My Internet hell

PRE-READING ACTIVITIES.

Look at the pictures and answer the following questions:

1) Do you use the Internet? If you do, how do you use it?

2) Do you think it would be possible to survive for 100 hours with no access

to the outside world except through the Internet? What problems might you

have?

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READING COMPREHENSION

Now read the following text from the Daily Mail:

MY INTERNET HELL

As an experiment, four volunteers each lived alone for 100 hours. They were

dressed only in a bathrobe and had to get everything that they needed form

the Internet.

A dazed but relieved Emma Gibson told of her “seedy” ordeal yesterday

after four days trapped in cyberspace.

With three other volunteers, the out-of-work actress had agreed to be

locked alone in a small room with just a computer and the Internet for company.

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 One hundred hours, three marriage proposals and dozens of lewd messages

later, Miss Gibson, 30, emerged blinking into the sunshine rather glad the

experience was over.

With the eyes of the world quite literally upon her – small cameras broadcast her

every move on the Web – Internet Heaven had become more of a nightmare at

times. “I wanted to get out at the end. Too much Internet is bad for the health”,

she said.

Net users were able to contact her using emails or chat rooms – electronic

conversation forums.

Miss Gibson was chosen from more than 250 applicants for the experiment.

Shut up in a secure room at a central London hostel, she had to take off all her

clothes and was given a bathrobe, a credit card and a budget of 500 pounds to

feed, clothe and amuse herself with all purchases ordered via the Internet.

Organisers eventually had to start deleting all the abusive mail before it appeared

on the screen. Three men also offered proposals of marriage, “I didn’t accept

any,” said Miss Gibson.

To keep sane during her confinement, Miss Gibson managed to download

software from an Australian radio station to pipe out constant music. “Spending

time on your own in a room in front of a computer does change the way you see

the world. My thought processes became quite obtuse. It was draining but I

became quite addicted. I had to get out.”

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 She was going straight out for a stiff gin and tonic and a walk in the fresh

air. “I’m definitely not going on the Net for a few days.” Results of the

experiment, organised by Microsoft, will be studied by Dr. Helen Petrie, of the

University of Herfordshire.

Despite their reservations, she believed the volunteers coped “better than

we anticipated”. She added: “Of course, there have been ups and downs but

overall they had a very positive experience.”

POST-READING ACTIVITIES

A) Answer the following questions based on the text:

1) What did the experiment consist of?

2) How many volunteers were there?

3) How did they obtain what they needed?

4) How could people contact Emma?

5) In what ways did the experiment affect Emma?

6) On the whole, did Helen Petrie describe the feeling of the volunteers?

7) Would you participate in this kind of experiment if you were invited? Why

or why not?

8) What do you think about this kind of experimentation?

B) Look for synonyms for the following words:

1) Confused (paragraph 1) -

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2) Rude (paragraph 3) -

3) Financial plan (paragraph 6) -

4) Notwithstanding (paragraph 9) -