Exercises

1. Find in the text the English equivalents of the following Russian word-combinations.

Группы новостей; собрание сообщений; со всего мира; которые делятся по темам; электронный почтовый ящик; электронные системы; которые пользуются системой; пользователь; участие в сети; обсуждать данную тему; стать подписчиком; читать и отправлять сообщения; сузить поиск.

2. Match the following terms with their definitions.

Newsgroups	A collection of thousands of newsgroups for exchanging messages on almost every imaginable topic
A newbie	Electronic discussion groups that bring together like-minded individuals to discuss a given topic via e-mail.
Cyberspace	A beginning Internet user
Lists	USENET message areas where you can discuss almost any topic imaginable.
Commercial Service	The program that allows you to read USENET’s newsgroups
USENET	One of the large online services, such as America Online, Compuserve, and Prodigy
Newsreader	A popular term for the Internet.

3. In the text find the sentences characterizing the following.

1) Newsgroups.

2) Their quantity.

3) The names denoting the whole system of newsgroups.

4) Access to USENET or NETNEWS.

5) Lists.

6) A newsreading program.

4. Answer the questions.

1) What are newsgroups?

2) Are newsgroups numerous or not?

3) What are the names of the whole system of newsgroups?

4) What does a user do if he wants to access USENET or NETNEWS newsgroups?

5) What are lists (LISTSERVERS)?

6) When is a netter free to start his own discussion list?

7) What does a netter do when he joins a list?

8) What does USENET enable a netter do?

9) Newsgroups are, in essence, an exciting international meeting spot, aren’t they?

10) What will a netter need a newsreading program for?

5. Write a summary of the text.

Text 6 electronic mail

E-mail, or Electronic Mail, is the most popular way to communicate on the Internet.

Though your e-mail software may be slightly different, here are some of the common operations:

To: Here you enter the person’s e-mail address.

From: Your e-mail address (usually automatically filled in).

Subject: You can put anything here.

Cc: Carbon Copy, meaning that you can send the same letter to several different people.

Bcc: This is Blind Carbon Copy. As with a Carbon Copy, you can send the same.

Reply – You can respond to e-mail you have received.

Forward – You can send a received e-mail message to another person.

Save – You can save e-mail you have received.

Print – You can print e-mail you have received.

Address Book – You can store e-mail addresses.

Finally we need to touch on Internet etiquette, or netiquette, as it is called in Cyberspace. It is easy to come across as being rude when communicating over the Net, especially for a newbie. However, a few rules of netiquette will help you get off to a good start. Remember:

1. There is a human being on the other end, so don’t forget to be nice.

2. Be clear in your message; it is easy to cause a misunderstanding.

3. Don’t forget to add your name to the end of a message.

4. Keep your signature short.

5. Use a spell checker.

6. Don’t send the same message out to multiple newsgroups and mailing lists.

Doing so is called “spamming”, and it is despised on the Internet.

7. Don’t engage in bitter online arguments. This is called “flaming”.

8. DON’T WRITE IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS LIKE THIS! This is called SHOUTING, and it is irritating and hard to read.

9. Spend some time getting used to the discussion group before making your first posting.

10. Use descriptive titles in the subject line of all your postings.

11. When everything else fails, use common sense.