“Let's go down one more, push your enter key…”says a volunteer helping senior citizens work a web session on the Internet.
David Lansdale had found a way to light up the lives of the elderly.He gets them wired to the Internet.“If you hit your enter key, it will bring up this particular e-mail…”
Pauline Allen is one of those who has started using the Internet,“I thought I was through with life, I was ready for a rocking chair, because I was 86 years old.And I haven't found the rocking chair yet.”“You found the keyboard?”asks the reporter.“That's right, I found the keyboard.”
The average age for Lansdale's students is around 68.All are in nursing or assisted care homes.He used family relationships to introduce them to the World Wide Web.
David Lansdale says,“Here they are in California, the family was back in New York, the opportunity to connect, to cross the time and space, was incredibly precious opportunity to them.”
“I hear you are so beautiful.”Lillian she writes an e-mail to a newborn great-granddaughter.Working with one another, the senior learn as a group.They learn to master the Internet and to overcome what Lansdale calls the maladies of the institutionalized:loneliness, helplessness, boredom, and loss of memory.
Mary Harvey says,“Bingo just doesn't interest me.But this does, believe me, this does.”
Ninety-four-year old Ruth Hyman is a star pupil and instructor.She says,“When I send a letter to my grandchildren, and great grandchildren, they hang it up in their offices, just like I used to hang their drawings on my refrigerator.Ha, ha.”
David Lansdale says,“There's a collective benefit.There is an element of treatment.Remember we started as a support group.”
Dixon Moorehouse says,“I just wish I was 15 years old and getting to learn all this.”The senior call their weekly meetings Monday Night Live.And many say the meetings have given them new life.
Ruth Hyman says,“Three years ago, they told me I wasn't going to live.But I showed them, and got work, and I've worked ever since.”
(1)
The purpose of David Landsdale's work is to ________.
[ ]
A.
keep the mind of the senior healthy
B.
popularize the use of computers among the old
C.
organize the senior as a group to work
D.
help the senior connect with their families
(2)
The words“the maladies of the institutionalized”used in the text refer to ________.
[ ]
A.
the difficulties in learning
B.
the problems caused by getting old
C.
some kinds of treatments
D.
the worries about the Internet
(3)
How many examples does the writer give to prove that the senior enjoy the Internet?
[ ]
A.
Four.
B.
Five.
C.
Six.
D.
Seven.
(4)
It can be inferred that Ruth Hyman's younger generations hang her mails up ________.