In ten years, the World Wide Web has become a powerful new medium for sharing information, conducting business and communicating with people across the room or across the world.
   Every day, about 128 million Americans log into the internet to use email, receive news, access government information, conduct business, book travel reservations, and engage in other activities.
1.conduct: When you conduct an activity or task, you organize it and carry it out
I decided to conduct an experiment
2.access: If you have access to something such as information or equipment, you have the opportunity or right to see it or use it
Every student has access to the school library.
   American Online lnc. (AOL美国在线公司) now claims more than 35 million members, up from 2 million in 1995. And the number of items listed for sale on e-Bay（电子港湾）, an auction site（拍卖网址）, increased greatly from 443 000 ?in early 1997 to more than 583 million in the first quarter of 2006.
   The online world is increasingly merging with the “real” world, influencing nearly every side of life.
   Email allows families and friends around the world to communicate at a low price and more frequently.
1. claim: state
   He claimed that it was all a conspiracy (阴谋)against him
2. merge: combine My life merged with his.我和他的生活合而为一。
   The internet’s ability to provide a constant flow of news and information has sped up an already fast pace for most Americans. It also allows them the freedom to shop and conduct other business at their own convenience.
These benefits, however, have not come without a price. Wired life (在线生活) has also brought about growing concern regarding privacy and protection of identities online.
   And as with most innovations, those who have less money and receive less education in American society have had much less access to the Web and its respective benefits, creating what some call a “digital divide”（数字分界）.
1. constant You use constant to describe something that happens all the time or is always there.
Inflation is a constant threat
2. respective Respective means relating or belonging separately to the individual people
They went into their respective bedrooms to pack
   In spite of these issues, the rate of online growth does not appear to be   slowing down at any time soon.
   What’s fueling the online rush?
   Jonathan Palmer, an internet expert from the University of Maryland, said   America Online lnc. has been a large factor in internet growth.
   The company’s “ability to bring together access, content and selling in a fairly user-friendly package has certainly sped up growth,” Palmer said.
   Another factor is that links to the internet are steadily improving, with broadband links such as digital subscriber lines (DSL，数字订户线路) and cable modems providing speeds unimaginable in the past.
   This new technology, originally used by offices and larger organizations, is rapidly becoming more available to US customers In their own homes.