Anything, if it concerns all nations in the world, we need standards to regulatate it.Space flight and air travel would shock time travelers from the mid-19th century. People considered such thing impossible back again: But when it comes to that gem of late 20th century technology, the Internet, the time travelers might well say:" Been there. Done that."They have the masons to say so.Both system grew out of the cutting-edge science of their time. The telegraph’s land lines, underwater cables, and clicking things reflected the 19th century’s research in electromagnet- ism. The Internet’s computers and high-speed connections reflect 20th century, and material technology.But, while small devices make a global network possible, it takes human cooperation to make it happen. To do so, nations negotiated these standards through ITU—the International Telegraph Union—a century and a half ago.Consider a couple of technical parallels. Telegrams were sent from one station to the next, where they were received and retransmitted until they reached their destination. Stations along the way were owned by different entities, including national governments. Internet date is sent from one serve computer to another that receives and retransmits it until it reaches its destination. Again the computers have a variety of owners. Telegraph messages were encoded in dots and dashes. Internet date is encoded in ones and zeros.Then there’s the social impact. The Internet is changing the way we do business and communicate. It makes possible virtual communities for individuals scattered around the planet who share mutual interests. Yet important as this may turn out to be, it is affecting a world that was already well connected by radio, television, and other telecommunications. The Associated Press, Reuters, and other news services would have spread the bombing of Yugoslavia quickly without the Internet. In this respect, the global telegraph network was truly revolutionary. The unprecedented availability of global news in real time gave birth to the Associated Press and Reuters news services. It gave a global perspective to newspapers that had focused on local affairs. A provincialism that geographical isolation had forced on people for millennia was gone forever.As the experience of the past century and a half has shown, the standards set up by ITU are not only necessary, but also workable. Therefore, in today’s world, while the Internet is playing an ever more important role in our life, we also need standards, and that is through the same ITU—now called the International Telecommunication Union. The mid-19th century time travelers would not be surprised by today’s Internet because ().

A. they were totally ignorant of it
B. they would consider such a thing as a dream
C. they had seen similar things before
D. they had thought of it for quite a long time