【全國英語等級考試四級】Unit 2 計算機與信息II-passage(1/6)

Human beings are unique creatures on this earth. True, we are similar to other animals in many ways. But some of our characteristics make us human. One of our distinctly human characteristics is our ability to collect and transmit information. In fact, one way to study human history is to study the development of how humans have learned to transmit information. Each method of transmission is both more complicated and faster than the one before it. The Distant Past In the distant past, information traveled very slowly. It went from person to person, and traveled only as fast as people could travel. Information could also be transmitted visually, smoke signals and light signals or aurally, drumbeats whistles, yells. This system worked over short distances if the message was very simple. Other simple information was recorded on the walls of caves and buildings in the form of pictures. More complicated information could pass from generation to generation through storytelling.