STRONGER TOGETHER:HOW WE HAVE
BEEN CHANGED BY THE INTERNET
Much has been written about the wonders of the World Wide Web. There are countless articles telling us how the Internet has made our lives more convenient. We no longer have to wait in line or carry cash around when we go shopping. We can get the most updated information from large databases. We can download software, documents, and images whenever we need them. But the Internet has done much more for people than simply make life more convenient. People’s lives have been changed by online communities and social networks.
Jan Tchamani, an English teacher in Birmingham, UK, suddenly developed a serious illness and had to quit her job. At age 50, she found herself out of work and stuck at home with only her computer to keep her company. After a while, she discovered that surfing the Internet could help her feel less lonely and bored. She could listen to music, watch films, play games, and explore the world. She also joined an online group where she could talk about her problems and get support and advice from others. She realised that one of the greatest benefits of the Internet was its ability to remove the distance that usually exists between people.
She was so inspired by the people she met online that she decided to start an IT club to teach older people how to use computers and the Internet. She and her friends now organise events and collect money to pay for private teachers. Many people have been helped by the club. A 59 year old man learnt how to apply for work online and found a great job. Now that he works and can take care of himself, his daughter has time to study at university. A 61 year old woman who was living alone has started a small online company together with two friends. She no longer feels lonely, and her company has become quite successful.
Jan has started taking online classes to learn more about how to use the Internet to make society better. She believes that it is highly important to bridge the digital divide and make sure that everyone has access to the Internet and knows how to use new technology. Her next goal is to start a charity website to raise money for children in poor countries.
Jan’s life has been greatly improved by the Internet. “When you go through tough times, you meet others who are facing similar challenges, ” Jan says. “Thinking about other people’s situations inspired me to offer help.”
1. Match the main idea of each paragraph.A. Jan’s feeling of life. B. The wonders of the World Wide Web. C. Jan was inspired and started an IT club to help older people. D. Jan continued to learn more about the Internet to make society better. E. The reason why Jan began to surf the Internet. |
Para. 2
Para. 3
Para. 4
Para. 5
2. Why did Jan quit her job?
A.Because she began to hate teaching. |
B.Because she had a serious illness. |
C.Because she was too old for teaching. |
D.Because she wanted to work for the Internet. |
A.Surprised. | B.Disappointed. | C.Puzzled. | D.Satisfied. |
A.To help older people use the computer. |
B.To help older people find the job. |
C.To help jobless people live a happy life. |
D.To help her daughter study at university. |
A.To take online classes. |
B.To make society better. |
C.To start a website to help poor children. |
D.To improve poor people’s life by the Internet. |
A.She will keep offering help to other people. |
B.Thinking about other people’s life makes her tired. |
C.Helping others by the Internet is a challenge for her. |
D.Her life has been greatly changed by the Internet. |
The Influence of the Internet |
It has made our lives |
Example |
Jan suddenly developed an illness. By |
So she decided to She also learned |
Jan’s life |
8. 标出句中含有人物心理感受的词汇。
(1) There are countless articles telling us how the Internet has made our lives more convenient.
(2) After a while, she discovered that surfing the Internet could help her feel less lonely and bored.
(3) She was so inspired by the people she met online that she decided to start an IT club to teach older people how to use computers and the Internet.
9. 在课文中找出表示人物心理感受的句子。
(1)
(2)
相似题推荐
【推荐1】This fall, Apple will roll out its newest update. It will offer parents greater control over content their kid views. Additionally, it will track the amount of time they spend using an iOS device. Following Google’s lead to deal with smart phone addiction (上瘾), new tools will include increased monitoring, usage time and activity reports.
Currently, Apple’s parental controls only allow for limiting usage of adult apps, music and video. There is growing public concern over unlimited exposure to social media for young people. Smartphone addiction combined with increased rates of distraction, suicide, and depression in teens led Apple to respond. It has developed better tools for monitoring content and control over iOS device usage for parents. For moms and dads looking to more effectively manage how their teen accesses iOS devices, the Screen Time, App Limits, and Down Time features will be of particular help.
Screen Time will generate daily and weekly reports detailing how many times users pick up their devices, the categories of apps and websites they use most often and the amount of time they spend interacting with each app.
According to public statements, Apple intends these reports to help users get a greater understanding of how they use their devices. They’re also intended to assist in making personal decisions about controls they’d like to have. This is especially helpful to parents who aren’t privy(准许知情) to specific apps and websites their kid is using or how long they use them each day. The new App Limits feature allows parents to set limits on time spent on websites, apps or a category of apps.
Also, parents will be able to set time periods for their child’s phone to be powered off. Down Time can be scheduled on devices. Parents can specify which apps can and can’t be used and when. If parents want to limit access to an entire category of apps, such as social media or gaming, during specified time periods for things like homework, diner, or bedtime, they can.
The new parental controls are account-based. Parents can access Screen Time to view reports and set limits on their teen’s device remotely (远程地) via devices connected through Family Sharing or directly from their teen’s device.
Totals for settings, usage reports, and limits set are based on usage across all of a users IOS devices. Thus, if a kid uses multiple iOS devices, he or she will reach a time limit on an app on their iPhone. The app will be inaccessible on their iPad as well. A screen notification will appear when a child is about to reach a time limit. The child can request more time from a parent.
This update is good news for those who wish to have better insight into teen smartphone usage. Parents, however, should keep communicating rules and guidelines for healthy tech habits.
1. Read the statements. Write T(true) or F(false).2. Which word has the similar meaning to the underlined word “notification” in the seventh paragraph?
A.warning | B.note | C.figure | D.post |
A.This new update alone cannot help teens develop healthy tech habits. |
B.Kids with addiction to social media may also be satisfied with this update. |
C.There’s no chance for parents to give more time if the kid reaches the limit. |
D.If a kid reaches a time limit on his/her iPhone, he/she can go on to use iPad. |
A.Parents Find Ways to Control the Screen Time of Your Kids. |
B.Apple Follows Google’s Lead to Have More Functions. |
C.Parents Should Have Greater Control over the Usage of smartphones. |
D.Apple’s Newest Update Helps Parents Monitor Kids’ Cellphone Usage. |
A. Specifically, the Internet and mobile devices have completely changed the way people interact with each other.
B. While technology has developed over thousands of years, the last century has seen an explosion in it that has influenced fundamental changes in how humans see the world and interact with others.
C. Technology is more than an abstract concept associated with advanced tools and systems. It also shapes the way people behave, grow and develop, both within their own lives and in their relationships with others.
D. However, technology is sometimes considered to disconnect people from others around them. With cell phones, most people think that it’s easier and more convenient to text instead of meeting in person. An article shows that almost 60 percent of people feel disconnected from others around when they are on their phones.
E. Technology is helping people build newer and necessary communication skills in this sense. Office employees and managers use technology to send e-mails to one another in business. On social media, just share a few of your images and people start communicating on and about your images according to their viewpoint.
【推荐3】Brilliant though it is, Project Debater has some weaknesses. It takes sentences from its library of documents and prebuilt arguments and strings them together. This can lead to the kinds of errors no human would make. Such wrinkles will no doubt be ironed out, yet they also point to a fundamental problem. As Kristian Hammond, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Northwestern University, put it: “There’s never a stage at which the system knows what it’s talking about.”
What does the underlined word “wrinkles” in paragraph refer to?
A.Arguments. | B.Doubts. | C.Errors. | D.Differences. |
【推荐1】
Every summer he came to our village on his cycle. The cycle was full of coconuts and on the handle was his small red money purse and the machete that he used to cut the coconuts. He always wore a blue and black checkered lungi and was known for his toothless smile that tended to turn into a slight laugh.
He often announced the arrival of summer by standing under our village’s Gulmohar tree. During the first touch of summer, red flowers fell on the ground and welcomed him to our village; soon the red flowers turned into long sword-like fruits which hung above his head as he cut the coconuts.
He never ate anything except paan (a kind of leaf), which he always could be seen chewing, and he just sat under the tree until someone approached him. Then, he would choose the best coconut, and with expert skill, carve it so that the person could drink the satisfying liquid.
For me he was an artist who knew how to carve the green coconut into an oasis (绿洲) of relief. He was the coconut whisperer, who knew which one had more water. Nobody ever talked about him, for he was of no significance to the busy people of our village. His existence will forever be tied to the shadow of the Gulmohar tree.
Nowadays, he doesn’t do much business. Kids no longer care for coconut water; they want soft drinks. I know his weak body will fail him in the coming years. He will not visit our village, and with him, all my memories of summer will disappear. No one will miss him apart from the Gulmohar tree, his only friend.
My friends and I have stayed in the same village our whole life. Now, in our mid-thirties, we don’t have time to talk about our childhood and the lite beyond the chains of society.
I’ve made up my mind. Tomorrow I will talk with him. I will listen to him and preserve him in my memory. I will tell him how important he was for me, how he defined summer for me, and, during every summer, how he nurtured (滋养) me with the coconut water, which was filled with his love. I will take in his smile one last time—a remembrance of my childhood innocence. I will hug him until my tears mix with his.
1. What message does the author want to express?
A.Pass on what is yours to the next generation. |
B.Free yourself from the pressure of society. |
C.Enjoy the simple things in your busy life. |
D.Appreciate something before it’s gone. |
【推荐2】I’m a walker, logging an average of 9000 steps a day several times a week around my neighborhood. On recent trips to Copenhagen and Stockholm, I noticed tall, fit Scandinavians (斯堪法尼亚人) walking along on city streets with poles, as if they were cross-country skiing without any snow.
It was a surprise to learn that the addition of the poles makes it a more vigorous, full-body exercise than simply walking — and, as a 76-year-old looking to stay healthy while enjoying the outdoors, I decided to give it a try.
There’s plenty of help online for the new Nordic (北欧的) walker: stand tall, swing your arms out as if to shake hands, and plant your poles with vigour. Then there’s the little matter of the strap (带子) on the pole. This allows the walker to grip the pole when thrusting forward and then relax that hand as the other hand pushes forward — a skill of coordination that builds stronger muscles.
For a warm-up, I started slow: Nordic walking down the hall that extends from my front door to the deck. Keeping balance wasn’t my only problem. The novel use of my arms and upper body was surprisingly demanding. After half an hour, my heart was pounding and I was sweating, but I still wasn’t much good.
Still, I carried on because there’s no arguing with the exercise’s benefits. Nordic walkers’ upper-body exercise increases their heart rate significantly more than walking without poles. And according to cardiologist Dr Aaron Baggish, with poles “you’re engaging 80 to 90 per cent of your muscles.” It also helps people with Parkinson’s, says Burrill. “We put poles in their hands and it’s amazing because they start walking with real rhythm.”
After a few clumsy days of being convinced I would never succeed, suddenly everything clicked. Not only was I able to coordinate the movements, I was aware that my heart, arms and core were getting a workout. Nordic walking is a form of exercise I expect to enjoy for years to come.
What is the author’s intention in writing this passage?A.To persuade readers to try Nordic walking for fun. |
B.To share the experience of trying a new fitness activity. |
C.To emphasize the great difficulties of Nordic walking. |
D.To compare Nordic walking with simple walking. |
【推荐3】Guy Bryant never intended to be a father figure. But over the past 12 years, he’s housed more than 50 foster kids in his Brooklyn apartment.
For decades, Bryant, 61, worked with teens aging out of New York’s child welfare system. His job was to find services that would make the transition (过渡) to living on their own easier. But he felt that what he could accomplish at the New York City Administration for Children’s Services office wasn’t enough. So in 2007, he decided to become a foster parent.
What is the second paragraph mainly about?
A.The shift of teens’ life. |
B.An introduction of Bryant’s task. |
C.Bryant’s challenge as a foster parent. |
D.The reason for Bryant’s being a foster parent. |
Zhang Tian graduated from university and got a teacher’s certificate last year. His parents, like most, hoped he would go to a big city to find a teaching job. Likewise, his friends all left his hometown for work in Shanghai or Beijing. Zhang Tian felt differently, however. He wanted to start a new lifestyle. He had met wonderful teachers from small villages during his early school years and he was inspired by them to go and teach where he was needed the most. For that reason he applied for and became a volunteer teacher in a village school. Bringing with him lots of books, clothes, and two pairs of trainers, Zhang Tian travelled to the village with an eager heart. He imagined all sorts of exciting things about living independently and teaching in a village.
However, not everything lived up to Zhang Tian’s hopes. The school was much smaller than he had expected, with only three classrooms. In front of the classrooms, there was a playground which got dusty on windy days and muddy on rainy days. Living in the village was more challenging than he had thought. The power and water supplies were unstable, so he could only shower every three or four days, and he had to learn how to cook. The thought of leaving once flashed through his mind, but he quickly gave up on the idea and found ways to deal with the challenges.
1. What do we know about Zhang Tian’s volunteering job?A.He decided to leave after a second thought. |
B.He was encouraged by his friends and parents. |
C.He found it challenging after knowing the real situations. |
D.He used to have high expectations for teaching in a village. |
A.He had to cook by himself. |
B.The school was poorly equipped. |
C.The living condition was undesirable. |
D.He couldn’t pay for the water and power. |
【推荐3】When I was 9, we packed up our home in Los Angeles and arrived at Heathrow, London on a gray January morning. Everyone in the family settled quickly into the city except me. Without my beloved beaches and endless blue—sky days, I felt at a loss and out of place. Until I made a discovery.
Southbank, at an eastern bend in the Thames, is the center of British skateboarding, where the continuous crashing of skateboards left your head ringing .I loved it. I soon made friends with the local skaters. We spoke our own language. And my favorite: Safe. Safe meant cool. It meant hello. It meant don’t worry about it. Once, when trying a certain trick on the beam(横杆), I fell onto the stones, damaging a nerve in my hand, and Toby came over, helping me up: Safe, man. Safe. A few minutes later, when I landed the trick, my friends beat their boards loud, shouting: “ Safe! Safe! Safe!” And that’s what mattered—landing tricks, being a good skater.
When I was 15, my family moved to Washington. I tried skateboarding there, but the locals were far less welcoming. Within a couple of years, I’d given it up.
When I returned to London in 2004, I found myself wandering down to Southbank, spending hours there. I’ve traveled back several times since, most recently this past spring. The day was cold but clear: tourists and Londoners stopped to watch the skaters. Weaving(穿梭)among the kids who rushed by on their boards, I found my way to the beam. Then a rail—thin teenager, in a baggy white T—shirt, skidded(滑)up to the beam. He sat next to me. He seemed not to notice the man next to him. But soon I caught a few of his glances. “I was a local here 20 years ago,” I told him. Then, slowly, he began to nod his head. “Safe, man. Safe.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Safe.”
What do the underlined words “Safe! Safe! Safe!” probably mean?
A.Be careful! | B.Well done! | C.No way! | D.Don’t worry! |