Professor Barry Wellman of the University of Toronto in Canada has invented a term to describe the way many North Americans interact 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 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 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!
DCC
答案解析：
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
解析：D正确
划线的“networked individualism”短语是指用电脑的人怎么样？
可以从字面意思判断。Network指网络，就必然要与其他人发生联系。Individualism是个人主义，在这里是与networked相反的意思，即不与他人进行交流，自我的方式。把二者合并在一起就是两种方式同时都可实现。几个选项中只有D项包括这两层含义。
2. 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
解析：C正确
从皮尤研究可推断出什么？
从第三段中提到皮尤调查处可看到，许多人都用电脑网络与他人互动并认为这是个很好的方式。因此调查的结果对电脑网络是积极的表述，A和B都是过去错误的认识。D项，要注意a lot of people interviewed for the Pew study say that’s a good thing.当中that指代的具体是什么。
3. 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.
解析：C正确
文章的最佳标题是哪个？
文章的重点就是个人与网络互动的关系。A和B只提到一部分。D，文中说了我们通过网络认识了很多真实世界的人，所以D不对。
C，alone 和together表示的正是文章的重点。
参考译文：
加拿大多伦多大学的巴里•韦尔曼教授发明出一种专门描述现今北美人沟通方式的术语，即“网络化的个人主义”。该观点要理解起来不太容易，因为这个词看起来自相矛盾。我们如何能保持个人的同时又网络化？要建立网络就需要其他人的参与。
以下是韦尔曼教授的本意。发明因特网和电子信箱之前，我们的社交网络包括与亲人，邻居和朋友间的实际的交流。一些交流通过电话，不过这也是声音对声音，人与人间的真实沟通。
皮尤网络与美国生活项目的最新研究显示对很多人来说，通过电脑上的电子联络已经取代了人与人间的互动。然而，许多皮尤研究的受访者认为电子联络大有裨益。原因而在？
过去，许多人担心网络会孤立我们，造成人们花太多时间沉迷在电脑虚拟的世界中。而皮尤研究发现事实恰恰相反。因特网将我们与更多意想不到的真实的人联系在一起——这些人能够给予帮助，可以对职业，医疗问题，抚养孩子，择校等方面提出建议。大约有6000万的美国人对皮尤表示因特网在他们做出人生重大抉择的时候起到非常重要的作用。
正是由于电脑的存在，我们可以一边独自一人，一边同时和其他人在一起。
词汇及短语：
interact: vi.交流；沟通；合作
interaction: n. 一起活动, 合作, 配合, 相互作用; 互相影响，互动
network: vt.&vi.1.将…连接成网络 2.建立工作关系
person-to- person: 人与人之间的
isolate: 使隔离, 使孤立, 使脱离
imaginary: 想像中的, 假想的, 虚构的
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