第三篇 Passage 3

Chinese netizens are often heard complaining about the crowed connections, the slow speed, the bad service and the little information in China, yet an increasing number of people want to access to the Internet. On average, China’s users are expanding by 10,000 people each month, and the gap between the nation’s limited number of Internet access providers and the soaring on-line population has urged people to care about potentially massive market.

Though started late, China’s Internet industry has witnessed strides in developments. Initially only a small group of scientists knew its ease and convenience. Quickly the Internet became an invaluable tool as scientists discovered that they could access the world’s most current scientific documents, software, statistics and research results. In no time, state-owned, private and joint venture Internet service providers were established in major cities. It was estimated that China had 10,000,000 computers by the year 2000, with an annual increase of 5 percent. This means that China was the world’s third largest computer market at the turn of the century. The well-used feature of the Internet is E-mail, which is the ability to send electronic “mail” to other people who have Internet connections, regardless of where they live in the world. There normally is no additional charge for this feature, no matter how many E-mail messages are sent. The time required for delivering E-mail is simply the time it takes to electrically transmit the information from the sending computer to the receiving one. If both computers are in the same building or city, this often takes less than a minute or two. Messages that go halfway around the world normally arrive in less than 30 minutes.

One survey shows that the Chinese Internet users mainly are men around the age of 30 who have a monthly salary exceeding 1,500 yuan (about US ＄180). They belong to China's young, white-collar and middle class. However, the average Internet users are not making extensive use of the information available to them, for the main reason they access the Internet is to send or receive E-mail, or even to chat. People can post on-line information, warnings or short cuts for others to read. It is also used to ask questions and receive answers about something people don't understand or would like more information. Only 10 years ago, a personal computer (PC) was a luxury virtually unaffordable for most ordinary Chinese. But at present, it is no longer surprising to see a pupil drawing cartoon pictures or sending E-mail on computer like an expert. Computers have been designed to be more advanced in technology and easier to manage at the same time. The continuous regenerations and falling prices will make it possible for increasing number of consumers to become aware of the value of the Internet, and an " Internet Trend" is starting to take hold.