Reading Comprehension
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。 

     Humankind’s way of life has depended on technology since the beginning of civilization. It can indeed be argued that civilization began when humans first used technologies.
     Ranking in importance early developments against subsequent ones is not easy, especially as the primitive technologies were independently developed in widely separated societies. Any such ranking is full of difficulties as was the recent poll that asked the public how they would rank Britain’s greatest inventions; electricity generation, which is the foundation of almost every current technology, the jet engine, which made possible our international mobility, the invention of vaccination: that saved millions of lives, the possibilities seemed endless. Well, the public chose none of these, but instead the safety bicycle.
     The bicycle is of course a smart, practical, and sustainable invention, which brought new opportunities for people in all walks of life, and which continues to offer benefits today. But to place it ahead of the fundamental accomplishments of Faraday, Stephenson and Maxwell demonstrates in my mind a profound misunderstanding of the contribution of advanced technologies to our lives. I am afraid I cannot view the safety bicycle as significant contender（竞争物）. But the fact that so many people thought that it was of such great significance surely indicates a failure in communication and understanding.
     The cost of this major social failure will progressively disadvantage all of us. Technology is determining the future of the human race. We need it to satisfy our appetite for energy, to help us cope with the problem of hunger through plant breeding throughout the world, to monitor and find the means for avoiding global warming, so that we can rescue our planet for future generations. Technology can improve our health, and lengthen our lives. We should recognize this and give it the status that it deserves.