Exercise

　　Our forefather had no idea that human population would increase faster than the supplies of raw materials; most of them, even until very recently, had the foolish idea that the treasures were “limitless” and “inexhaustible”

　　But one thing is certain: information and knowledge will become even more vital, and the people who possess it, whether they work in manufacturing or services, will have the advantage and produce the wealth.

　　They appear to do everything in a rush, with an eye on the clock, as if they had a short time to live.

　　要點分析和參考譯文

　　要點：分號前后為兩個并列句。在第二個分句中，even until very recently 時間狀語插入在主語 most of them和謂語had之間。Them指代前一句的forefathers.
　　參考譯文：我們前輩不知道人口會比原材料供應增長得要快；甚至到最近以前大多數人還錯誤得認為自然資源是無限的，永遠不會消耗盡。

　　要點：并列句and 之后的主語 the people和謂語will have之間插入whether引導的狀語從句。
　　參考譯文：可是有一點是肯定的：信息和知識將變得更加重要。擁有信息和知識的人無論是在生產行業還是在服務行業工作，都會有優勢并能創造財富。

　　要點：介詞短語“with an eye on the clock”為插入語，在句子中做狀語。“as if”引出方式狀語從句，謂語動詞是虛擬語氣。
　　參考譯文：他們看上去做每件事都匆匆忙忙，眼睛盯著時鐘，仿佛他們的有生之年極其短暫似的。