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  3. The Internet mirrors society, reflecting our strengths and weaknesses. A healthy society and a healthy Internet share the same v

The Internet mirrors society, reflecting our strengths and weaknesses. A healthy society and a healthy Internet share the same v

admin2020-11-04  35
问题    The Internet mirrors society, reflecting our strengths and weaknesses. A healthy society and a healthy Internet share the same vital forces: individuals taking action, making things, solving problems, and ultimately building our own environment. We need both technology and social commitment to create spaces where healthy democracies will flourish.
   As citizens, we have a right and a responsibility to participate in democracy for it to work. Today we see technology—specifically the Internet—enabling rich new ways to participate in democracy. The Internet lets citizens swiftly tune in to world events, discuss the implications, organize campaigns, project their voices, and force change. Through the Internet, democratically elected leaders can more easily hear diverse voices. By making political activities more transparent, the Internet helps citizens hold politicians more accountable. It has created a sea change for democratic political discourse, offering a global soapbox (即兴演讲台 ) like none other.
   We also see the Internet magnifying the polarization of our societies and the rise of vitriol, hate speech and misinformation. This amplification is made possible by the Internet and centralized social media platforms, which combine to create mass echo chambers. However, the core issues live within the nature of our societies themselves. So today the Internet reflects richness, divisiveness and areas where hope and opportunities to improve one’s own life are not as widely available as we would like.
   The ease with which "fake news" can be disseminated (散布) online presented an opportunity to capitalize on existing social discontent by distributing misinformation for financial gain. We saw this happen in the latest US election cycle when egregiously fabricated stories published solely for profit circulated widely in social media. Pizzagate. The Pope endorses a presidential candidate. Florida imposes Sharia law. Though these stories were clearly false, each was published online, consumed, shared and viewed by millions of people. And yet we need to ask: How different are these articles from standard "clickbait" (标题党 ) that sensationalizes the truth in order to drive traffic?
   The stakes are high when bad actors misappropriate the Internet and position fake news to drown out facts for personal gain. Misinformation spread online has the power to influence people’s understanding of real world events. Millions of Internet users have no way to quickly assess whether claims are true or false. All of this adds up to loss of trust in core institutions as a source of good information and trustworthy community. But the loss is further compounded. Democracy relies on the free flow of good information and human connection, and when people believe they can’t trust anyone, democracy is weakened.
   Technology alone will not solve the problem, but technology combined with human intent, economic investment, and development policies can make immense positive changes.
   The world today is in a disruptive state, and it’s clear that the connection of technology to social impact is deeply needed so that communities of goodwill can grow, trust in the Internet and information will rebound and democracy will thrive. We have to apply ourselves to this challenge. Otherwise we will have wasted a rare and precious opportunity.
What can be inferred from the new approaches provided by the Internet to take part in democracy?
选项 A、The modern information explosion gives a voice to citizens.
B、The Internet allows dissenting voices to be heard by all leaders.
C、Politicians become more responsible because of government websites.
D、Democratic political discourse has been altered dramatically by the Internet.
答案D
解析 推理判断题。本题考查互联网所提供的参与民主的新途径的信息。第二段第二句提到，如今我们看到科技——尤其是互联网——提供了大量参与民主的新途径。接下来的四句分别从四个方面进行论述。该段末句指出，它使民主政治言论产生了翻天覆地的变化，提供了一个与众不同的全球即兴演讲台。前面三句都在介绍互联网提供的参与民主的新途径，由此推测，末句中的it指代互联网，故答案为D)。A)“现代信息爆炸让公民发出自己的声音”是对第二段第三句的曲解，该句指出互联网让公民迅速了解世界大事、讨论其影响、组织活动、表达自己的观点，并促使改变，这些与现代信息爆炸无关，故排除；B)“互联网让所有领导人听到不同的声音”与原文表述不符，该段第四句提到，通过互联网，民主选举出的领导人能够更容易地听到不同的声音，而不是所有领导人，该项过于绝对，故排除；C)“由于政府的网站，政治家们变得更负责了”，原文并未提及政府的网站这一信息，故排除。
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