What else would you like to know about the Internet? Write three questions. Read the text to check if your questions are answered.
When was the last time you used the Internet? Chances are, it was very recently! And you 1)........ (probable) send emails instead of letters, don't you?
In the very early days of the Internet, in the 1970s and 80s. it was only really used by academics and military 2)........ (research), but in the 1990s its 3)........ (popular) boomed in a way that had never been seen before. To illustrate this, it took 38 years for radio to reach 50 million 4)........(use). 13 years for TV and yet only 5 years for the Internet!
Many of us already use the Internet to make telephone calls, rent movies, buy music and watch TV programmes. Very soon, the Internet will be 3D. not 2D, and everything from our cars to our kitchen appliances will be connected to our local networks. There is already an Internet fridge", for example, that emails a 5)........(shop) list to your local supermarket and checks your schedule to coordinate a convenient 6)........(deliver) time!
However, not everyone has access to technology. In fact, only 17% of the world's 7)........(populate) is connected to the Web. This figure depends on where you live, though; in North America the number is around 70%. Also, about 80% of all websites are in English, which many people in the world don't speak.
Still, governments and IT 8)........ (institute) are working hard to bridge this divide, so perhaps in the not-too-distant future, the Internet really will take over the whole world!