40. Where can you most likely find this article?


(A) Consumer reports.

(B) Sports magazines.

(C) Trade journals.

(D) Tourist guides.

第41至45題為題組

The Internet has transformed the way people work and communicate. It has changed industries dramatically. But one of its most profound effect may well be on the biggest decision that most people make—choosing a mate.

In the early 1990s the notion of meeting a partner online seemed freakish, but today, in many places, it is normal. Globally, at least 200 million people use digital dating services every month. In America more than a third of marriages now start with an online match-up. The Internet is the second-most-popular way for Americans to meet people of the opposite sex.

In the physical world, partners are found in family networks or among circles of friends and colleagues. People who meet online are overwhelmingly likely to be strangers. As a result, dating digitally offers much greater choice. A bar, choir or office might have a few tens of potential partners for any one person. Online there are tens of thousands. In addition to this greater choice, the digital dating market is far more efficient than the offline kind because digital connections are made only with mutual consent. Furthermore, for most people, digital dating offers better outcomes. Research has found that marriages in America between people who meet online are likely to last longer; such couples profess to be happier than those who met offline. In America, divorce rates climbed until just before the advent of the Internet, and have fallen since.

There are problems with the modern way of love, however. Many users complain of stress when confronted with the digital technologies. Strangers can issue quick judgments on attractiveness without careful thought. Studies showed that digital dating has been linked to depression. The second problem is the fake accounts that exist in the digital platforms: 10% of all newly



created dating profiles do not belong to real people. Yet such concerns should not change the good that comes from the modern way of romance. Digital dating offers millions of people a more efficient way to find a good mate. That is something to love.