Unit 3 Alienation and the Internet
Key to the Exercis
Text comprehension
I. Decide which of the following best states the author’s purpo of writing。
B
II。 Judge， according to the text， whether the following statements are true or fal。
英文名网名
1。 T (Refer to Paragraph 1。)
2. F （Refer to Paragraph 2。 When the author says ”this might sound like an apparent contradiction，” he implies that this is in fact not a contradiction at all. Throughout the whole essay, the author explains the emingly contradictory idea: on the one hand the Internet is responsible for global unification， and on the other it alienates the participants.)
微波炉烤鱼
3。 F (Refer to Paragraph 3， where the author, by saying ”I have not known this fellow to be given to exaggeration？" actually means that to the best of his knowledge, this friend of his has never exaggerated anything.)自尊心强的表现
如何保护个人信息4. T (Refer to Paragraph 4. At the end of this paragraph, the author argues that when people spend much time developing on-line relationships with faraway folks, they will have no time to participate in communal activities， which undermines the n of community.）嘴唇面相
5。 T (Refer to Paragraph 6。 In this paragraph， the author argues that when surfing the Web a person might be cognitively overloaded and that the cognitive overload might result in a distorted n of reality.)
III. Answer the following questions。
小离别1. Refer to Paragraph 1. As the author es it， the Internet is most likely to make our global village a better place to live in。 It provides a miraculous forum for the globalizatio
n of ideas, which contributes to the realization of human potential。 Furthermore, it is a powerful tool for the acquisition and application of knowledge. The benefits of the Internet， however, may be darkened by its negative conquences。 It may deprive the ur of his time for necessary interaction with other society members so that the whole world may be further fragmented. In addition， there is a reasonable likelihood that the Internet prents too much information， which gives the ur a skewed n of reality by making him cognitively overloaded。
2. Refer to Paragraph 3。 His friend was addicted to the Internet。 He would spend even over twenty—four hours non—stop on the Internet so that he had to force himlf to go off line。 As he spent so much time in cyberspace， his n of reality might have been crooked. Moreover, without any face-to—face verbal communication with other people, he felt lonely and depresd。
3。 Refer to Paragraph 4。 The alienation of society members had begun long before the Internet started to be ud worldwide. After World War II, when the soldiers returned f
rom the battlefields， they devoted themlves to ”progress.” Large quantities of cars were manufactured， which fed the creation of suburbs, and conquently people lived far apart from each。 The Internet， however， has added to the problem and Internet addicts are far from rare. As illustrated by the example of the author's nephew， it ems to be an irreversible trend that more and more people, old and young， are becoming addicted to the Internet. They will spend many hours non—stop in cyberspace rather than with their families or friends. For lack of communication， they are becoming strangers to other people。 Therefore， there is a good reason to believe that society is being further alienated by the Internet。
4. The "cruel irony” means that the Internet provides the ur with a convenient means of communicating and making friends with people far apart on the one hand， but on the other, it estranges the ur from the people around him by canceling his availability for face-to—face communication even with his families and clo friends and for involvement in community activities。
5。 Refer to Paragraphs 6 and 7. The potential of the Internet as a powerful tool for globalizing ideas and for acquiring and applying knowledge can only be realized when the ur strikes a balance between reality and the Internet. Although the Internet makes it possible for the ur to debate, shop， travel and have romance in cyberspace without leaving home, the overu of this tool probably results in a distorted n of reality。 The only way to avoid being penalized by the Internet is make moderate u of this tool without losing one's n of place in the world.
IV. Explain in your own words the following ntences.
1。 As the Internet can be reached and ud with relatively few restrictions, it plays a role in connecting people globally， which is comparable to travelling through international waterways。
2。 A lot of people talk about the "new information age," but not so many people are acquainted with the idea that the Internet parates people from each other and fragments society further as a result.
3. I think that in our society top priority is given to the satisfaction of one’s immediate needs。 The Internet is the best means to achieve this purpo， for on the Internet one can do whatever he likes to。
Structural analysis of the text
The three parts of the text:
消毒毛巾
Part 1 (Paragraphs 1？）；
Part 2 (Paragraphs 3？); and
Part 3 （Paragraph 7).
Thesis statement： ... the Internet may be responsible for furthering the fragmentation of society by alienating its individual urs。
