a) Read again and complete the gaps (1-8) with the correct word formed from the word in brackets. Compare your answers with a partner.
When was the last time you used the Internet?
Chances are, it was very recently! And you 1)..............
(probable) send emails instead of letters, don’t you?
In the very early days of the Internet, in the 1970s
and 80s. it was only really used by academics and
military 2).......... (research), but in the 1990s its
3)........ (popular) boomed in a way that had never
been seen before. To illustrate this, it took 38 years for
radio to reach 50 million 4)....... (use), 13 years for TV
and yet only 5 years for the Internet!
Many of us already use the Internet to make
telephone calls, rent movies, buy music and watch TV
programmes. Very soon, the Internet will be 3D. not
2D, and everything from our cars to our kitchen
appliances will be connected to our local networks.
There is already an Internet fridge', for example, that
emails a 5)......... (shop) list to your local supermarket
and checks your schedule to coordinate a convenient
6)........ (deliver) time!
However, not everyone has access to technology.
In fact, only 17% of the world's 7)......... (populate) is
connected to the Web. This figure depends on where
you live, though; in North America the number is
around 70%. Also, about 80% of all websites are in
English, which many people in the world don’t speak.
Still, governments and IT 8)............... (institute) are
working hard to bridge this divide, so perhaps in the
not-too-distant future, the Internet really will take over
the whole world!
