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阅读理解
In the last few years our communications network has been growing at a very fast pace．The old fixed－line telephone has been replaced by mobile phones．Short Message Service(SMS)．e－mail and instant messaging(IM)．And there are other new ways of communicating related to the Internet, such as blogs．
A recent study in Switzerland shows the different roles that communication methods can play．Stefana Broadbent is a scientist at Swisscom, Switzerland’s largest telecoms company．She studied several hundred consumers and their reactions to telecommunications．She found people are very good at choosing the besttechnology for each situation．
“IM is used to tell you I miss you; e-mail is to organize our dinner; voice mail is to say, I'm late; and SMS to continue our talk on the way,”says Broadbent, joking a little．
Landline phones are an open channel．That means people use them to talk about non-private things．That's because other family members or colleagues have access to the phone．Mobile phones are more for adding last-minute information．SMS is used for close friends to keep in touch．It is very efficient and pri-vate．The messages are often related to personal secrets．People often use e-mail for online communication with bigger social groups．That includes ordinary friends．Or it is used for exchanging pictures, music, and other content among a social network．IM, such as MSN and QQ, is a continuous channel．Users open an instant messaging channel for the day．Then they just keep it open while they do other activities．Managing a blog is like creating your own independent club on the Internet for friends to visit．It is often the centre of a small group of friends who share the same hobbies．
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