Hobbies. Leisure Time. Бекерова Е.А - 26 стр.

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Miss Gibson was chosen from more than 250 applicants for the
experiment. Shut up in a secure room at a central
London hostel, she had to take off all her clothes and was given
a bathrobe, a credit card and a budget of £500 to feed, clothe and
amuse herself with all purchases ordered via the Internet. Organisers
eventually had to start deleting all the abusive mail before it appeared
on screen. Three men also offered proposals of marriage. 'I didn't ac-
cept any,' said Miss Gibson.
To keep sane during her confinement, Miss Gibson managed to
download software from an Australian radio station to pipe out con-
stant music. 'Spending time on your own in a room in front of a com-
puter does change the way you see the world. My thought processes
became quite obtuse. It was draining but I became quite addicted. I had
to get out.'
She was going straight out for a stiff gin and tonic and a walk in
the fresh air. 'I'm definitely not going on the Net for a few days.' Re-
sults of the experiment, organised by Microsoft, will be studied by Dr
Helen Petrie, of the University of Hertfordshire.
Despite their reservations she believed the volunteers coped 'bet-
ter than we anticipated.' She added: 'Of course, there have been ups and
downs but overall they had a very positive experience."
Daily Mail
2.4. Comprehension.
1. How many volunteers were there?
2. How did they obtain what they needed?
3. How could people contact Emma?
4. What did Emma do to stop herself going mad?
5. In what ways did the experiment affect Emma?
6. On the whole, how did Helen Petrie describe the feelings of
the volunteers?
2.5. Discussion.
1) If you don't use the Internet, why not? Are you afraid of it, or
don't you have any interest in it?
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2) Do you use e-mail at home and at work? How has it changed
the way you communicate with people?
3) Do you use it for anything else, such as banking or booking
holidays?
4) Do you think the Internet is more male-oriented (used more by
men and aimed more at them)? If so, why is that?
5) What advantages does it have over other media, such as TV,
magazines and newspapers?
6) Whose responsibility should it be to check exactly what mate-
rial goes on the Internet? Should it be the government or the companies
who provide the service (Internet Service Providers)?
7) Have you ever used a chat room? Do you think they might be
dangerous in any way? Why, why not?
8) Do you think that it is dangerous for certain people to have
access to sexual and violent material on the Internet? Why?
9) How do you think the Internet will develop over the next few
years?
Ammunition Box
Key words
proxy server an Internet Service Provider that filters out some in-
coming content;
some countries such as Singapore insist on this
to censor to remove material that is considered indecent, offensive
or a threat
to security
web site where people can find information about a certain topic
home page the first, guiding page of your site
e mail electronic mail
chat rooms a service where messages are written and exchanged
download to transfer data from a large computer system to a
smaller one
       Miss Gibson was chosen from more than 250 applicants for the                 2) Do you use e-mail at home and at work? How has it changed
experiment. Shut up in a secure room at a central                            the way you communicate with people?
       London hostel, she had to take off all her clothes and was given             3) Do you use it for anything else, such as banking or booking
a bathrobe, a credit card and a budget of £500 to feed, clothe and           holidays?
amuse herself with all purchases ordered via the Internet. Organisers               4) Do you think the Internet is more male-oriented (used more by
eventually had to start deleting all the abusive mail before it appeared     men and aimed more at them)? If so, why is that?
on screen. Three men also offered proposals of marriage. 'I didn't ac-              5) What advantages does it have over other media, such as TV,
cept any,' said Miss Gibson.                                                 magazines and newspapers?
       To keep sane during her confinement, Miss Gibson managed to                  6) Whose responsibility should it be to check exactly what mate-
download software from an Australian radio station to pipe out con-          rial goes on the Internet? Should it be the government or the companies
stant music. 'Spending time on your own in a room in front of a com-         who provide the service (Internet Service Providers)?
puter does change the way you see the world. My thought processes                   7) Have you ever used a chat room? Do you think they might be
became quite obtuse. It was draining but I became quite addicted. I had      dangerous in any way? Why, why not?
to get out.'                                                                        8) Do you think that it is dangerous for certain people to have
       She was going straight out for a stiff gin and tonic and a walk in    access to sexual and violent material on the Internet? Why?
the fresh air. 'I'm definitely not going on the Net for a few days.' Re-            9) How do you think the Internet will develop over the next few
sults of the experiment, organised by Microsoft, will be studied by Dr       years?
Helen Petrie, of the University of Hertfordshire.                             Ammunition Box
       Despite their reservations she believed the volunteers coped 'bet-     Key words
ter than we anticipated.' She added: 'Of course, there have been ups and      proxy server an Internet Service Provider that filters out some in-
downs but overall they had a very positive experience."                       coming content;
                                                              Daily Mail       some countries such as Singapore insist on this
                                                                              to censor to remove material that is considered indecent, offensive
2.4. Comprehension.                                                           or a threat
      1. How many volunteers were there?                                       to security
      2. How did they obtain what they needed?                                web site where people can find information about a certain topic
      3. How could people contact Emma?                                       home page the first, guiding page of your site
      4. What did Emma do to stop herself going mad?                          e mail electronic mail
      5. In what ways did the experiment affect Emma?                         chat rooms a service where messages are written and exchanged
      6. On the whole, how did Helen Petrie describe the feelings of          download to transfer data from a large computer system to a
the volunteers?                                                               smaller one

2.5. Discussion.
       1) If you don't use the Internet, why not? Are you afraid of it, or
don't you have any interest in it?


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