Professor Barry Wellman of the University of Toronto in Canada has invented a term to describe the way many North Americans interact these days. The  1  is "networked individualism". This concept is not  2  to understand because the words seem to have opposite meanings. How can we be individuals and be networked  3  ? You need other people for  4 .
Here is  5  Professor Wellman means.  6  the invention of the Internet and email, our social networks  7  live interactions with relatives, neighbors and colleagues at work. Some of the _8  was by phone, but it was still voice to voice, person to person, in  9  time.
A recent  10  by the Pew Internet and American Life Project  11  that for a lot of people, electronic interaction through the computer has  12  the person-to-person interaction. However, a lot of people interviewed for the Pew's study  13  that's a good thing. Why?
In the past , many people were  14  that the Internet isolated (孤立) us and caused us to _15  too much time in the imaginary world of the computer. But the Pew's study discovered that the _16  is true. The Internet  17  us with more real people than expected --  18  people who can give advice on careers, medical problems, raising children, and choosing a school or college. About 60 million Americans told Pew that the Internet  19  an important role in helping them make major life decisions.
Thanks to the computer, "networked individuals" are able to be  20  and together with other people -- at the same time!
1. A. saying          B. term              C. concept           D. meaning
2. A. difficult         B. different           C. easy                D. surprising
3. A. at the same time   B. at once                     C. all the time          D. once in a while
4. A. job            B. food               C. help               D. networks
5. A. what            B. how              C. where             D. which
6. A. After           B. With              C. Before            D. As
7. A. included         B. contained          C. formed            D. affected
8. A. appointment      B. interaction         C. invitations         D. doings
9. A. true            B. right             C. wrong            D. real
10. A. experiment     B. study             C. interview          D. work
11. A. showed        B. suggested          C. learned            D. added
12. A. ensured              B. removed           C. replaced           D. exchanged
13. A. say           B. discuss            C. talk              D. speak
14. A. excited        B. surprised          C. shocked           D. worried
15. A. take           B. spend             C. cost              D. stay
16. A. opposite         B. thing              C. outcome           D. effect
17. A. connects       B. offers             C. shares             D. informs
18. A. thankful       B. considerate         C. helpful            D. friendly
19. A. finds          B. plays              C. catches            D. possesses
20. A. united          B. social             C. separated          D. alone