On the Net Friends Come and Go, Talking of...
The young woman was visibly 1 and clearly wmated to get something off her chest.
Whats up? I 2 .
ve just been defriended, she said.
Now defriended is a word 3 I am not familiar. I have been befriended 4 - and befriended - many people since arriving in Beijing.
But defriended?
It turns 5 this is a new word created by the Interact-savvy younger generation specifically in relation to the worldwide social networking phenomenon, Facebook.
Those who join can invite friends to become members of the site, 6 .
They can then share photographs, chat, swap messages and observations and perform a host of other mutually accessible applications.
Ive seen some peoples sites 7 hundreds of friends, all moments away down a fiber optic cable, providing they are logged on to their computers or hooked up to a high-spec cell phone.
It creates the possibility of befriendinganyone in the world who has online access. Currently, Facebook has 150 million users. That means theres a lot of friends out there.
The 8 is that you can be defriended - you can be denied access to the Face, book site someone who had previously invited to be his or her friend. And you can do it without the potential for instant recrimination.
Where once, in the school playground on child might have petulantly shouted 9 another, m not going to be your fried any more the same hurt and loss of face can be performed remotely with the chick of a button.
A 10 aspect of defriending is that, un like With other applications such as the what are you thinking about? posting a digital depository of the often dire, 11 , dull and desperate, no message is sent out alerting you or your contacts about the change m status. You only find out you have 12 when you try to visit a friend site, and you find you can no longer get in. the delay of the discovery is all too often doubly hurtful.
Just as bombs are dispatched impersonally 13 an unseen enemy in modem warfare, 14 relationships are blown out of the window with the same callous disregard, without the risk of any face-to-face comeback. One
second you arc there, 15 you are deleted.
词汇：
savvy adj. 聪慧的，机智的
swap v. 交换
recrimination n. 反控告、反责
callous adj. 麻木的、无情的
petulantly adv. 暴躁地
fiber optic cable 光缆
depository n. 仓库，储藏所
练习：
1. A) satisfied B) friendly C) moved D) upset
2. A) complained B) explained C) inquired D) argued
3. A) with which B) in which C) which D) that
4. A) on B) by C) with D) in
5. A) about B) out C) around D) in
6. A) too B) either C) yet D) neither
7. A) exaggerating B) overstating C) boasting D) showing off
8. A) benefit B) advantage C) downside D) merit
9. A) at B) in C) on D) farward
10. A) neutral B) controversial C)astonishing D) remarkable
11. A) exciting B) dreary C) cheerful D) bright
12. A) been dumped B) dumped C) being dumped D) dumping
13. A) forward B) for C) into D) against
14. A) and B) since C) so D) but
15. A) the next B) the first C) the first D) a next
答案与题解：
1.D upset 是心烦的、苦恼的意思。根据上下文来看，被从好友名单上删除之后，这种情绪是合理的。
2.C inquire 在这里表示打听、询问的意思。
3.A 关系代词在定语从句作介词宾语时，从句常由介词 关系代词的结构引导，从句中动词词组familiar with 中的介词with 移到which 之前。
4.B by 与动词的被动语态连用，表示行为的主体。
5.B turnout 表示结果是
6.A too 在这里表示也。yet、either 和neither 都用在否定句中。
7.C 如果boast 后面跟表示成就或者所有物的宾语时，表示以做过而自豪或者拥有的意思。exaggerate 和overstate 是夸张、夸大的意思，show 卖弄、夸耀的意思。
8.C 从上下文的意思来看，这句话说的是这种做法的负面影响，因此只有downside 这个词符合题意。
9.A shout at 表示怒斥、大声斥责的意思。
10.B 这句话说的是随意删除好友存在有争议的一面，而其他三个选项各自表示中性的、令人惊讶的以及卓越的，都不符合作者的原意。
11.B dreary 表示沉闷的、枯燥的，与前后的dire 以及desperate 并列，另外三个选项都不符合句义。
12.A dump 表示抛弃、丢弃的意思。这句话的意思是，当你去一位朋友的网页时，你才会发现你已经被他从好友名单上删除了，因此应该用动词的被动语态。
13.D against 在这里表示反抗、对抗的意思。
14.C 这两个从句之间是因果关系，因此使用表示因果关系的连词so。
15.A the next 省略了second，表示下一秒。