(★ Words: about 290; Time: 3.5 minutes)

A laptop has been developed that will cost only $100 and it is said that 200 million of the world’s poorest children will be provided with one over the next few years.

The $100 laptop ― nicknamed (給……取綽號) the “Green Machine” for its vivid green cover ― was developed by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US. UN Secretary Kofi Annan described the invention as “inspiring” and said it may have the potential to change lives in poorer nations.

“Studies have shown repeatedly that kids take to computers much more readily, not just in the comfort of rich countries’ living rooms, but also in the slums and remote rural areas of the developing world,” said Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of MIT’s media laboratory, adding that targeting children would be crucial to bridging the technological gap between the world’s richest and poorest countries.

The laptops will be covered in rubber to protect them from bumps and scratches (碰撞和擦傷). They will combine the latest technologies and some very new ideas. The computers were designed to be used in areas with little or very occasional electricity supplies. They have a handle that can be turned for 10 minutes to provide one hour of battery life.

A non-profit group called One Laptop Per Child has been founded by MIT to market the laptop. It will sell the machines to governments in the developing world, with the hope that they will then distribute them to children for free in their countries.

It is hoped that the laptops will be ready for distribution by the end of this year or early in 2007.

Children in Brazil, China, Egypt, Thailand and South Africa will be among the first to receive the new laptops when they are ready.

Help:

crucial adj. extremely important or necessary至關緊要的

True (T) or False (F):

1. Two hundred million laptops have been made for the world’s poorest children.

2. In Nicholas’ opinion, it’s necessary to provide poor children with computers.

3. Children in most developing countries can use this kind of laptop next year.

(Key: 1-3 FTF)