivations behind them. At one level, Marconi could be fiercely autonomous and independent of the constraints of his own social class. On another scale, he was a perpetual outsider. Wherever he went, he was never “of” the group; he was always the “other,” considered foreign in Britain, British in Italy, and “not American” in the United States. At the same time, he also suffered tremendously from a need for acceptance that drove, and sometimes stained, every one of his relationships.
[I] Marconi placed a permanent stamp on the way we live. He was the first person to imagine a practical application for the wireless spectrum, and to develop it successfully into a global communication system—in both terms of the word; that is, worldwide and all-inclusive. He was able to do this because of a combination of factors—most important, timing and opportunity—but the single-mindedness and determination with which he carried out his self-imposed mission was fundamentally character-based; millions of Marconi’s contemporaries had the same class, gender, race, and colonial privilege as he, but only a handful did anything with it. Marconi needed to achieve the goal that was set in his mind as an adolescent; by the time he reached adulthood, he understood, intuitively, that in order to have an impact he had to both develop an independent economic base and align himself with political power. Disciplined, uncritical loyalty to political power became his compass for the choices he had to make.
[J] At the same time, Marconi was uncompromisingly independent intellectually. Shortly after Marconi’s death, the nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi—soon to be the developer of the Manhattan Project—wrote that Marconi proved that theory and experimentation were complementary features of progress. “Experience can rarely, unless guided by a theoretical concept, arrive at results of any great significance…on the other hand, an excessive trust in theoretical conviction would have prevented Marconi from persisting in experiments which were destined to bring about a revolution in the technique of radio-communications.” In other words, Marconi had the advantage of not being burdened by preconceived assumptions.
[K] The most controversial aspect of Marconi’s life—and the reason why there has been no satisfying biography of Marconi until now—was his uncritical embrace of Benito Mussolini. At first this was not problematic for him. But as the regressive nature of Mussolini’s regime became clear, he began to suffer a crisis of conscience. However, after a lifetime of moving within the circles of power, he was unable to break with authority, and served Mussolini faithfully (as president of Italy’s national research council and royal academy, as well as a member of the Fascist Grand Council) until the day he died—conveniently—in 1937, shortly before he would have had to take a stand in the conflict that consumed a world that he had, in part, created.
36. Marconi was central to our present-day understanding of communication.
37. As an adult, Marconi had an intuition that he had to be loyal to politicians in order to be influential.
38. Marconi disapproved of the use of wireless communication for commercial broadcasting.
39. Marconi’s example demonstrates that theoretical concepts and experiments complement each other in making progress in science and technology.
40. Marconi’s real interest lay in the development of worldwide wireless communication.
41. Marconi spent his whole life making wireless communication simple to use.
42. Because of his long-time connection with people in power, Marconi was unable to cut himself off from the fascist regime in Italy.
43. In his later years, Marconi exerted a tremendous influence on all aspects of people’s life.
44. What connected the 19th century and our present time was the development of wireless communication.
45. Despite his autonomy, Marconi felt alienated and suffered from a lack of acceptance.
Answers & Explanations (答案与解析)
36. F。解析：题干 Marconi was central to our present-day understanding of communication.（马可尼对我们当今对通讯的理解至关重要。）对应 [F] 段最后一句 Marconi was quite simply the central figure in the emergence of a modern understanding of communication.（简单来说，马可尼就是现代通讯理解出现的核心人物。）central to 对应 central figure in，present-day 对应 modern。
37. I。解析：题干 As an adult, Marconi had an intuition that he had to be loyal to politicians in order to be influential.（作为一个成年人，马可尼有一种直觉，即他必须忠于政治家才能具有影响力。）对应 [I] 段 ...by the time he reached adulthood, he understood, intuitively, that in order to have an impact he had to both develop an independent economic base and align himself with political power. Disciplined, uncritical loyalty to political power became his compass...（……到他成年时，他直觉地明白，为了产生影响，他必须既发展独立的经济基础，又与政治权力结盟。对政治权力的严格、不加批评的忠诚成了他做出选择的指南针。）As an adult 对应 reached adulthood，intuition 对应 intuitively，loyal to politicians 对应 align himself with / loyalty to political power，influential 对应 have an impact。
38. D。解析：题干 Marconi disapproved of the use of wireless communication for commercial broadcasting.（马可尼不赞成将无线电通讯用于商业广播。）对应 [D] 段 There are some who say Marconi lost his edge when commercial broadcasting came along; he didn’t see that radio could or should be used to frivolous (无聊的) ends.（有人说当商业广播出现时，马可尼失去了优势；他认为无线电不应该被用于无聊的目的。）disapproved of 对应 didn't see that radio could or should be used to frivolous ends。
39. J。解析：题干 Marconi’s example demonstrates that theoretical concepts and experiments complement each other in making progress in science and technology.（马可尼的例子表明，理论概念和实验在科技进步中相辅相成。）对应 [J] 段 ...wrote that Marconi proved that theory and experimentation were complementary features of progress.（……写道，马可尼证明了理论和实验是进步的互补特征。）demonstrates 对应 proved，complement each other 对应 complementary。
40. C。解析：题干 Marconi’s real interest lay in the development of worldwide wireless communication.（马可尼的真正兴趣在于发展全球无线通讯。）对应 [C] 段 Marconi was really interested in only one thing: the extension of mobile, personal, long-distance communication to the ends of the earth...（马可尼真正感兴趣的只有一件事：将移动的、个人的、长距离的通讯延伸到地球的尽头……）real interest 对应 really interested in，worldwide 对应 ends of the earth。
41. E。解析：题干 Marconi spent his whole life making wireless communication simple to use.（马可尼一生都在致力于使无线通讯变得简单易用。）对应 [E] 段 Marconi’s career was devoted to making wireless communication happen cheaply, efficiently, smoothly, and with an elegance that would appear to be intuitive and uncomplicated to the user—user-friendly...（马可尼的职业生涯致力于使无线通讯变得廉价、高效、顺畅……对用户来说直观且不复杂——也就是用户友好……）spent his whole life 对应 career was devoted to，simple to use 对应 uncomplicated to the user / user-friendly。
42. K。解析：题干 Because of his long-time connection with people in power, Marconi was unable to cut himself off from the fascist regime in Italy.（由于长期与权势人物有联系，马可尼无法与意大利的法西斯政权切断联系。）对应 [K] 段 However, after a lifetime of moving within the circles of power, he was unable to break with authority, and served Mussolini faithfully...（然而，在权力圈子里周旋了一生之后，他无法与权威决裂，并忠诚地为墨索里尼服务……）long-time connection with people in power 对应 lifetime of moving within the circles of power，unable to cut himself off 对应 unable to break with authority。
43. G。解析：题干 In his later years, Marconi exerted a tremendous influence on all aspects of people’s life.（在晚年，马可尼对人们生活的方方面面产生了巨大的影响。）对应 [G] 段 By then, anything Marconi said or did was newsworthy. Stock prices rose or sank according to his pronouncements. If Marconi said he thought it might rain, there was likely to be a run on umbrellas.（到那时，马可尼所说或做的任何事都具有新闻价值。股票价格根据他的声明而涨跌。如果马可尼说他认为可能会下雨，就很可能会出现抢购雨伞的风潮。）exerted a tremendous influence 对应 anything Marconi said or did was newsworthy... stock prices rose... run on umbrellas。
44. B。解析：题干 What connected the 19th century and our present time was the development of wireless communication.（连接19世纪与我们现在的，是无线通讯的发展。）对应 [B] 段 What made the link from then to now was the development of wireless communication.（从那时到现在的联系是无线通讯的发展。）connected 对应 made the link from then to now。
45. H。解析：题干 Despite his autonomy, Marconi felt alienated and suffered from a lack of acceptance.（尽管马可尼拥有自主权，他却感到被疏远并因缺乏接纳而遭受痛苦。）对应 [H] 段 At one level, Marconi could be fiercely autonomous... On another scale, he was a perpetual outsider... At the same time, he also suffered tremendously from a need for acceptance...（在一个层面上，马可尼可以极度自主……在另一个层面上，他是一个永远的局外人……同时，他也因极度渴望被接纳而遭受了巨大的痛苦……）autonomy 对应 autonomous，alienated 对应 perpetual outsider / foreign，suffered from a lack of acceptance 对应 suffered tremendously from a need for acceptance。
核心搭配与高分句型
【核心搭配与高频短语】
lay the foundation of：为...奠定基础（laid the foundation of the communication explosion）
bring about：引起，导致（brought about a fundamental shift）
lose one's edge：失去优势，不再锋芒毕露（lost his edge when commercial broadcasting came along）
set sb apart：使某人与众不同（what set him apart was a self-confident vision）
tower over：远胜过，远远高于（Marconi towered over them all in reach, power, and influence）
break with：与...决裂，断绝关系（unable to break with authority）
【亮点句型解析】
Not only... but also... 倒装句型：
"Not only was he the first to communicate globally, he was the first to think globally about communication."
（他不仅是第一个在全球范围内进行交流的人，也是第一个对交流进行全球性思考的人。）`Not only` 置于句首引起部分倒装，极大地加强了赞叹的语气。
"Not only was he the first to communicate globally, he was the first to think globally about communication."
（他不仅是第一个在全球范围内进行交流的人，也是第一个对交流进行全球性思考的人。）`Not only` 置于句首引起部分倒装，极大地加强了赞叹的语气。
It was... that... 强调句型：
"...if there was any genius to Marconi it was this vision."
（如果说马可尼有什么天才之处，那就是他的这种远见。）使用了变体的强调结构，将马可尼的核心成就归结于他敏锐的前瞻性视野。
"...if there was any genius to Marconi it was this vision."
（如果说马可尼有什么天才之处，那就是他的这种远见。）使用了变体的强调结构，将马可尼的核心成就归结于他敏锐的前瞻性视野。