UNIT 1 Email and Internet

Integrated Skills Development

Passage Seniors Find fun on Web

Thousands of Americans over 50 are discovering friends, fun, and new ideas on an Internet-based community called SeniorNet.
"I am an old lady—except on-line when 1 am 37, blonde and ready to roll," says a respectable member of SeniorNet, a true community of seniors that includes a 104-year-old member.
A fifth of Americans with Internet access, or 8-10 million people, are over 50.
SeniorNet is a non-profit site that develops very quickly thanks to voluntary contributions from its 25 000 members and a handful of retirees who design the website and manage more than 200 discussion groups set up on the network.
"Of course, the usual topics linked with old age are very much there—health and financial questions—but they are not the only topics," says Glen Gilbert, the site's director of development. Subjects ranging from cooking and knitting to digital cameras and politics are discussed, he says.
"It's a place where one can break the isolation of a bedroom without having to leave it, where you can comfort one another in times of sickness," Gilbert says. "But it is also a place where you can share in the happy moments of life, be it birthdays or even weddings."
The almost complete liberty of expression provided by the Web also allows for a "men's lounge" which wives are asked to avoid, and for the constitution of a group of "gay and lesbian seniors."
This group permits men and women to discuss issues that, in their youth, would have been shameful to them.
One senior says that, "for a teacher like me, to come out at that time was a bit like signing your death sentence."
SeniorNet has also established a network of 130 computer learning centers. These provide the basics on navigating the Internet and tips on setting up a website as well as a computer for those who lack their own equipment.

New Words and Expressions

access
n. 进入，接触

blonde
a. 金发碧眼的

comfort
V. 安慰，慰问

community
n. 社区，社团

constitution
n. 组成，构成

contribution
n. 捐助；贡献

digital
a. 数字的

financial
a. 财政的，金融的

gay
n. 同性恋者（有时专指男性）

handful
n. 少量，少数

internet
n. 英特网

isolation
n. 孤立，隔离

knit
V. 编织（毛衣等）

lack
V. 缺乏，缺少

lesbian
n. 同性恋者（专指女性）

liberty
n. 自由，释放

link
V. 联系，连接

lounge
n. 休息室

navigate
V. 浏览

range
V. （范围）涉及

respectable
a. 可尊敬的，有身份的

roll
V. 滚动，翻滚

sentence
n. 宣判，判决

shameful
a. 可耻的，不体面的

tip
n. 提示，诀窍

voluntary
a. 志愿的，义务的

website
n. 网址

a bit like
略微像，有点像

a handful of...
少量的，少数的

be linked with/to
与…相联系

be ready to
做好准备

come out
公开表白是同性恋者

range from... to...
涉及（范围），从…至…，包括…和…

thanks to
由于，多亏

Merry Learning

A Japanese company and an American company had a boat race; the Japanese won by a mile. The Americans hired experts to work out what went wrong. They reported that the Japanese had one person managing and seven rowing, while the Americans had seven managing and only one rowing. The American company immediately reorganised its team. Now they had one senior manager, six management consultants and one rower. In the rematch the Japanese won by two miles. So the American company fired the rower.