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What would you do if you wanted to learn about something? A traditional way
is to go to your bookshelf, pick up a dictionary or encyclopedia, and start turning pages.
Now, however, you can turn on your computer, connect it to the Internet and start its
search program. You just type in some keywords, click "search," and soon you will
5 have what you are looking for.
2 3) It seems as if anything you want to know can be found on the Internet. The
range of information you can find on the Net varies from *gossip, to news, to the most
advanced technological findings. Furthermore, the information is always fresh. New
information is constantly added, past files are re-written, and *news reports are
broadcast as they come in.
5)
3 What is being lost, though, is the joy of discovery. In many ways an Internet
search is like a package tour. On a package tour, you generally know where you are
going and see only what the *tour organizer has selected. Similarly, what you find in
the Internet search is controlled by the site's owner or is the result of a computer
program. On the other hand, turning the pages of an encyclopedia, as you look up an
*entry, is more like wandering through a forest. You may accidentally find something
interesting in the entry just next to the one you have been looking for. This may *stir
up a new interest, which will eventually lead you into a totally different topic.
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