Supplementary exercises for reading skills
Read the following passage once for the gist and then in detail. Skimming is the best
strategy of understanding the overall idea.
Almost everyone with or without a computer is aware of the latest technological revolution
destined to change forever the way in which humans communicate, namely, Information
Superhighway, best exemplified by the ubiquitous Internet. Already, millions of people around the
world are linked by computer simply by having a modem and an address on the ‘Net’, in much the
same way that owning a telephone links us to almost anyone who pays a phone bill. In fact, since
the computer connections are made via the phone line, the Internet can be envisaged as a network
of visual telephone links. It remains to be seen in which direction the Information Superhighway
is headed, but many believe it is the educational hope of the future.
The World Wide Web, an enormous collection of Internet addresses or sites, all of which can be
accessed for information, has been mainly responsible for the increase in interest in the Internet in
the 1990s. Before the World Wide Web, the ‘Net’ was comparable to an integrated collection of
computerized typewriters, but the introduction of the ‘Web’ 1990 allowed not only text links to be
made but also graphs, images and even video. in A at Web site consists of a ‘home page’, the first
screen of a particular site on the computer to which you are connected, from where access can be
had to other subject related ‘pages’ the site and to thousands of other computers all over the world.
This is achieved by process called ‘hypertext’. a screen, a By clicking with a mouse device on
various parts of the person connected to the ‘Net’ can go travelling, or ‘surfing’ through aweb of
pages to locate whatever information is required.
Anyone can set up a site; promoting your club, your institution, your company’s products o~
simply yourself, is what the Web and the Internet is all about. And what is more, information on
the Internet is not owned or controlled by any one organization. It is, perhaps, true to say that no-
one and therefore everyone owns the ‘Net’. Because of the relative freedom of access to
information, the Internet has often been criticized by the media as a potentially hazardous tool in
the hands of young computer users. This perception has proved to be largely false however, and
the vast majority of users both young and old get connected with the Internet for the dual purposes
for which it was intended - discovery and delight.
Text analysis
1. Which is the best title for the passage? _________
a) The World Wide Web c) The Internet Revolution
b) The Educational Hope of the Future d) How to Use the Internet
2. What is the main point of the first paragraph?’
a) Almost everyone has heard of the Information Superhighway
b) The Internet will revolutionize the way people communicate
c) You need a modem and an address to use the Internet
d) No-one knows where the Information Superhighway is headed
3. Which is the topic sentence of the second paragraph?
a) Sentence number one b) Sentence number two c) The last sentence d) none
4. What would the next paragraph to follow the passage probably be about?
a) The future of the Internet c) Abuse of the Internet by youth
b) Advertising on the World Wide Web d) The cost of using the Internet
The following is a summary of the above passage. Choose words from the box below and refer to
the passage to fill the gaps.
The Internet is the best (1)________ of the technological revolution known as the Information
Superhighway. Linked by computer through global (2) _________lines, users can (3) _______
obtain information by connecting to the World Wide Web. Before the ‘Web’, only (4) _______
information could be flashed upon the computer (5) _________ but thanks to a process called (6)
_________, visual images can easily be (7) ___________ by (8) __________ through a maze of
connected (9) ________ on Websites all over the world. The Internet is not independently (10)
___________, which ensures freedom of access to information.
communicate speedily visual computer advertise owned
example hypertext telephone exemplified screen link
modem travelling textual information accessed click
access criticized mouse typewriter only pages
Refer to the above text and match the halves of the given sentences together:
A. Having a modem and an Internet address ............ + ……………………….
B. The introduction of the ‘Web’ on the Internet allows...... + ……………………….
C. By a process called ‘hypertext’ ......... + ………………………
D. The Internet has often been criticized...... + ………………………
E. The vast majority of Internet users... + ……………………….
F. It is unclear what the Information Superhighway..... + ………………………..
G… …..because young computer users have potentially hazardous tools.
H. …… ‘surfing’ through the ‘Net’ is possible.
I. ……..thousands of other computers all over the world with a ‘home page’.
J. ……..will lead to in the future.
K. …….for allowing access to potentially dangerous information.
L. ……..do not abuse the freedom of access to information.
M. …….as the educational hope of the future.
N. …….enables millions of people around the world to be linked by computer.
O. ……..abuse the Internet for the purpose of discovery and delight.
P. ……..a transfer of graphics and images on interconnected computers.
