Unit 3　Computers

Personal computers and Internet

个人电脑和互联网为人们打发时间提供了新的选择。尽管有些人可能因此与朋友或家人相处的时间少了，但同时有些人也会因此与最关心的人保持更加密切的联系。电子邮件已经成为了一种日常生活中非常实用的交流工具。但我们必须明白，电脑和互联网只是提供了另外一种保持联系的方式，它们不会取代任何旧的沟通方式。

Personal computers and Internet give people new choices about how to spend their time.Some may use this freedom to share less time with certain friends or family members，but the new technology will also let them stay in closer touch with those they care most about.E－mail makes it easy to work at home，which is where I now spend most weekends and evenings.My working hours aren't necessarily much shorter than they once were but I spend fewer of them at the office.This lets me share more time with my young daughter than I might have if she'd been born before electronic mail became such a practical tool.

With e－mail，you just write one note about your experience，at your convenience，and address it to all the friends you think might be interested.They can read your message when they have time，and read only as much as they want to.They can reply at their convenience，and you can read what they have to say at your convenience.E－mail is also an inexpensive way to stay in close touch with people who live far away.More than a few parents use e－mail to keep in touch，even daily touch，with their children at college.We just have to keep in mind that computers and the Internet offer another way of staying