Remember Second Life, the virtual world that was supposed to become almost as important as the first one? Now populated by no more than 84,000 avatars at a time, it has turned out to be a prime example of how short-lived Internet fads can be. Yet if many adults seem to have given up on virtual worlds, those that cater to children and teenagers are thriving. Several have even found a way to make money.
In America, nearly 10 million children and teenagers visit virtual worlds regularly, estimates eMarketer, a market researcher-a number the firm expects to increase to 15 million by 2013.As in January, there were 112 virtual worlds designed for under-18s with another 81 in development, according to Engage Digital Media, a market research firm.
All cater to different age groups and tastes. In Club Penguin, the market leader, which was bought by Disney in 2007 for a whopping $ 700 million, primary-school children can take on a penguin persona, fit out their own igloo and play games. Habbo Hotel, a service run from Finland, is a global hangout for teenagers who want to customise their own rooms and meet in public places to attend events. Gala Online, based in Silicon Valley, offers similar activities, but is visited mostly by older teens who are into Manga comics.
Not a hit with advertisers, these online worlds earn most of their money from the sale of virtual goods, such as items to spruce up an avatar or a private room. They are paid for in a private currency, which members earn by participating in various activities, trading items or buying them with real dollars.
This sort of stealth tax seems to work. At Gala Online, users spend more than $1 million per month on virtual items, says Craig Sherman, the firm's chief executive. Running such a virtual economy is not easy, which is why Gaia has hired a full-time economist to grapple with problems that are well known in the real world, such as inflation and an unequal distribution of wealth.
There are other barriers that could limit the growth of virtual worlds for the young, but the main one is parents. Many do not want their offspring roaming virtual worlds, either because they are too commercial or are thought to be too dangerous. Keeping them safe is one of the biggest running costs, because their sponsors have to employ real people to police their realms.
Youngsters are also a fickle bunch, says Simon Levene of Accel Partners, a venture- capital firm. Just as children move from one toy to another, they readily switch worlds or social networks, often without saying goodbye.
Even so, Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst at eMarketer, believes "these worlds are a training ground for the three-dimensional web". If virtual worlds for adults, which so far have been able to retain only hardcore users, manage to hang on for a few years, they may yet have a second life.
In the first paragraph it says that "Several have even found a way to make money" Which of the following could possibly be the "way" ?
A.Sales of the copies of the game.
B.Sales of virtual goods in the game.
C.Sales of game peripheral goods, such as dolls and OST CDs.
D.Development of different games towards gamers of different ages.
时间:2023-09-25 13:47:24
-
I remember ()the oil separator the day before yesterday But it failed again.
A . to repair
B . to be repaired
C . repairing
D . being repaired
-
I still remember the winter()we went to Harbin to see the ice-lamp.
A . which
B . why
C . whose
D . whe
-
The second officer will take()the watch soon.
A . on
B . under
C . off
D . over
-
We must remember that ()fashion is not the most important thing in ()life.
A . /;the
B . /;/
C . the;/
D . the;the
-
()wants to succeed in the US needs to remember the rules of the game.
A . Whoever
B . whatever
C . whomever
D . whenever
-
7.Please remember to keep the medicine in a sealed container.
-
Do you remember how much the tuition was?
-
In the course of life one should always remember their old friends.
-
The author of Passage 1 asks the students to remember to regulate and balance their time because too much time online can mean little time in real-life studying or exercising or visiting with friends.
-
Remember _______close the door, please.
-
What do people find about their rare ability to remember every detail of their life?
-
What has a person experienced if he or she can't remember anything about their life and, thus, starts an entirely new life -- only to have the original memories return several years later?
-
The most important thing to remember about Britain is the weather.
-
The author can’t remember his relatives clearly because_____.
A. he was fully occupied with observing nature
B. he didn’t live very long with them
C. the family was extremely large
D. he was too young when he lived with them
-
According to the author, the easiest way to remember your dreams is to ______.
A.put a notebook and pen next to your bed
B.try to recall the dreams
C.re-enter the previous dreams
D.keep a dream journal
-
In the second paragraph, “the third" means
A. the third week.
B. the third shift.
C. a third of the time.
D. the third routine.
-
You didn't remember () the umbrella last night,so please remember () umbrella t
You didn't remember () the umbrella last night,so please remember () umbrella tomorrow.
A、taking; to keep
B、to take; to keep
C、taking; keeping
D、to take; keeping
-
As used in the second sentence of the second paragraph, the word “unique” means ______.
A.special
B.attractive
C.financial
D.peculiar
-
Please remember all the deductibles (免赔额)and co-payments (共同费用) are due at the
A.A.可支付的
B.B.可获得的
C.C.到期
D.D.由于
-
In the second sentence of the second paragraph, the word "advocate" can be best replaced by______.
A.encourage
B.suggest
C.boost
D.promote
-
Is the News Believable? Unless you have gone through the experience yourself, or watched a loved one’s struggle, you really have no idea just how desperate cancer can make you. You pray, you rage, you bargain with God, but most of all you clutch at any hope, no matter how remote, of a second chance at life.
For a few excited days last week, however, it seemed as if the whole world was a cancer patient and that all humankind had been granted a reprieve(痛苦减轻) . Triggered by a front-page medical news story in the usually reserved New York Times, all anybody was talking about--- on the radio, on television, on the Internet, in phone calls to friends and relatives----was the report that a combination of two new drugs could , as the Times put it, “cure cancer in two years.”
In a matter of hours patients had jammed their doctors’ phone lines begging for a chance to test the miracle cancer cure. Cancer scientists raced to the phones to make sure everyone knew about their research too, generating a new round of headlines.
The time certainly seemed ripe for a breakthrough in cancer. Only last month scientists at the National Cancer Institute announced that they were halting a clinical trial of a drug called tamoxifen (他莫昔芬) ------ and offering it to patients getting the placebo(安慰剂) -----because it had proved so effective at preventing breast cancer (although it also seemed to increase the risk of uterine(子宫的) cancer). Two weeks later came the New York Times’ report that two new drugs could shrink tumors of every variety without any side effects whatsoever.
It all seemed too good to be true, and of course it was. There are no miracle cancer drugs, at least not yet. At this stage all the drug manufactures can offer is some very interesting molecules, and the only cancers they have cured so far have been in mice. By the middle of last week, even the TV talk-show hosts who talked most about the news had learned what every scientist already knew : that curing a disease in lab animals is not the same as doing it in humans. “The history of cancer research has been a history of curing cancer in the mouse,” Dr. Richard Klausner, head of the National Cancer Institute, told the Los Angeles Times. “We have cured mice of cancer for decades---and it simply didn’t work in people.”
第11题:According to the passage, a person suffering from cancer will
A.give up any hope.
B.pray for the health of his loved ones.
C.seize every chance of survival.
D.go out of his way to help others.
-
Some people just can’t keep from giving. That was the way it was with my neighbor. Despite being crippled, she was very active. In fact, she __1__ to do more for the __2__ every day than I ever do in a year’s time. I was always __3__ at the pace she kept. And most importantly, she always had a positive __4__. I don’t remember once hearing her complain __5__ her trouble. The stresses of everyday life never seemed to bother her.
1). A. amazed
B. about
C. seemed
D. community
E. attitude
2). A. amazed
B. about
C. seemed
D. community
E. attitude
3). A. amazed
B. about
C. seemed
D. community
E. attitude
4). A. amazed
B. about
C. seemed
D. community
E. attitude
5). A. amazed
B. about
C. seemed
D. community
E. attitude
-
请阅读Passage l,完成第小题。Passage 1Move over Methuselah. Future generations could be living well into their second century and still doing Sudoku, if life expectancy predictions are true. Increasing by two y
A、the ageing
B、the body-evolving
C、the genes-repairing
D、the body&39;s putting-off-damage
-
Association refers to_the material we want to remember and_it to something we remember accurately()
A.taking…relating
B.take…relate
C.taking…relate
D.take…relating