1 . Sometimes the people least likely to engage with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Zoom are the people who can benefit from it the most.
The “silent generation”, or those born between 1928 and 1945, aren’t usually mentioned alongside the likes of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. A study this year said that 45 percent of people over 65 use social media sites. Yet, for the majority of seniors, it is more about gathering information than sharing things about themselves.
For example, AARP has pointed out that Facebook’s largest function for older folks has been helping them keep in touch with their families, especially their grandchildren. But this doesn’t really reflect the digital connectivity (连接) many elders are experiencing.
BJ, a friend who just turned 80, does not own a computer, yet he’s one of the 4 out of 10 seniors with a smartphone, which never leaves his side. For him social media is purely social — no grandkids, just people from every stage of his eight decades. It has kept him youthful and connected. He has figured out how to make Facebook and Instagram work for him by asking his younger friends for help when he gets stuck.
Jesse Epstein, who has been teaching in a college for 44 years.He moved to Costa Rica with his wife and young child four years ago when he was 70. “I wouldn’t be able to live the life I now lead without the assistance of Zoom, Google Classroom, WhatsApp, and Microsoft Teams,” Epstein tells me on the phone, speaking from his home in Tamarindo. “My current students are all masters-level schoolteachers. I use Zoom to observe and evaluate how well they incorporate (融入) these technologies into their lessons live in the classroom. I was surprised by how much more attentive students seemed to be online than they typically were in the classroom receiving the same material.”
He keeps in touch in a very real way with friends he’s known for decades. “Networking technologies have supported all my life choices and helped me and my family achieve a level of freedom and independence which I didn’t think was possible for someone in their mid-seventies,” he adds.
1. Why are the elderly called the “silent generation”?| A．They hardly share personal experiences online. |
| B．They are too shy to deliver a speech in public. |
| C．They never keep in touch with others online. |
| D．They are unfortunately speech-impaired. |
| A．To express good attitudes towards life. |
| B．To explore possible ways to stay young. |
| C．To reflect the popularity of Facebook. |
| D．To show the real social connection. |
| A．Students are more likely to concentrate on the class. |
| B．All his life choices are backed by online technologies. |
| C．He can improve his teaching skills and methods. |
| D．His family members have freedom and independence. |
| A．Social Media Gives the Silent Generation a Voice |
| B．Social Apps Are Welcomed by People of All Ages |
| C．Networking Technologies Are a Double-edged Sword |
| D．The Silent Generation Are Eager for Connectivity |
2 . For Italy, part of the challenge is to transform places like Colle di Tora, a small town outside Rome, which are not so much cut off from the modern world, as a little behind.
At the moment the post office-which the town’s 360 residents rely on to withdraw cash, as there is no bank-sometimes closes down because its Internet fails. Bad weather can interrupt the signal, and is also a problem for mobile phone reception and streaming TV services.
The last time a customer tried to pay by card in Anna Rita Pani’s grocery store, things got a bit awkward. They had to wait 15 minutes for the card reader to work.
Simona Cardella said her teenage daughter struggled with online lessons while schools were closed. Sometimes the audio was off, sometimes the video was off, and if the weather was bad, the signal was cut off completely.
Mayor Pandolfi notes that taking latest generation broadband（光纤宽带）to isolated（隔绝的）areas like Colle Di Tora could make them attractive locations for remote working. For other residents, it would just bring them into the 21st century. Pani’s 22-year-old son Nicolas is a keen gamer, but he complains it can take “four-five days” to download a game that his friends in Rome can get in a couple of hours.
Fortunately, Colle di Tora is on a government list of 200 cities for building the fibre optic broadband. This week, workers were laying fibre optic cables in one of the main squares, and telecoms company Open Fiber said super-fast Internet would be operational by the year’s end.
Nearly a quarter of Italians do not use the Internet, and one third of households have no fixed connection, according to figures by national statistics agency Istat. The government wants every Italian to have access to super-fast Internet by 2026-but it has a long way to go.
1. What does the author think of towns like Colle di Tora?| A．Places in imagination. | B．Places everyone wants to visit. |
| C．Places falling behind. | D．Places with unique cultures. |
| A．To present their lifestyles. | B．To make a comparison. |
| C．To clarify a concept. | D．To show the bad network. |
| A．Make it fit for telework. | B．Attract many more visitors. |
| C．Bring peace to the residents. | D．Allow the government to manage the town. |
| A．Tolerant. | B．Negative. | C．Optimistic. | D．Cautious. |
3 . You're just about to check out with your online purchases when you realize that some items have been slipped into your shopping cart. It turns out that you had to uncheck a specific box to avoid these sneaky(鬼鬼祟祟的) charges. You were lucky enough to spot this bit of trickery. However, inattentive or rushed buyers might totally miss the extra charge.
This is just one example of what's called "dark pattern web design". These are user interfaces(界面) and website designs meant to trick you into doing something you didn't really mean to do, such as spending more money, sharing personal data or subscribing to an annoying newsletter. Often, you'll find these dark patterns on shopping sites.
The term "dark pattern" was coined by Harry Brignull. He's an online user experience professional. Brignull says that he first started seeing problems like these around 2009. "I kept noticing these instances of bad design that didn't seem like mistakes," he says. "I kept finding things that were annoying or frustrating, but seemed to be designed on purpose, to benefit the company doing them." So, he started DarkPatterns.org to spread the news about these practices. He hopes that by shedding light on this immoral form of digital profiteering, users will become smarter and companies will be less likely to use it.
It seemed a step in the right direction when in May 2018, the European Union passed the General Data Protection Regulation(GDPR). The idea is that websites must provide very clear notifications(告知)that allow users to opt out of surveillance(监视) and cookie tracking. The result? Companies are actively crafting notifications to cheat people into accepting surveillance instead of rejecting it. U.S. lawmakers are still debating how to build privacy laws that will really work. Until better laws and enforcement are in place, pay close attention to dark patterns on websites so you won't get caught.
1. Under what circumstances can "dark pattern web design" work?| A．Users' bad mood. | B．Users' hotheaded buying. |
| C．Users' carelessness. | D．Users' lack of specific knowledge. |
| A．To remind companies of the mistakes they made. |
| B．To give Internet users an insight into dark patterns. |
| C．To urge companies to improve their website designs. |
| D．To urge Internet users to keep off shopping online. |
| A．It is a privacy law. | B．It is well received by consumers. |
| C．It needs further improvement. | D．It benefits websites. |
| A．Should we stay away from shopping online? |
| B．Are we suffering from “dark pattern" of some websites? |
| C．How to protect our own interests. |
| D．Can companies benefit from “dark patterns”? |
