单选题 In the early days of the internet, the idea that it represented an entirely new and separate realm, distinct from the real world, was seized upon by both advocates and critics of the new technology. Advocates liked the idea that the virtual world was a placeless datasphere, liberated from constraints and restrictions of the real world, and an opportunity for a fresh start. For instance, John Perry Barlow, an internet activist, issued the "Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace" in February 1996. He thundered, "Governments of the industrial world, I come from cyberspace, the new home of mind. Cyberspace does not lie within your borders. We are creating a world that all may enter without privilege or prejudice accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth."
Where Mr. Barlow and other cyber-Utopians found the separation between the real and virtual worlds exciting, however, critics regarded it as a cause for concern. They worried that people were spending too much time online, communicating with people they had never even met in person in chat rooms, virtual game worlds and, more recently, on social-networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. A study carried out by the Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society in 2000, for example, found that heavy internet users spent less time talking to friends and family, and warned that the internet could be "the ultimate isolating technology".
Both groups were wrong, of course. The internet has not turned out to be a thing apart. Unpleasant aspects of the real world, such as taxes, censorship, crime and fraud are now features of the virtual world, too. Garners who make real money selling swords, gold and other items in virtual game worlds may now find that the tax man wants to know about it. Designers of virtual objects in Second Life, an online virtual world, are resorting to real-world lawsuits in order to protect their intellectual property.
At the same time, however, some of the most exciting uses of the internet rely on coupling it with the real world. Social networking allows people to stay in touch with their friends online, and plan social activities in the real world. The distinction between online and offline chatter ceases to matter. Or consider Google Earth, which puts satellite images of the whole world on your desktop and allows users to link online data with specific physical locations.
All these approaches treat the internet as an extension or an attachment to the physical world, not a separate space. Rather than seeing the real and virtual realms as distinct and conflicting, in short, it makes sense to see them as complementary and connected. The resulting fusion is not what the Utopians or the critics foresaw, but it suits the rest of us just fine.

单选题 According to the first paragraph, internet advocates believed that______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[试题类型] 具体信息题。
[解题思路] 根据题干要求定位至第一段。该段指出，互联网的支持者认为虚拟世界是一个无边界的数字王国(a placeless datasphere)，这与选项[B]中的a world without boundaries是同义表达，故正确选项为[B]。
[干扰排除] 本段没有提及互联网是否代表着技术的进步，故排除选项[A]。该段提到虚拟世界摆脱了现实世界中的束缚和限制(...the virtual would...liberated from constraints and restrictions of the real world)，而非虚拟世界解放了现实世界，故排除选项[C]。本段句末提到，虚拟世界是任何人都能进入的没有偏见和特权的世界(...a world that all may enter...)，而非任何人都可以免费(for free)进入的，故排除选项[D]。

单选题 Why is John Perry Barlow mentioned in Paragraph 1?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[试题类型] 篇章结构题。
[解题思路] 第一段首先指出，互联网的支持者认为互联网是一个没有束缚和限制的自由世界，接着以Barlow的观点为例对互联网自由平等的优势加以证明。由此可见，作者提及Barlow的目的是想说明互联网支持者对虚拟世界的青睐，故正确选项为[D]。
[干扰排除] Barlow认为，互联网是一个不在工业国家政府控制范围内的自由领域，作者引用Barlow的观点并非批评工业国家政府，而是想说明互联网自由平等这一优势，故排除选项[A]。作者引用Barlow的话，是为了说明互联网的种种好处，而非证明互联网的影响力，故排除选项(B]。Barlow认为，在虚拟世界里人人平等，没有偏见和特权，而选项[C]扩大了倡导公平的范围，且作者以Barlow为例是为了表达互联网支持者的观点，并非宣扬人人平等的理念，故排除。

单选题 The passage suggests that critics of the new technology______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[试题类型] 推理引申题。
[解题思路] 本题就互联网批评者的观点设问。文章第二段指出了互联网批评者的担忧，即许多人在网上花费了太多的时间(They worried that people were spending too much time online...)，这会减少他们与家人、朋友交流的时间。并以2000年斯坦福社会定量研究所的研究证明这种担忧：互联网可能将人与真实的世界分隔开，成为“最终让人孤立的技术”(the ultimate isolating technology)。由此可知，选项[A]最符合文意。
[干扰排除] 选项[B]根据第二段第二句中in person设置干扰，该句指出人们花费太多时间与索未谋面的对象在网上交流，会使与家人、朋友交流的时间减少，并不是说朋友会永远不见面，故排除选项[B]。文中提到，批评者担心人们花费在社交网站(social-networking sites)的时间过多，而不是社交圈子(social networks)，故排除选项[C]。批评者认为互联网可能将人与真实世界隔离开，而不是将上网的人分离开，故排除选项[D]。

单选题 It can be inferred from the passage that______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[试题类型] 推理引申题。
[解题思路] 第三、四段提到，游戏卖家在虚拟世界赚取现金受到了税务人员的关注(Gamers who make real money...find that the tax man...)，虚拟世界中物品的设计者通过现实世界的法律手段保护自已的知识产权(Designers of virtual objects...are resorting to real-world lawsuits...)。由此可见，人们在网络上的活动也会影响他们在真实世界的活动，故正确选项为[C]。
[干扰排除] 第三段句首提到，现实生活中令人不满的方面，在虚拟世界中也同样存在(Unpleasant aspects of the real world...are now features of the virtual world)，由此可排除选项[A]。第四段提到，社交网络让用户在网上交流，同时安排一些线下的社交活动，从而使线上交流和线下交流的区别变得无关紧要(ceases to matter)，但并不是说这种区别已经不存在了(there is no difference...)，故排除选项[B]。第三段提到，一些游戏玩家在虚拟世界赚了钱，这使税务人员想要了解他们赚钱的情况，但没有提到这些游戏玩家现在就要上缴所得税，故排除选项[D]。

单选题 From the passage we can find that the author______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[试题类型] 观点态度题。
[解题思路] 由最后一段可知，作者认为虚拟世界与现实世界是相互联系并互为补充的(...it makes sense to see them as complementary and connected)，即二者是相互依存的，故正确选项为[B]。
[干扰排除] 第三段第一句作者指出，互联网的批评者和支持者都不正确(Both groups were wrong)，由此可排除选项[A]。文末指出，虚拟世界与真实世界的融合对于我们来说正合适(...it suits the rest of us just fine)，即作者支持互联网与真实世界的融合，故排除选项[C]。最后一段指出，现实世界与虚拟世界不是截然不同、相互冲突的，而是互相联系、互为补充的，故排除选项[D]。