Networking Socially(b)|社群网络的世界

While it's highly doubtful that any website is going to knock Facebook off its perch at the top anytime soon, a social networking site that was recently launched is getting a lot of attention. Pinterest is an easy way of collecting and organizing things that people find online. It's kind of like bookmarking a webpage with a graphic and sharing it with others.

To get started on Pinterest, users have to request an invitation. Usually, a response comes in 24 hours, and then people sign up and create their own boards. These are just like bulletin boards at home or in an office where people can pin things up. If someone enjoys your post on Pinterest, they can repin it onto their own boards. Users are allowed to have an unlimited number of boards, and many people post pictures of their dream homes, craft ideas, cooking recipes, or inspirational words. Anyone on Pinterest can like or repin other users' posts, and when people start getting more repins, their posts can go viral.

Besides the simplistic yet eye-pleasing design, one of the unique things about Pinterest is that the users are 80 percent female. This is very rare in the virtual world, which is usually dominated by males. According to web tracking sites, Pinterest's traffic is increasing on a daily basis. This means more and more marketers are trying to get in on this hot website. It's too early to know if Pinterest is the real deal and can challenge Facebook, but it's a neat way to keep things you like in one place on the Internet.

    1.     What is NOT a reason the author gives for the popularity of social networking sites?

(A) It's easy to meet like-minded people.

(B) People can stay connected with family members on them.

(C) People don't want their lives to be private anymore.

(D) People like sharing their lives with their close friends.

    2.     What does narcissist mean in the third paragraph on day 1?

(A) A person that only uses Facebook.

(B) A person that wants to get plastic surgery.

(C) A person who is an expert photogra-pher.

(D) A person that enjoys looking at himself or herself.

    3.     According to the article, why do people like Pinterest?

(A) It has a simple design.

(B) It's easy to set up an account.

(C) Only professionals go there to post photographs.

(D) Marketers think that it will overtake Facebook soon.

    4.     What is the author's purpose for writing this article?

(A) To inform people about privacy issues.

(B) To help people become more socially active.

(C) To give readers an overview of social networks.

(D) To get people to stop using their computers.

当大家高度怀疑有没有任何网站在短期内能将脸书从龙头位置上拉下来的同时，有一个最近推出的社群网站正吸引着许多人的注意。Pinterest是将人们在网络上找到的东西收集并组织起来的一种简单方式。这有点像利用图像替网页制作书签，并和他人分享。

要开始使用 Pinterest，使用者必须索取邀请。通常 24小时内会收到响应，然后人们就会注册并创立自己的布告栏。这就像是人们在家里或办公室放置的布告栏一样，人们可以将东西钉在布告栏上。如果有人喜欢你发布在 Pinterest 上的东西，他们就可以转贴到自己的布告栏上。使用者可以拥有无限多个布告栏，而许多人会发布他们的梦想家园、工艺创意和食谱的照片，或是激励人心的文字。任何 Pinterest 的使用者都可以对其他使用者发布的东西按赞或是转贴，而当愈来愈多人转贴，某人发布的东西就会被疯狂转载。

除了这项简化却赏心悦目的设计，Pinterest其中一个独特之处就是使用者有八成都是女性。这在通常由男性主导的虚拟世界是很罕见的。根据网络追踪网站表示，Pinterest的网络流量每天都在增加。这表示愈来愈多的营销人士正试着要加入这个火红的网站。现在要知道 Pinterest 是否名不虚传，且该网站是否能挑战脸书，一切都还言之过早，但这的确是能让你将喜欢的东西集中在网络上同一个地方的一种绝佳方式。

答案：  1.  C   2.  D   3.  A   4.  C

Pinterest 是一个图片分享类的社交网站，用户可以按主题添加和管理自己的图片收藏，并与好友分享。其使用的网站布局为瀑布流布局（Pinterest-style layout）。Pinterest 由美国加州帕罗奥多一个名为 Cold Brew Labs的团队创办，2010 年正式上线。（数据源：维基百科）