问题 单项选择题

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.

It can be inferred from the passage that()

A. virtual world is free from the dark sides of the real world

B. there is no difference between chatting online and offline now

C. people’s activities online can also affect their real world activities

D. people who make real money in virtual games have to pay taxes

答案

参考答案:C

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]。

单项选择题
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