living online: a brief history

humans have been able to municate across long distances for more than a century. fire telegraphs (n. 電報) and then telephones carried our conversations along wires from city to city. with the advent of radio, wires were no longer necessary. suddenly, we could speak with people anywhere on earth--or even in space, as with astronauts heading to the moon. however, none of these technologies changed the way we municate with each other as much as the inter has. although we still spend much of our day speaking face-to-face with those around us, we also municate more and more via texts, e-mails, and social media sites. has this change been for the better

the history of social media is intertwined with the history of the inter and the world wide web. without the ease of munication they provide, social media could not exist as we know it. the inter began when scientists studied how to share rmation between puters. by 1969, researchers had found a way to use telephone lines to send packets of data between puters. when four puters were linked via phone lines, the arpa was born. the arpa grew quickly, as more and more puters were added to its work. in 1972, the arpa was no longer a tool only for science and research. an e-mail could contain whatever message the sender wanted it to convey. it might be important scientific rmation, but it also could be a request for business forms, a silly joke, or an invitation to a lunch date.

as the arpa and its e-mail capabilities reached a much wider group of users (n. 用戶), it grew into what we call the inter today. however, the inter during the 1980s was still very different from what we are familiar with now. it was mostly text-based and did not use images. a major innovation (n. 創新) urred in 1991 when tim berners-lee developed the world wide web. he created a system of \”pages\” that would appear on the inter. each page contained links to other \”pages.\” berners-lee\'s idea took hold quickly, and the inter was transformed in just a few years into the web as we know it now.

as the web\'s abilities to share rmation developed throughout the 1990s, so did people\'s ideas about how to put those capabilities to use. if anything we did in the \”real\” world could be transformed into something done in the \”virtual\” world of the inter, someone found a way to do it. by the 2000s, the list of things that could be done online was massive: working, banking, buying, selling, listening to music, watching videos, playing games, and, of course, keeping in touch with friends and family.

social media sites rose in popularity. facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, youtube, and so many others have provided places for us to share our lives online. you can take a photo with your phone, and with a few touches to the screen, your photo can be shared with the entire world. to a limited degree, you can control who will see what you post, but here is no guarantee of privacy.

that is the trade-off with social media: munication is easier than ever, but we live our lives in a much more public way. instead of mailing 1,000 letters or calling 1,000 people to let them know about a business venture or a political idea, a single online post can easily reach that many people. however, those 1,000 people--or even more--may also see the embarrassing photo your friend took of you, or read a snarky (adj. 刻薄的), unkind ment you made in a moment of anger.

our private and public selves are no longer as distinct as they used to be. being aware of this reality is the key to getting the most out of social media--and avoiding the worst.

問題:

1. what are two ways in which arpa is similar to the inter we use today

2. what are two ways in which arpa is different to the inter we use today

3. which of the following best describes the author\'s point of view

a. if the arpa had not been developed, we would still be municating mostly via radios and telephones.

b. the inter and social media sites provide certain conveniences, but we have also lost some of the privacy we had in the past.

c. the inter and, in particular, social media sites are dangerous, and they should be used as little as possible.

d. if the world wide web had not been developed, the inter would have remained a safer, more private place to exchange rmation.

4. the author states that the \”history of social media is intertwined with the history of the inter.\” what evidence does the author provide to support this idea is this evidence sufficient to support the author\'s idea