unit2bardsoftheinternet练习答案

Unit 2

Bards of the Internet

Consolidation Activities

I. Text Comprehension

1. Decide which of the following best states the author's purpose.

A. To offer a general view on the merits and demerits of online writing and related

matters.

B. To express his disapproval of the foolish and trivial writings on the Internet.

C. To give a historical review on netwriting and its impact on younger generations.

Key: [ A ]

2. Judge, according to the text, whether the following statements are true or false.

1) Compared with other writings that were also experimental and revolutionary in

history, online writings are not only large in quantity, but good in quality

as well. [F]

2) The low barriers to entry of the online world makes it possible for many

second-rate writings to reach thousands of readers.[T]

3) When engaged in online writing, professional writers can always make themselves

welcome without catering to the fashion of the new medium. [F]

4) It could be inferred that people who produce netwriting are from different walks

of life. [T]

II. Writing Strategies

In this passage the author uses a number of quotations in support of his ideas and

opinions. Read Paragraphs 3, 5, 6, and 8, and try to find what sources the author

quotes and explain what ideas these quotations are used to support.

In Paragraph 3 the author quotes the following persons in support of the idea

that E-mail and netwriting could be compared to the writings in history that

were experimental and flexible in nature:

Jon Carroll, a columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle;

Patrick Nielsen Hayden, an editor at Tor Books;

David Sewell, an associate editor at the University of Arizona In Paragraphs 5 and 6, the author quotes the following persons to explore the

reasons for the poor quality of writing on the Internet:

Gerard Van der Leun, literary agent based in Westport, Connecticut;

Mary Anne Mohanraj, a Chicago-based poet.

In Paragraph 8, the author quotes the following persons in his discussion of

the criteria to judge the quality of netwriting:

Jorn Barger, a software designer in Chicago;

Crawford Kilian, a writing teacher at Capilano College in Vancouver, British

Columbia.

III. Language Work

1. Explain the underlined part(s) in each sentence in your own words.

1) Which makes what’s happening on the computer networks all the more startling.

surprising

2). Just when the media of McLuhan were supposed to render obsolete the medium of

Shakespeare, the online world is experiencing the greatest boom in letter writing since the 18th century.

out of date; expansion

3). David Sewell, an associate editor at the University of Arizona, likens netwriting

to the literary scene Mark Twain discovered in San Francisco in the 1860s.

compares ... to

4). For it can be very bad indeed: sloppy, meandering, puerile, ungrammatical, poorly

spelled, badly structured and at times virtually content free.

careless; winding/pointless; childish/silly

5). Gerard Van der Leun ... has emerged as one of the preeminent stylists on the

Net.

has become known as; the most important/superior

6). That is not to say that with more time every writer on the Internet would produce

sparkling copy

brilliant

7). Green’s Well Met in Minnesota ... is now revered on the Internet as a

classic.

respected and admired

8). It’s so competitive that you have to work on your style if you want to make any impact. make a strong, immediate impression

9). Not only has it enfranchised thousands of would-be writers who otherwise might

never have taken up the craft, but it has also thrown together classes of people

who hadn’t had much direct contact before.

given the right to; have been engaged in

10).But it would be a mistake to dismiss the computer-message

boards or

to

underestimate the effect

a lifetime of dashing off

E-mail will have

on a

generation

of young writers.

say that it is not important enough to think about or consider; not realize

how large or great the effect would be

2. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate forms of the given words.

1). He

dismissed the economists

as teenage scribblers (scribble) who wanted to get

their names in the newspaper.

2). Mobile phone technology is developing so quickly that

many customers are

concerned about obsolescence (obsolete).

3). Some unusual fish have rudimentary (rudiment) legs.

4). The trial was a mockery (mock) — the judge had decided the verdict before it

even began.

5). She feels great reverence (revere) for her professors.

6). He takes plenty of vigorous (vigor) exercise.

7). The presentation was a collaborative (collaborate) effort by all the children