We're all connected. You can send an e-mail message to a friend, and your friend can pass it on to one of his or her friends, and that friend can do the same, continuing the chain. Eventually, your message could reach just about anyone in the world, and it might take only five to seven e-mails for the message to get there.
Scientists recently tested that idea in a study involving 24,000 people. Participants had to try to get a message forwarded to one of 18 randomly chosen people. Each participant started by sending one e-mail to someone they knew. Recipients could then forward the e-mail once to someone they knew, and so on.
Targets, who were randomly assigned by researchers from Columbia University in New York, lived in 13 countries. They included an Australian police officer, a Norwegian veterinarian, and a college professor.
Out of 24,000 chains, only 384 reached their goal. The rest petered out, usually because one of the recipients was either too busy to forward the message or thought it was junk mail.
The links that reached their goal made it in an average of 4.05 e-mails. Based on the lengths of the failed chains, the researchers estimated that two strangers could generally make contact in five to seven e-mails.
The most successful chains relied on casual acquaintances rather than close friends. That's because your close friends know each other whereas your acquaintances tend to know people you don't know. The phenomenon, known as the strength of weak ties, explains why people tend to get jobs through people they know casually but aren't that close to.
So, start networking and instant messaging now. As they say in show business: It's all about who you know.
小题1: If you want to get into touch with a stranger in the world, how many e-mails might it take for the message to reach him/her?
A. 5 to 7
| B. 18
| C. 13
| D. 384
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小题2: Which of the following is Not true about the test?
A. 24,000 people took part in the study and sent e-mails to people they knew.
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B. The 18 targets were chosen by chance.
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C. About 98.4% of the mails didn’t reach their goal because some people were too busy or they mistook the message for junk mail.
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D. The targets come from 13 countries, such as Australia, Norway and New York.
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小题3: What does the word “estimate” mean in the passage?
A. make sure
| B. suppose
| C. think over
| D. imagine
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小题4: Why do people tend to get jobs more easily through casual acquaintances than close friends?
A. Because close friends don’t talk with each other so much.
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B. Because casual acquaintances can help you know more people and make more friends.
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C. Because close friends don’t spend so much time gathering together.
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D. Because casual acquaintances are kinder and more willing to help others.
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小题5: In which part of a newspaper will readers read this passage?
A. Culture
| B. Entertainment
| C. Information and Technology
| D. Health
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