How Has The Internet Changed Our Lives?

The Internet is one of the greatest inventions of our generation, prompting some people to suggest it has ushered in a new revolution as important as the industrial revolution. The Internet has changed the way we communicate with each other, shop and get our information. The influence of the Internet has spread beyond the confines of the online world and has affected every aspect of our lives.

The primary purpose of the Internet is to transmit information. As soon as the Internet came into being information could travel across the world almost instantly. This alone has impacted the practicalities of almost every industry in the world. It has changed the shape of administration and shortened the time it takes for documents to move from one place to another making industry more productive.

The way we consume information has changed drastically too, news and information can be accessed instantly from anywhere in the world. This not only means that we can get information quicker, but also that traditional information sources like newspapers have been forced to adapt to a new role by adding context rather than news.

One of the biggest impacts that the Internet has had is on the communication between normal citizens. Anybody can post something on the Internet that can be seen by anyone else, it has essentially democratised mass communication. Websites like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter have revolutionised the way we organise our social lives, while websites like Youtube and iPlayer have changed the shape of our entertainment.

Media piracy and social media have changed our legal systems making so called super injunctions almost pointless and intellectual property laws seem equally toothless. People can download music, videos and computer programs without paying for them, and information can be published with minimal risk of incrimination.

Vocabulary

access ­– иметь доступ

affect – оказывать воздействие

be forced – быть вынужденным

citizen – гражданин

confine – граница, предел

consume – поглощать

drastically – радикально

entertainment – развлечение

essentially – существенно

generation – поколение

impact – сильно воздействовать

incrimination – уличение

influence – влияние

injunction – судебный запрет

instantly – немедленно

invention – изобретение

law – закон

legal system – законодательство

piracy – пиратство

pointless – бессмысленный

practicalities – практические стороны

primary – основной, главный

prompt – побуждать

property – собственность

shorten – сократить

source – источник

spread ­– распространиться

toothless – напрасный

transmit – передавать

usher – положить начало

while – в то время как

Exercise 1. Find the English equivalents for:

1. одно из величайших изобретений

2. получать информацию

3. за пределами

4. по всему миру

5. почти мгновенно

6. интеллектуальная собственность

7. скачивать музыку

8. информационный источник

9. сократить время

10. основная задача

Exercise 2. Answer the following questions:

1. Is the Internet considered to be one of the most important inventions of our time?

2. How has the Internet changed the way we communicate with each other?

3. What is the primary purpose of the Internet?

4. How has changed the way we consume information?

5. What traditional information sources do you know?

6. Has the Internet democratized mass communication? In what way?

7. How has changed the shape of our entertainment?

8. Do people follow intellectual property laws in the Internet?

9. Do you need to pay to download music or films?

10. Why traditional information sources have been forced to adapt to a new role?

Exercise 3. Are these sentences true or false?

1. The Internet is considered to be one of the most outstanding achievement of our time.

2. The Internet has made changes in our communication.

3. The influence of the Internet has changed only some aspects of our life.

4. The main purpose of the Internet is entertainment.

5. We can access news and information only in the country where they are published.

6. Traditional information sources have disappeared because of the Internet.

7. Special websites help us to organize our social life.

8. Intellectual property laws are followed in the Internet.

9. People need to pay lots of money to download computer programs.

10. Now we need less time to move the documents from one place to another.

Exercise 4. Complete the sentences:

1. These websites have revolutionised the way we organise our social lives: …

2. Intellectual property laws and so called super injunctions …

3. One of the biggest impacts that the Internet has had is …

4. We can almost instantly …

5. All aspects of our lives …

6. The way we communicate with each other …

7. In any place of the world we have an opportunity to …

8. Now we can get documents quicker because …

9. The way we entertain has been changed by …

10. Nowadays information can travel …

Exercise 5. Translate into English:

1. Имея доступ к интернету, в любом месте мира можно узнать последние новости.

2. Влияние интернета можно наблюдать во всех сферах жизни.

3. С появлением интернета изменилась форма общения людей.

4. Сегодняшнее поколение не представляет себе жизни без интернета.

5. Основной функцией интернета является передача информации.

6. Законы об интеллектуальной собственности претерпели изменения.

7. Влияние интернета распространилось за пределы виртуального мира.

8. Интернет является одним из величайших изобретений прошлого века.

9. Запретительные нормы стали бессмысленны и информацию можно публиковать с минимальным риском уличения.

10. Теперь каждый может разместить информацию в интернете и ее мгновенно увидят другие пользователи.

Exercise 6. Speaking.

1. What’s the importance of the Internet in our life?

2. Advantages and disadvantages of the Internet.

3. The Internet: is it always safe?

4. What do you use the Internet for?

5. How much time do you spend in front of the computer per day?

UNIT 12.