大学英语bookUnitcloze

U n i t 4

With the Internet we can escape into another world at the click of a button. For many this virtual world is a dream come true. They find they can do away with the daily routines and stay inside

for weeks and everything from home. Other, however, may

find the virtual world a nightmare . It is especially annoying when the Internet connection is slow and everything crawls at

a snail’s space. The computer does not

take in your messages nor does it spit out data . Still others, who get the virtual world, may find communicating face-to-face too emotional and unbearable. At times they feel

this so strongly that they have to

flee from real human contact, hurrying to get back on line to

the comfort and safety of a less demanding world.

I live in a small coastal town of 398 people located halfway between San Francisco and the Oregon border. The nearest traffic light is nine miles north of Mendocino; its closest ompanion to the south is over 90 miles away. The nearest four-lane highway is 58 miles east. Federal Express doesn’t

deliver here on Saturdays.

But there is Internet access here. It enables me to work at home, writing computer books and articles for computer magazines. It enables local students and historian to conduct research. It enables local businesses – inns, music stores, driving schools – to reach new customer . It enables local people to enjoy the benefits of email and the delights of websites and chat rooms.

In fact, because small towns have few people, few stores, and few libraries and schools, you could argue that the Internet provides more benefits to small towns that it does to big cities. But Internet

service providers are not interested in small markets. What they are interested in is making money. As a result, people in many small towns and remote areas are unable to keep up with the development of information technology.