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次の英文を読み、 下記の設問 (A~D) に答えなさい。
In the last few decades, people all over the world have been told that humankind is on the path to
equality, and that globalization and new technologies will help us get there sooner) In reality, the twenty-
first century might create the most unequal societies in history. Though globalization and the Internet
bridge the gap between countries, they threaten to enlarge the gap between classes, and just as humankind
seems about to achieve global unification, the species itself might divide into different biological types.
Inequality goes back to the Stone Age. Thirty thousand years ago, hunter-gatherer tribes buried some
members in grand graves filled with thousands of ivory beads, bracelets, jewels and art objects, while other
members had to (7)settle for a mere hole in the ground. ( 1), ancient hunter-gatherer tribes were still
more egalitarian* than any succeeding human society, because they had very little property. Property is a
condition for long-term inequality.
Following the Agricultural Revolution, property multiplied, and with it inequality. As humans gained
ownership of land, animals, plants and tools, hierarchical** societies emerged, in which small elites
monopolized wealth and power for generation (2) generation. Hierarchy, then, came to be recognized
not just as the model, but also as the ideal. How can there be order without a clear hierarchy between elites
and ordinary people, between men and women, or between parents and children? Authorities all over the
world patiently explained that just as in the human body not all parts are equal, so also in human society
equality will bring nothing (3) disorder.
In the late modern era, however, equality became an ideal in almost all human societies. It was mainly
due to the Industrial Revolution, which made the masses more important than ever before. Industrial
economies relied on masses of common workers, (4) industrial armies relied on masses of common
soldiers. Governments invested heavily in the health, education and welfare of the masses, because they
needed millions of healthy workers to operate the production lines and millions of loyal soldiers to fight in
the wars.
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A.
Consequently, the history of the twentieth century revolved around the ( 5 ) of inequality between
classes, races and genders. Though the world of the year 2000 still had its share of hierarchies, it was
かなり
nevertheless a much more equal place than the world of 1900. In the first years of the twenty-first century
people expected that the egalitarian process would continue and even speed up. In particular, they hoped
that globalization would spread economic growth throughout the world, and that as a result people in India
and Egypt would come to enjoy the same opportunities and privileges as people in Finland and Canada. An
entire generation grew up on this hope.
Now it seems that this hope might not be fulfilled. Globalization has certainly profited large portions of
humanity, but there are signs of growing inequality both between and within societies. Some groups
increasingly monopolize the fruits of globalization, while billions are left behind. Already today, the
richest hundred people together own more than the poorest four billion.
This could get (6) worse. The rise of Al (Artificial Intelligence) might eliminate the economic value
and political power of most humans. At the same time, improvements in biotechnology might make it
possible to translate economic inequality into biological inequality. Soon the super rich might be able to
buy life itself. If new treatments for extending life and for upgrading physical and intellectual abilities prove
to be expensive, a huge biological gap might open up between the rich and the poor. By 2100, the rich might
be more talented, more creative and more intelligent than the less advantaged. Once a real gap in ability
opens between the rich and the poor, it will become almost impossible to close it. If the rich use their superior
abilities to enrich themselves further, and if more money can buy them more efficient bodies and brains,
B
B
V
