Are you a team person? Are you at your best as part of a small, tightly united group of dedicated workers? If so, the future may hold more for you than you think.
High technology, some predicted, would make team work a thing of the past. That’s happening in those areas of business and data processing where one person and a computer can replace a team of workers.
But, elsewhere, teamwork is very much alive. High technology has led to a new type of teamwork in a number of fields, including advertising, scientific research, engineering design, architecture and ocean exploration. Through computer networking, scientists, engineers and technicians at different locations – often thousands of miles apart – can work on the same project at once. They can exchange ideas, try out different designs and test their results.
Examples? An engineering team can now design and try out a robot system, a new manufacturing process, or an entire factory before it is built. An architectural team can do the same with a building or a bridge. A medical team can simulate (模拟) a dangerous operation before performing it on a patient.
Of course, computer – assisted team effort doesn’t end with investigation and simulation. It now usually continues into actual design, manufacturing and testing. “Computer – aide design (CAD) and computer – aided manufacture (CAM) are breaking down barriers between traditional design and manufacturing functions,” explains Dr. Prakash Rao, an engineering manager at General Electric. “Interdisciplinary (跨学科的) teams and engineers follow a product from concept to production. Everything is interconnected like a network.”
Sometimes a computer – aided effort can extend beyond production. A team that produces robots may use them to explore space and ocean depth. For high – technology team work, the future seems limitless.
6. The underlined part “hold more” most probably means to _________.
A. maintain more chances B. give more rights
C. make more regulations D. store more information
7. According to the passage, the writer believers that _________.
A. teamwork requires more use of computers than that of human beings
B. teamwork will be completely replaced by computers
C. the concept of teamwork is still alive and no longer the same as the past
D. high technology would make teamwork a thing of the past
8. The examples given by the writer in Paragraph 4 serve _________.
A. to prove high technology has a promising future
B. to explain his idea of new type of teamwork is reasonable
C. to show that it tends to be an end to teamwork soon
D. to indicate the computer – assisted team effort just means investigation and simulation.
9. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Many fields of science and technology are now using computers effectively.
B. No details are given in the passage about barriers between traditional desigand manufacturing functions.
C. Experts from different fields have to cooperate to develop a product from concept to production.
D. High technology is nothing but a new type of teamwork plus CAD and CAM.
10. The author’s attitude to towards the introduction of the computer to teamwork is of ________.
A. objection B. indifference C. support D. doubt
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