阅读理解.
A British student writing for the Guardian's website recently attracted the criticism of
thousands of readers with his very first post.
Max Gogarty, 19, had started a blog about his trip to India and Thailand. The idea was
not paiticularly original and. in many people's view, the writing wasn't either.Within minutes,
people began to post negative comments:'l've been more entertained cleaning mould from
my fridge than I was reading your first post. '
So how did Max land his job? The Guardian's online community soon reached their own
conclusion :' Great to see nepotism ( 任人唯亲) is alive and well.'said one poster.
Max's father is a travel writer who had previously published work in the Guardian.
Within minutes, one poster had provided a link to an article from 2002 , in which Max's
dad writes about a trip to Thailand with his family. Many were quick to suppose Max had
used his father's connections to get his job. By the end of the next day, the criticism was so
heavy that the blog was closed, but the damage had been done.
From Facebook to Wikipedia. social networking and gossip websites all over the
Internet were discussing Max's case.
Max's experience highlights the difference between traditional media and the Internet.
As online community specialist DanWilsonwritesinhisblog: ' Inthe blogosphere respect
comes from below. Readers have power and opinions that count. You've got to be real
and attractive to the people who read you. '
Part of the reason for this is that falsehoods and half-truths canbe exposed(曝光)
immediately online.For example, the Guardian's travel editor attempted to defend publishing
the story. He said he'd called Max because of his track record and talent. But then one
reader pointed out: ' Didn't you post yesterday sayingMax got in touch with us because
he writes occasionally for the TV program Skins'? Are you a liar?'
What we can learn here is to be careful when we read and write online. Always be
sure to think about why a person might be writing something, and don't necessarily believe
what we read.
Title:______

___2__
Max Gogarty recently receiving__3__with his first blog about his trip to India and Thailand


Reasons

◆ Posters considering Max's
idea and writing__4__
◆ Posters believing Max to
have got his job through__5__
◆ Falsehoods and half-truths
can be uncovered soon online.

__6__

Traditional media and the Internet are different.


__7__◆The blog : closed
◆The case :__8__all over the Internet


__9__◆__10__what we read and write online.
◆Don't necessarily believe what we read.