45
iii
Read the article. Nine parts of sentences have been removed from the text. Put the
correct sentence from A-J below in each space (1-9) to form a logical text. There is one extra
item you don’t need.
The Good, the Bad, or the Internet
As more people around the world gain access to all the tools of the digital age, the internet will play
a greater role in everyday life. According to the recent Pew Research Center survey in emerging
and
developing nations,
(1)
_________________
has been a good influence in the realms of
education, personal relationships and the economy. But despite all the benefits of these new
technologies, on balance people are more likely to say that the internet yields a negative rather than
a positive influence on morality –
(2)
_________________
.
“We didn’t really define morality for people’s individuality but related
it to perceived threats on
cultural values, not just on morality”, said philosophy professor Randall Curren (University of
Rochester, New York). It’s true that different cultures view morality in different ways. In many
Muslim countries, for instance, it is believed that
the Internet is bringing
(3)
_________________
which are perceived as sort of drawing their young people away from the established customs and
ideas.
Parents, in particular, are very nervous about the influence
(4)
_________________ and might even
feel threatened by certain world views and social patterns of their offspring. On the contrary,
younger, more educated people with higher incomes or those able to read and speak English are
more likely to have access to the Internet and less likely to say that it is bad for morality, according
to the Center’s survey. However, parents’ fears are not always groundless.
(5)
_________________
carried
out by the Nominet Trust, an organisation that promotes internet projects which address
social disadvantage. Eighty per cent acknowledge social networking sites have the ability to take
over their children’s lives. They are true to believe that it is not the best way to release pressure for
their offspring’s health sitting in front of personal computers chatting throughout their spare time.
One in three parents, meanwhile, claims the Internet has the power
(6)
_________________ and is
sure their children are in danger from the web.
What is also worth noticing is that there is no certain way that can restrict
the information on the
Internet. It is saying that youngsters may receive all kinds of information without the ability of
judging it,
(7)
_________________. Some invisible hazards are inside the digital world. Children
sometimes go to the
websites that contain violent, porn, and other inappropriate information.
However, so far, there has been no good method to completely restrain information before it gets to
the children. Furthermore, the Internet has become a major source of entertainment for the younger
generation according to the development of flash and web-based games. Some youngsters are so
addicted to it that
(8)
_________________, such as academy and athletics. Moreover, the majority
of parents allege that their children are too young to distinguish the true stories from the false ones,
they often get the wrong information and the wrong concept of the society,
and become easily
annoyed, irritated or even depressed.
But it has been also found that most fears are exaggerated and lack of neurological evidence. First,
social networking sites, in themselves, are not a special source of risk to children, and are generally
beneficial as they support existing friendships. In addition, playing action video games can
(9)
_________________, while computer-based activity provides mental stimulation, and can help
slow rates of cognitive decline. Thus, the global children protection agencies advise parents to talk
to their offspring about
how they use the internet, to block adult websites, to set time limits for
browsing and to set up an instant alert system if children try to view blocked sites. All in all, it is
families not organisations that have to
safeguard their children, both on and offline.
