revolution destined to change forever the way in which humans communicate,
namely, the 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 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 in 1990 allowed not only text
links to be made but also graphs, images and even video.
　　A 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 (or screens) at the site and on thousands of other
computers all over the world. This is achieved by a process called `hypertext .
By clicking with a mouse device on various parts of the screen, a person
connected to the `Net can go traveling, or surfing through a of the screen,
a person connected to the `Net can go traveling, or `surfing through a web
of pages to locate whatever information is required.
　　Anyone can set up a site; promoting your club, your institution, your company s
products or 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 criticised 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.

TRUE／FALSE／NOT GIVEN
1.Everyone is aware of the Information Superhighway.
2.Using the Internet costs the owner of a telephone extra money.
3.Internet computer connections are made by using telephone lines.
4.The World Wide Web is a network of computerised typewriters.
5.According to the author, the Information Superhighway may be the future hope of education.
6.The process called`hypertext requires the use of a mouse device.
7.The Internet was created in the 1990s.
8.The `home page is the first screen of a `Web site on the `Net .
9.The media has often criticised the Internet because it is dangerous.
10. The latest technological revolution will change the way humans communicate.


Practice 4

　　The Australian political scene is dominated by two major parties that have
quite different political agendas. However, the policies of the Australian
Labor Party and the Liberal Party have become much more difficult to tell apart
in recent years. In fact, it would be true to say that both parties consist
of conservative, moderate and radical elements, and therefore the general
public is often perplexed about which party to vote for. Nonetheless, it is

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