Text D. The pros and cons of the Internet

The Internet is without doubt one of the most important inventions in history. It was started in 1968 by the US government, but at first mainly scientists used it. Since 1990, when the World Wide Web was created, it has changed the world and its uses are growing every day.

The main use of the Internet is to find information – for your study or job, or just to find out more about your hobbies, sports or current events.

All of the latest information is available to you, in your home, at any hour of the day and night. It’s much faster and easier to surf the net in search of information from all over the world than to travel to libraries in dozens of countries.

You can also use the Internet to read newspapers and magazines, play games, plan your holiday or buy from your favourite shop.

E-mail makes it possible to send electronic messages anywhere in the world in seconds, and you can use the Internet to “chat” with people and make new friends.

However, the real world of the Internet may not be as perfect as it seems.

With so much information available, finding what you want can take you hours. Multimedia web pages with photographs, music and video are attractive, but they make downloading slow and boring. Besides, there is too much advertising instead of real information.

As for Internet friendships, sitting at home in front of a computer making “chat friends” is not the same as actually meeting people.

CONVERSATION   MOSCOW

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