Question

Professor Barry Wellman of the University of Toronto in Canada has invented a term to describe the way many North Americans interact(交流，沟通) these days. The term is “networked individualism”. This concept is not easy to understand because the words seem to have opposite meanings. How can we be individuals(个人，个体) and be networked at the same time? You need other people for networks.

Here is what Professor Wellman means. Before the invention of the Internet and e-mail, our social networks included live interactions with relatives, neighbors, and friends. Some of the interaction was by phone, but it was still voice to voice, person to person, in real time.

A recent research study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project showed that for a lot of people, electronic interaction through the computer has replaced this person-to-person interaction. However, a lot of people interviewed for the Pew study say that’s a good thing. Why?

In the past, many people were worried that the Internet isolated (孤立)us and caused us to spend too much time in the imaginary world of the computer. But the Pew study discovered that the opposite is true. The Internet connects us with more real people than expected—helpful people who can give advice on careers, medical problems, raising children, and choosing a school or college. About 60 million Americans told Pew that the Internet plays an important role in helping them make major life decisions.

Thanks to the computer, we are able to be alone and together with other people — at the same time!

1.The underlined phrase “networked individualism” probably means that by using computers people ________.

A．stick to their own ways no matter what other people say

B．have the rights and freedom to do things of their own interest

C．do things in their own ways and express opinions different from other people

D．are able to keep to themselves but at the same time reach out to other people

2.According to the Pew study, what do many people rely on to make major life decisions?

A．Networks         B．Friends           C．Phones           D．Parents.

3.It can be inferred from the Pew study that _______.

A．people have been separated from each other by using computers

B．the Internet makes people waste a lot of time and feel very lonely

C．the Internet has become a tool for a new kind of social communication

D．a lot of people regard the person-to-person communication as a good thing

4.Which would be the best title for this passage?

A．We’re Alone on the Internet.

B．We’re Communicating on the Internet.

C．We’re Alone Together on the Internet.

D．We’re in the Imaginary World of the Internet

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.C

4.C

【解析】

试题分析：本文主要讲述的是一种新的概念networked individualism，即在网络上我们虽然是个体，但是我们仍然是紧密联系在一起的。

1.D 推理题。根据文章内容可以在网络世界里我们可以保持自我的独立性也可以与别人取得联系，故D项正确。

2.A 细节题。根据文章第四段最后2行Americans told Pew that the Internet plays an important role in helping them make major life decisions.说明网络在人们做出决定中起了很巨大的作用。故A正确。

3.C 推理题。根据文章第三段2,3行electronic interaction through the computer has replaced this person-to-person interaction.说明网络已经成为了人于人之间交往的重要的工具，故C正确。

4.C 主旨大意题。本文主要讲述的是一种新的概念networked individualism，即在网络上我们虽然是个体，但是我们仍然是紧密联系在一起的。故C项正确。

考点：考查人生百态类短文阅读