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  3. A Cyber Love Affair Let the Chat Begin Nobody really knows how the phenomenon of Internet chat rooms began, but with the inc

A Cyber Love Affair Let the Chat Begin Nobody really knows how the phenomenon of Internet chat rooms began, but with the inc

admin2013-07-02  36
问题                             A Cyber Love Affair
Let the Chat Begin
    Nobody really knows how the phenomenon of Internet chat rooms began, but with the increase of population and growing influence of technology, it’s really no wonder why it became such a big hit.

    Dr. Matthew Ciolek, a professor at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies pointed out in his study, "The statistics showed that only 5% of the Philippine population use the Internet. " Yet what may appear to be such a small number actually amounts to 4.5M people — not so tiny after all. The study also showed that around 0. 8% of the 4.5M use the Internet to establish relationships. Albeit a miniscule percentage, these people come by thousands and are mostly from the youth.
Cyber Love
    Most young people go online for research, write in blogs, or to get in touch with distant relatives or friends. On the other hand, others use the Internet to establish relationships with people they personally do not know. Some as a consequence of their shyness, others out of curiosity, and in some rare instances, like that of Edward’s, an engineering student, just out of plain boredom, "I just chatted for fun because I was so bored at home and I didn’t really have anything to do. "
    Edward and his girlfriend met through chat, only to break up a year after. When asked why tilings didn’t work out, he wasn’t able to give a straight answer, although he says, "Based on my experience...you can’t really know if the person you are chatting with is the one in the picture she gave you or if she really is true to you. At least in the traditional way, you really know the person. "
    April, a nursing student, openly admits she uses the Internet to meet people. "I am shy in school; I don’t have a lot of friends," she says. " Right after school, I go straight home. "
    So when she began acting differently after being hooked on the net, it came as shock — even to herself. " It all started when my classmates asked me to go with them to an Internet cafe. I didn’t want to appear as a killjoy(扫兴的人), so I agreed to go with them," she says. " Since then, that’s where I have spent my time. "
    Cutting class, and spending all her allowance for Internet use, April admited she got involved in many relationships — each of which she was a different person and none that she took seriously. "It’s a different experience, when you feel like you’re somebody else," she says. "It’s addictive. "
The Chat Trap
    Hara Marano explains cyber behavior in her article titled, " Cyberspace: Love Online ," from Psychology Today: " Online relationships can be unusually seductive since they are readily accessible. They move very quickly, and under the cloak of anonymity , they make it easy for people to reveal a great deal about themselves. "
    But under the cloak of anonymity, not everything people reveal are complete or necessarily true. " Imagination, which paints cyberspace in more intense and seductive colors, also helps people satisfy some of their most profound desires. It frees people from the limits imposed by their bodies and their surroundings. "
    Thus, users are able to abuse the Internet by making false profiles of themselves, while luring others to believe that they are someone whom they are not. What makes Internet relationships so attractive is that it guarantees secrecy, anonymity, control, intellectual engagement and 24-hour access.
    But these advantages are exactly what cause some of such relationships to be "false, unfruitful, and deceiving".
The Final Showdown: In-Person vs Cyberspace
    Whether you like it or not, cyberspace has become the new frontier in social relationships. People are making friends, colleagues, lovers, and enemies on the Internet. The fervor with which many people have pursued this new social realm is matched by a backlash reaction from the skeptics. Relationships on the Internet aren’t really real, some people say — not like relationships in the real world. Socializing in cyberspace is just a cultural fad(时尚), a novelty, a phase that people go through. The critics say it can’t compare to real relationships — and if some people prefer communicating with others via wires and circuits, there must be something wrong with them. They must be addicted, deviant, lonely, or maybe plain adventurous. They must fear the challenging intimacy of real relationships.
Doing "It"
    Humans need physical contact with each other. Infants sink into depression and die without it. How parents interact physically with them becomes a cornerstone(基础)of their identity and well-being. Adults deprived of tactile contact for long periods will tell you just how depriving it feels. In day-to-day relationships, never underestimate the power of a handshake, a pat on the back, a hug, or a kiss.
    On this level of human relating, cyberspace falls short of way. In multimedia chat communication, there are some vague hints of physical contact, as when you snuggle up your avatar(形象化身)next to someone else’s. People can also give you a virtual hug in text-manipulated relationships. But this is a far cry from the in-person counterpart.
    Unfortunately, it’s not very likely that cyberspace relationships — even holographic(全部手写的)ones — will ever develop kinesthetic capabilities, unless technology figures out how to accurately record someone’s caress and transmit that digital record into the other’s nervous system. Products that transmit tactile stimulation on-line are being developed, but are still quite crude compared to the subtle but powerful dimensions of in-person human touch.
    In the physical, tactile, spatial world we also can DO things with people. We can play tennis, go for a walk, eat dinner together and, of course as human beings, have sex. Doing things with people creates bonds. Are these things possible in cyberspace? Sort of.
    In cyberspace, especially in multimedia environments, we can "meet" people at some specified site and move with them from one visual setting to another. It feels a bit like " going places" with them. There also are lots of games we can play with others via the Internet. Sometimes we have an imaginary physical feeling to them.
    Although doing things with others certainly is possible on the Internet, it doesn’t have as powerful a physical, tactile, or spatial feeling as activities in in-person relationships. Almost anything you can do with someone in cyberspace you could also do with them in person, simply by the fact that they can be sitting side-by-side with you in front of the computer while you do it. But the reverse isn’t true — everything you can do with someone in-person can not be duplicated in cyberspace.
Safety Concerns
    It is very reasonable to have concerns about safety, but we also need to keep them in perspective: Actually, meeting people in Cyberspace is probably safer than meeting people in a bar or even the supermarket. We just need to use some common sense and intuition and maybe utilize some tips for safety.
    Almost any action we take in life, be it crossing a street, driving a car, or going out to a restaurant, involves some level of risk. After all, you might trip and fall in a crosswalk, get rear-ended by a drunk driver, or end up with food poisoning after a tasty meal. In everyday life, we learn that there are actions we can take to help insure our safety. The same is true for meeting people via the Internet. Just as you might look both ways before crossing a street, in order to avoid getting hit by a car, so, too, can you use certain precautions to make your journeys through cyberspace, to meet people online, safe and enjoyable.
What advice is given about meeting in Cyberspace in the passage?
选项 A、It is safer than meeting in the supermarket, so we shouldn’t have any concerns.
B、It is not as safe as meeting in a bar, so we must use some common sense and intuition.
C、It is safer than meeting in a bar, but we still need to use some common sense and intuition.
D、Never meeting anyone in Cyberspace since it is too dangerous.
答案C
解析 文中说在网上结识朋友可能比在酒吧或超市安全，但仍需要一些常识和直觉或者利用一些安全技巧。故答案选[C]。
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