We use the Internet for many things: business, shopping, writing letters, talking to people, finding
information, and so on. In recent years, a new kind of English has grown on the Internet. There's no real
word for it yet, so we'll call it e-talk.
People don't like typing too much. To save time, they turn phrases into a few letters called acronyms
(首字母缩略词). Acronyms are often used in chat rooms and forums. Some of them are:
BTW(by the way) BRB (be right back)
LOL (laughing out loud) IMO (in my opinion)
People also use many abbreviations. They are shortened forms of words. Some common abbreviations
are:
info (information) puter (computer) pic (picture) sec (second)
We usually don't see people when we communicate on the Net, so people have new ways to show
their emotions. Most people use their keyboards to draw "emoticons",such as:
:-) (happy) :-( (sad) ;-) ( joking) :-o (surprised)
These days, many forums have picture emoticons.
There are even whole new words, like 'newbie' (someone who is new on a chat board or forum).
When you write something bad about someone else, it's called 'flaming' the person.
It takes time to get used to e-talk. Also, different groups in the Net have their own special ways of
communicating. Newbies sometimes have to ask other people what they mean. As the Internet grows, e-talk
will continue to grow and change.
1. Why do people type acronyms ?
A. Because people wanted to show their emotions.
B. Because people can type them quickly.
C. Because people wanted to make jokes.
D. Because newbies won't understand them.
2. What does "My puter is not working well. :-( " mean?
A. The person is happy about getting a new computer.
B. The person has to go away from their computer.
C. The person is angry at somebody.
D. The person is sad that his computer is having problems.
3. If someone is happy, what may he type?
4. E-talk will probably _______.
A. keep changing
B. stay the same
C. be used by people on the telephone
D. be easy for newbies to understand
5. 'AFK' is an example of _______.
A. an emoticon
B. a new word
C. an acronym
D. an abbreviation
