VOA标准英语2008年-Technology Boosts Income, Reduces Poverty In De

By Bill Rodgers
Washington
17 May 2008

In recent years, rapid technological¹ progress has helped raise income and alleviate² poverty in many developing countries. The spread of cell phones, computers, and other technological innovations has generated economic growth, while also improving health care and agricultural production in developing nations. But these nations still have a long way to go to catch up to the developed world. VOA's Bill Rodgers explores the impact of technology on the developing world.

Traditional healer Musa Kayairanga of Rwanda uses herbs and ointments³ to treat his patients, and over the years he has learned a lot about natural medicines.

After learning how to use the computer at a rural Rwandan telecenter, the 62-year old healer says he now exchanges information with other herbal doctors as far away as Canada.

I have been exchanging experiences with them, he says, and now I have improved my knowledge of herbs and plants to treat people.

This ability to communicate from such remote regions shows how technology is changing life in developing countries.

"Technological progress is ultimately probably the most important driver of incomes, of growth in developing countries," said Andrew Burns, the lead economist⁴ at the World Bank, and main author of a recent report on technology in developing nations.

The study found that technology has spread faster in emerging economies than in rich nations. It also found that technological progress has helped raise incomes in developing countries and reduced the share of people living in absolute poverty from 29 percent in 1990 to 18 percent in 2004.

"When we take a look at who are the good performers in terms of income growth, in terms of improving living standards, those are the countries that have the highest rate of technological progress," said Burns. "So for example, in East Asia and the Pacific we see something in the range of four and five percent per annum improvements in productivity."

Advances in communications technologies have spurred the growth of so-called call centers, centralized offices where most of the phone calls for a particular business can be answered. These centers, often located in countries like India or Pakistan, where wages are relatively⁵ low, serve both domestic and international markets and have contributed to economic growth by providing well-paid jobs and new skills to workers who otherwise might not have had such opportunities.

"It improves my language skills, it improves my sales skills, it improves my confidence and all that. It gives you experience how to work, how to deal with people," Ahsan Saeed, a young call center worker in Karachi, Pakistan.

But it is the cell phone that has transformed lives and business more than anything else. Eighty percent of the earth's population now lives within range of a cell phone network, a development that opens up enormous opportunities.

Arthur Molella, who heads the Smithsonian Institution's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation in Washington, says these phones are having all kinds of impacts.

"They have a definite democratizing effect in traditional countries, or countries with fairly rigid⁶ hierarchies⁷ and clearly they are a way to get around a lot of restrictions," he said. "So there's a subversive⁸ aspect to these things, of both governments and of customs."

So when repressive governments conduct violent crackdowns on dissent⁹ - such as in Burma last year - the world knows about it almost instantly via cell phone pictures and the Internet. This has helped mobilize international pressure on such regimes, perhaps preventing even worse bloodshed than in the past when information was slow to get out.

Yet experts say the spread of technology in the developing world will not necessarily bring western-style progress or prosperity. Again Arthur Molella of the Lemelson Institute.

"They're changing these cultures the way they are changing the West, that's very clear," said Molella of the Lemelson Institute. "But they are being adapted in different ways in these countries. They don't always have to serve the purposes of progress, let's say in the American sense."

 

However, it is clear fewer lives are mired¹⁰ in poverty, and more are benefiting from the opportunities made possible by the spread of technology.

1 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

2 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

3 ointments   

n.软膏( ointment的名词复数 )；扫兴的人；煞风景的事物；药膏

参考例句：

• The firm has been dispensing ointments. 本公司配制药膏。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Antibiotic ointments are useful for concurrent bacterial infections. 抗菌素软膏对伴发的细菌感染是有用的。 来自辞典例句

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

7 hierarchies   

等级制度( hierarchy的名词复数 )； 统治集团； 领导层； 层次体系

参考例句：

• That's a trip of two hierarchies. 那是两个领导层之间的互访。
• Hierarchies of authority, spans of control, long-range plans, and budgets. 等级森严的权力机构，控制范围，长期计划，预算。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦

8 subversive   

adj.颠覆性的，破坏性的；n.破坏份子，危险份子

参考例句：

• She was seen as a potentially subversive within the party.她被看成党内潜在的颠覆分子。
• The police is investigating subversive group in the student organization.警方正调查学生组织中的搞颠覆阴谋的集团。

9 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

10 mired   

abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country was mired in recession. 这个国家陷入了经济衰退的困境。
• The most brilliant leadership can be mired in detail. 最有才干的领导也会陷于拘泥琐事的困境中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》