#81. Has technology made the world a better place to live?
Technology is a tool for humanity. As such it merely supports human actions, good and bad, and does not contribute in and of itself to the progression of the world. Nevertheless, while people have utilized technology to improve their living conditions and also as a means to control and harm others, I believe that technology has allowed and will continue to allow mankind to solve our most serious problems and thus make the world a better place to live.
Technology has aided us in the fight against the two most serious threats to human life, hunger and disease. With the help of technology we have been able to save millions of lives by developing vaccinations, cures, and treatments for diseases that used to be considered fatal. Similarly, technology has figured prominently in the area of food production and may one day allow us to stamp out hunger all over the world. The development of telecommunication and information technologies has encouraged communication between countries and their peoples and thus prevented political conflict.
Of course, technology has also helped mankind to become more destructive and exploitative. The ever-growing arms industry has been able to build bigger bombs and more efficient killing machines. As a result, armed conflicts have become more and more devastating and cost more human lives than ever before. In addition, governments have used technology to limit information and suppress opposition, and businesses continue to use it to maximize profits by replacing workers with machines. None of these practices can be considered beneficial to humanity.
However, while the development of technology might have contributed to some of these contemporary problems, it offers the most likely solutions to many of them. People in many parts of the world still die of starvation, and further developments in food science will hopefully end this unfortunate situation. Also, the global energy shortage presents a problem only technology can solve, and the further development of existing technology is necessary to reduce and stop environmental pollution and degradation.
81. 科技使世界变得更美好了吗？
科技是人类的工具，在这个意义上它仅仅支持人类的行动，不管是正确的还是错误的，它本身并不在社会的进步中做出贡献。然而，当人们利用科技来提高自己的生活水平，或将科技作为控制和危害别人的一种手段时，我相信，科技已经并将继续使我们能够去解决那些最为严重的问题，而世界将因此变成一个更加适合人类居住的地方。
科技正在帮助我们与威胁人类生存的最严重的两个问题——饥饿和疾病做斗争。在科技的帮助下，我们已经能够通过发展接种疫苗、治疗手段和治疗方法等治愈那些从前被人们认为是绝症的疾病，而挽救了上百万人的生命。同样地，科技也已经在食品制造领域占有重要的地位，而且可能有一天也将帮助我们在全世界范围内消除贫困。通讯和信息产品的发展鼓励国家与国家和人民之间进行更多的交流，这也会因此进一步阻止政治上的冲突。
当然，科技也已经帮助人类变得更具有破坏性和剥削性。一直在持续增长的武器制造工业使人们已经能够建造更为巨大的炮弹和更加有效的杀人机器。因此，武装冲突已经变得越来越具有毁灭性，而且在战争中死亡的人数也比以前增加了。除此之外，政府已经利用科技来限制信息和镇压反抗，而且商业也继续通过用机械取代工人来最大限度地获得利润。所有这一切对人类都是没有益处的。
但是，在科技的发展可能会给当今社会带来部分问题的同时，科技也为人们提供了可能解决其中大部分问题的办法。世界上仍然有许多地方的人们因为饥饿而死亡，而食品科学的进一步发展将有希望结束这种不幸的境况。并且，因为全球能源的短缺带来的问题也只有通过科技才能解决，现有科技的进一步发展对降低与停止环境污染和防止环境的进一步恶化也是必须的。
- humanity ［hju:ˈmæniti］ n. 人类
- conflict ［ˈka:nˌflikt］ n. 斗争，冲突
- utilize ［ˈju:tlˌaiz］ v. 利用
- destructive ［diˈstrʌktiv］ adj. 破坏性的；毁坏的
- harm ［ha:m］ v. 伤害，损害
- threat ［θret］ n. 恐吓，威胁
- exploitative ［iksˈplɔitətiv］ adj. 开发资源的
- vaccination ［ˌvæksəˈneiʃən］ n. 接种疫苗，种痘
- armed conflict 武装冲突
- cure ［kjuə］ n. 治愈，痊愈
- starvation ［sta:ˈveiʃən］ n. 饥饿，饿死
- fatal ［ˈfeitl］ n. 致命的，重大的
- degradation ［ˌdegrəˈdeiʃən］ n.堕落，退化
- prominent ［ˈpra:mənənt］ adj. 卓越的，显著的