Text Read the article about the Internet and maintaining friendships. Choose the correct answer to these questions
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Text 4. Read the article about the Internet and maintaining friendships. Choose the correct answer to these questions. To begin, let me just say that I DON’T hate the Internet. Honestly, I really don’t! It’s important to make this clear from the start, because I don’t want you to get the wrong impression. I use the Internet every day - at work and in my free time. I have plenty of favourite websites and I also write lots of emails. Generally speaking, I see the Internet as a good thing. However, there are also lots of things about it that worry me - scare me even - and the biggest concern I have is the way it has affected how people maintain their friendships these days. You'll soon see what I mean. If one more person asks me if I'm on a particular social networking site, I'll scream! I'm endlessly getting invited to join and I have had a look at friends' profiles, but to be honest, the whole thing just depresses me. To begin with, there's too much information there. Why should I care which online group some distant friend has joined? Or who has become 'friends' with who? And what does 'friend' mean in cyberspace anyway? I know one guy who struggles with face-to-face conversations, yet who has over 500 'friends' online. I should add, though, that one of them is his mum! It's not right. If you ask me, people only want you to join these sites to make them look even more popular! It's just an ego trip. Added to this is the fact that I believe in privacy. I don't want every aspect of my private life stuck on the Web for everyone to see. I've seen photos on some networking sites that would give those girls' parents heart attacks if they ever came across them! Also - and I know this makes me sound paranoid -I worry about what all the private information these sites collect could be used for in the future. Then, of course, there are all the sites that help you track down people you went to school with. Hasn't anyone realised that there's a reason why people lose touch? People drift apart because they don't have enough in common to make it worth staying in touch! I don't know about you, but personally I have no desire to relive my school days. There weren't great and I don't miss anyone from my old class. I don't see why I should get back in touch with someone I last saw twenty years ago, when I could go out and make new friends. At least they would be in the same city as me, rather than still living in the town where I grew up! Now, you might think I'm a little bit old-fashioned, but I actually already have the mobile numbers and email addresses of my closest friends. I don't need to go through a third-party site to contact them all or to arrange when to go out. I know this might shock you, but I actually like talking to my friends - and yes, really TALKING, not 'chatting' or 'Instant Messaging'! I like the sound of other humans - and I'd rather meet people in the real world than in cyberspace any day! 19 Which sentence best describes how the writer feels about the Internet? a He can't stand it. b He's got serious reservations about it. c He's got mixed feelings about it. 20 How does the writer feel when he gets invited to join social networking sites? a It drives him mad. b He's pleased to be asked to join. c He feels quite guilty. 21 How does the writer explain the fact that some people have so many online friends? a They must be really popular. b It helps them feel more important. c Communicating online is better than talking face-to-face. 22 What worry about social networking sites does he have? a There could be unexpected consequences to publishing information online. b Terrible pictures of parents could be posted online. c People can already read private information about him online. 23 He doesn't want to see old school friends again because ... a it's too much effort to find out where they are now. b he feels they wouldn't have much to talk about, c they might be different now to when they last met. 24 The writer thinks he might shock some people because ... a he doesn't know how to use Instant Messenger. b he doesn't use the Web to organise his social life. c he's so talkative. |
