In a provocative research paper from a couple of years ago, economist Robert Gordon of North-western University in the USA asked if economic growth has essentially come to an end. He wondered if the rapid economic and technological growth of the past few centuries might turn out to have been only a temporary thing. Growth of this kind, he noted, is certainly not the norm for human history.【G1】________________

We stand today at the trailing edge of this explosion, and most people expect it to continue, and perhaps even accelerate, propelling us endlessly into a future that we can barely imagine.

An alternative possibility, Gordon suggested, is that the past two hundred years reflected our intellectual expansion into an open domain of relatively easy discoveries.【G2】_______________

Indeed, some evidence suggests that technological advance has slowed down, at least in certain areas. As of 1800, the fastest travel came by way of the horse; it then advanced to the steam train and motorcar, and still later to the airplane and jet aircraft, ultimately reaching speeds of 500 mph in the mid-1950s. Today, speed of travel remains stuck just where it was back then, and has even dropped due to the need to conserve fuel.

【G3】____________________

A team of scientists has recently done this using patent data over more than 200 years, and their analysis suggests that there is something real to the notion that innovation is slowing. The discovery of completely new technologies does seem to be increasingly less frequent.

They find that the resulting record of patents and codes reveals some interesting trends.

【G4】_____________________

As time passes, in other words, it seems that single-technology inventions have become less common, whereas combinatorial invention has become the norm. For the past century at least, we’ve been making inventions faster than new technologies.

The shift to combinatorial innovation also shows up in the comparative growth of the total number of patents, distinct codes and combinations of codes through time. Starting in 1790, all three grew exponentially for the first 80 years, during a period when most new inventions involved a new technology. Things changed abruptly around 1870, when growth in the number of distinct technology codes slowed, falling behind the number of patents and new combinations.

【G5】___________________

Since 1870 the process of invention has been driven almost entirely by combining existing technologies.

[A] We may have already tamed the most basic technologies—chemistry, sanitation, light, electronics and so on—and may face greater difficulties in making new discoveries with comparable impact on hu-man well-being.

[B] All in all, this analysis shows that the introduction of new technologies—currently, and also for quite a while in the recent past—plays a maximal role in fuelling invention.

[C] In other words, the nature of invention changed—people slowed in their invention of new technologies, but turned out new inventions just as quickly as before by putting old technologies together in new ways.

[D] In the nineteenth century, for example, nearly half of all patents were single-code inventions, meaning that inventors achieved their useful ends by exploiting a single, new technology. This proportion steadily decreased over the twentieth century, and currently stands at about 12%.

[E] In this combinatorial era, invention seems to have conformed to a fairly regular law reflecting a balance between exploitation of existing ideas and exploration for new ones.

[F] Before about 1700, humans had lived in pretty much the same way for many thousands of years. Then, abruptly, the transformation of the industrial revolution arrived, bringing waves of change through science and technology.

[G] This is all speculation, of course, as no one can truly see into the future. But it is possible to look back at data about the history of technologies, and of the inventions to which they gave rise, and to chart the pace of innovation over time.

Who hasn’t ever felt a song pulling at their heartstrings?【G1】_______________But the reasons for this are far from obvious.

The appeal of rhythm is clear to us: we get all the stuff about anticipation, surprise and fulfilment of expectations. These all help to explain why music is interesting—but why it moves us at such a deep level remains a mystery. Even the father of evolutionary theory, Charles Darwin, was stumped by our musical faculty, calling it one of “the most mysterious with which humankind is endowed”.【G2】_________If that were true, human beings across the world would be spending an awful lot of time on an activity that has absolutely no inherent value. Fortunately, there are alternative theories. One popular idea was that music arose from “sexual selection”: like the peacock’s tale, it’s a sexy display that makes you stand out from your rivals. The evidence is thin, however: a study of 10,000 twins failed to show that musicians were particularly lucky in bed.

Others have proposed that music emerged as an early form of communication.【G3】____________Such patterns of sound seem to carry a universal meaning shared by adults of different cultures, young children, and even other animals. So perhaps music built on associations from ancient animal calls, helping us to ex-press our feelings before we had words. As a form of “protolanguage”, it could have even paved the way for speech.

What’s more, music may have helped gel human societies as we began to live in bigger and bigger groups. Dancing and singing together, seems to make groups of people more altruistic, and to have a stronger collective identity.【G4】______________And as you’ll have found with your own toe tapping, music is the best way to get people moving together.

With increased solidarity and less in-fighting, a group may then be better equipped to survive and thrive. As Rouget, the anthropologist, wrote: “The engagement seems to be paired with a certain self-effacement, as each individual becomes one with the body of singers”.【G5】___________

[A] Lying at the heart of our relationships in this way, it makes sense that music would tug at the heartstrings, helping us to create an emotional connection and each culture may then build on this rudimentary instinct, creating their own musical lexicon of certain chords or motifs that come to be associated with particular feelings.

[B] Certain motifs in music may, in fact, carry some of the signatures of the emotional calls made by our ancestors; upwardly rising, staccato sounds tend to put us on edge, while long descending tones seems to have a calming effect, to give just two examples.

[C] Some thinkers, such as the cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, have even questioned whether it has any particular value at all. In his view, music just tickles some of the more important faculties—like pattern recognition, so it has no value—it is mere “auditory cheesecake”.

[D] Whether it is the feeling of euphoria in a club, or a lonely cry to a heartbreaking ballad, music can cut us to the core, expressing emotions more eloquently than words ever can.

[E] According to cutting-edge neuroscience, when you move in synchrony with another person, your brain starts to blur its sense of self. It is almost as if you are looking in the mirror: you think they look more like you, and that they share your opinions.

[F] It cannot be more clearly stated that singing and eating are equally necessary to stay alive and for this reason, many people struggle to believe that music was simply a small, incidental soundtrack to the human story of evolution.

[G] Whatever his opinion about music’s mysteriousness, it seems obvious that today we can’t help but associate certain music with the most important events in our lives.

Motorists are easily distracted from watching the road ahead by an urge to phone friends, send text messages and search for songs on portable music-players. The “distracted driving” has plagued the American roads in recent years. This year, the American Government moves towards enacting legislation to prohibit using hand-held devices while driving. A bill introduced in July by Charles Schumer, a senator from New York, would encourage individual states to ban motorists’ use of hand-held phones by threatening to withhold 25% of federal highway funds from those that failed to do so.

【G1】_____________________Your correspondent’s in-car navigation system can transfer his mobile phone’s incoming calls to the vehicle’s audio system and play them automatically. Using simple voice commands, he can also dial out, hands-free, to a dozen or so people listed in his phone’s address book.

【G2】___________________

As many motorists do when trying to multi-task while driving, he unconsciously slows down—and, in the process, quite possibly becomes a greater hazard to other road users. If the conversation gets tense or complicated, he may be consciously forced to pull over to the side of the road and stop. Both hands may be on the steering wheel, and the eyes scanning the road ahead and the mirrors all round, but the brain is elsewhere.

Cognitive researchers at Carnegie Mellon University reckon that just listening to a conversation can reduce activity in the region of the brain associated with spatial- and visual-information processing (the part used for driving) by as much as 37%.【G3】_________________ This is what causes motorists to miscalculate distances and drive too close to the car ahead.

Modern motorists may live in a multitasking age, but few people can actually do two things at once without skimping on one, or both, of them. It takes a great deal of training and practice to become a genuine multi-tasker. Concert pianists, who strive for complete independence of movement for each hand, are among the very few to achieve it. Everyone else does time-sharing, constantly switching from one task to another. But the switching itself takes time—typically a second or so—while the brain refocuses attention back to the previous task.【G4】___________________How often have you heard drivers claim they never saw the object they hit?

The issue is thus not whether America should ban the use of mobile phones while driving. That is really a no-brainer.【G5】_____________Great progress has been made in developing driver aids that push gently a distracted motorist who is drifting out of lane, or getting too close to the car ahead and failing to notice it is braking hard.

[A] Get interrupted during that dead instant (a sudden splash of mud on the windscreen will suffice) and the brain can revert to what it was doing before—say, operating a phone instead of checking the road ahead—and thereby overlook the pedestrian who has stepped out onto the road.

[B] Although there is no physical distraction, he finds himself having to compensate for the extra cognitive workload involved in even a hands-free telephone conversation.

[C] Banning the use of hand-held phones and other gizmos while driving is all well and good. But, in doing so, the inference is that it is then fine for motorists to use hands-free devices to make calls while on the road. But hands-free has problems, too.

[D] But legislation alone can’t deal with the problem of distracted drivers, who with a moment’s inattention can turn their vehicles into lethal weapons.

[E] The last thing motorists need is yet more gadgets in vehicles to distract them still further. But if the technology is used to augment their attention, rather than challenge it, then perhaps the growth of driver distraction may yet be contained.

[F] Moreover, cheap technology can be added to motor vehicles that block certain phone functions, such as texting and dialing, while the operator is driving. The bigger issue is how to devise still better means for guiding a motorist’s attention.

[G] Cognitive distraction causes drivers to focus on a narrow space ahead, with little awareness of what is going on around them—something researchers call “inattentional blindness”.

[A] Uniqueness

[B] Attentiveness

[C] Communication

[D] Personalization

[E] Appreciation

[F] Recognition

[G] Consideration

It is often the little details that customers recall even more than the product they purchased or the service they received. Little details that customers notice, and that makes them feel good about not only making the purchase, but making the purchase from you, is a significant part of the overall customer experience. Here are several ways to go above and beyond good customer service and boost customer loyalty.

【G1】______________________________________________

New York restaurant owner Danny Meyer is a master of detail, and his employees are trained to notice, and when appropriate act on, even the tiniest scraps of information they observe or discover about a guest. If you happen to mention when making a reservation that it’s a birthday dinner, the manager will make it a point to come to the table and extend Danny’s birthday wishes to the appropriate person.

【G2】______________________________________________

Greeting your customer by name is a very meaningful and treasured detail that adds greatly to the way they experience doing business with you. If your office works by appointment, the receptionist should make sure she knows just who will be walking in the door next, and immediately greet them with eye contact, a smile and “Good morning, are you Mr. Morgan?” if she isn’t sure if it’s Mr. Morgan, or simply, “Good morning Mr. Morgan” if he is.

【G3】______________________________________________

Don’t we all have a story about the coffee shop waitress who doesn’t ever need to be told how we like our iced tea, or the diner where the cook starts to make the same thing you always order the minute he sees you walk in the door? The salesperson who sends gifts in pink because she remembers that’s your favorite color. These experiences add value, and they also instill an enormous amount of loyalty. Is there anything you and your staff can do to ensure your customers know that you not only pay attention to their preferences, but remember them and cater to them for each and every transaction?

【G4】______________________________________________

When customers buy something that includes an outside component that’s integral to its use or makes it more user-friendly, do you ask if they have that thing or if they still have enough of it left? For example, if you sell birthday cakes, do you have candles to go with it? If you have a pediatric dental practice, do you have a little stepstool in the bathroom so the child can reach the sink?

【G5】______________________________________________

What do you do to show your customers, your clients or your patients that you appreciate them? After all, there are probably several other businesses that do what you do. Feeling appreciated is an experience that is universally meaningful. Always be sure to let your customers know that you are extending this extra to them because they are a valued customer and you want to show them that you appreciate them.

Meaningful, memorable, fun, unusual and unexpected experiences influence the way customers perceive you in general and feel about you in particular. These little details are so easy to overlook, so tempting to brush off as unimportant. But add a number of seemingly minor details together, and you end up with something of far more value than you would without them.

[A] The relatively low tuition fees in Asia are also a main draw for prospective students. Last year, online higher education resource Hotcourses Abroad found that maximum tuition fees in the UK and US could exceed $27,000, more than double that incurred in Malaysia and Singapore. The living costs of the respective cities were also taken into account and followed the same trend; Malaysia scored best here with the average monthly rent hovering around $115 and transport costs potentially as low as $20.

[B] Not content with attracting individual talent, many Asian countries are even inviting Western institutions to set up international branch campuses on their land. This is seen as a winning solution for all parties: the universities can expand their global outreach, the countries can prevent the “brain drain” phenomenon and the students gain access to prestigious yet more affordable education. In many cases, this also translates to an enhanced link with industries as the programs can be tailored to cater for their needs, supplying a skilled local workforce that meets industry requirements.

[C] The fast-developing Asian higher education sector, in particular, is uniquely placed to offer a global experience. Diversity is one of the strong selling points here as the continent of Asia comprises 48 countries, all with distinct cultures and traditions. When foreign students from other regions are added into the mix, this results in a wildly diverse student body that exposes individuals to different opinions and schools of thought, which helps to promote greater understanding and acceptance overall.

[D] However, cheaper fares do not translate to a lower quality of education in Asia. Singaporean institutions occupy 12th and 13th spot in the QS World University Rankings this year, while China, Japan and Korea have entries in the top 50. Given that many Asian universities are fairly new, this suggests that a significant, accelerated effort is being made through government investment and policymaking to bring the institutions to an internationally competitive level—and it is paying off.

[E] This courting of foreign talent extends to the teaching staff as well. A “global competition for talent” is emerging between Asian countries when it comes to institutions of higher learning. This is particularly noticeable in the science field as they aggressively recruit Western-trained researchers, scientists and professors—including local scholars who were educated abroad—to help inject dynamism into their education sector, improving their prestige and with it, their bid to become a higher education hub.

[F] In fact, besides affordable living and tuition expenses, Asian countries are sweetening the deal for eastbound foreign students by offering a variety of funding opportunities such as scholarships, as well as value-for-money exchange programs—some of which even provide a monthly allowance. (However, minimum grade requirements may apply.) Times Higher Education reported that in the last year, 40% of all international students new to the largest country in Asia received government sponsorship.

[G] Technology has helped spur the globalization of the world and with it, building a safe, fair, thriving planet is the responsibility of all. In April, a BBC World Service poll of over 20,000 people in 18 countries found that over half of the respondents from emerging economies identified themselves as global rather than national citizens. Thus, it is important that new generations have access to education that emphasizes this global-centric outlook to promote a more interconnected international community.

【G1】→C→【G2】→【G3】→F→【G4】→【G5】

[A] It may seem silly that a scavenger hunt for cartoon monsters is the beginning of a new world, but few are able to predict what technology wave we ride into the future. Pokemon Go may be a fad, but the technology behind it is not: augmented reality is coming, IoT is coming, and 5G networks are almost here. It may take the form of an infuriatingly glitchy game from the ’90s that crashes more consistently than it works, but it’s a glimpse into the future.

[B] Pokemon Go has ignited the digital world. Every news organization has reported on why Pokemon Go, the smartphone app based on the Japanese cartoon game from the 1990s, is extraordinarily popular. The smartphone game is making people exercise, helping with depression and mental health and it’s proving that millennials play games on their phones in sacred places and while driving.

[C] It’s also a brief insight into the technology our world will wield 10 or even five years from now. Augmented reality of the future means a fireman can see the structural vulnerabilities, temperatures and exit routes. The Internet of Things (IoT) adding billions of sensors means wearables will help emergency services track down victims. Fifth generation (5G) wireless networks, for example, will enable the instant transfer of high quality imaging, letting patients receive quality care from specialists around the world and breaking down barriers built by cost and geography.

[D] But Pokemon Go is more than just a game—it’s a primitive portal into technology that is transforming our world. Pokemon Go uses augmented reality (AR) and GPS to connect to real-world places, creating a cartoon-monster scavenger hunt with profound implications. Pokemon Go’s augmented reality overlays a picture of a Pikachu on the view through the user’s smartphone camera. Augmented reality has been used in glasses and other visual aids, but Pokemon Go is arguably the first widely accessible and free version of the technology. Anyone with a smartphone has access to the game.

[E] The potential for security breaches lead to the confounding question: are pieces of IoT really “smart” if they’re stupid when it comes to security? According to Nonresident Senior Fellow John Villasenor, “The Internet of Things will be useless unless it is an Internet of secure things.”

[F] However, when the world relies on AR, IoT, and 5G networks for more than a game, there are serious implications if there is latency or networks go offline completely. It’s one thing when Pokemon Go freezes in the midst of catching another Weedle, but it’s another issue entirely when computers freeze or even lag in a world where robots perform surgery.

[G] Another way Pokemon Go is exposing future issues is in security and privacy. Originally, the app allowed Niantic, the company Nintendo created the app with, to access everything on the players’ Google accounts. That has since changed, but it raises serious questions about what privacy protections will be in place when there are sensors that monitor more sensitive information, like heart conditions and medical history. Hospitals are already facing privacy challenges: instead of just stealing patient data, hackers have held whole hospital IT systems hostage, demanding ransoms.

【G1】→【G2】→【G3】→F→【G4】→【G5】→A