17 A new era(紀元) is upon us. Call it what you will: the service economy, the information age, the knowledge society. It all translates to be a basic change in the way we work. Already we are there now. The percentage of people who earn their living by making things has fallen fortunately in the Western World. Today the major of jobs in America, Europe and Japan (two thirds or more in many of these countries) are in the service industry, and the number in on the rise. More women are in the workforce than ever before. There are more part-time jobs. More people are self-employed. But the wildness of the economic change can’t be measured by numbers alone, because it also is giving rise to a radical(根本的、徹底的) new way of thinking about the nature of work itself. Long-held views about jobs and careers, the skills to succeed, even the relation between individuals and employers—all these are being challenged.

We have only to look behind us to get some sense of what may lie ahead. No one looking ahead 20 years possible could have foreseen the ways in which a single invention, the chip(芯片), would change our world thanks to its use in personal computers, digital biotechnology(數碼生物技術), artificial (人工的) intelligence or even some still unimagined technology could produce a similar wave of unexpected changes. But one thing is certain: information and knowledge will become even more important ,and the people who have it , whether they work in manufacturing (制造業) or services, will have the advantage and produce the wealth. Computer knowledge will become as basic a requirement as the ability to read and write. The ability to solve problems by using information instead of performing regular work will be valued above all else. If you look forward 10 years, information services will be predominant(占優勢). It will be the way you do your job.

Which of the following can be the vest title of the passage?

a. Computer and Knowledge Society.

b. Service Industry in the Modern Society

c. Characteristics of the new Era

d. Fast Development of Information Technology

Key:C