The Internet
The Internet, a global computer network which embraces millions of users all over the world, began in the U.S. in 1969 as a military experiment. Today this network can increase our knowledge of the outside world. There is much high-quality information that can help us to understand many fields of study: science, medicine, the arts and so on. In the Internet you can find any information in a few minutes.
One of the most valuable functions of Internet is its information function. The Internet keeps people informed about current events, as well as the latest achievements in science and culture. The Internet is also widely used in business. Thanks to the Internet we have rapid connections with partners from all corners of the world.
Millions of people use the Internet and their number is growing every day. The most popular I-service is e-mail. Most of the people, who have access to the Internet, use the network only for sending and receiving e-mail messages.
Recently a system of distance learning became popular. You can study foreign languages and even study in universities. Individual education programs can be developed especially for you.
On the other hand there are several serious disadvantages of the Internet. Of course it provides us with a pleasant way to relax and spend our free time, but some people spend more than six hours a day on the network. Many children look at a screen for more hours each day than they do anything else, including studying and sleeping.
The most negative effect of the Internet might be people addiction to it. People often feel a strange and powerful need to spend time on the network and sometimes Internet becomes for them more real than reality.
One more disadvantage of the Internet is the absence of information control.
Children receive wide access to porno sites and sites with violence and promoting hate.
Of course people must use all the opportunities of the Internet to change their life but they mustn't misuse them.
Most of the students use it to get information, it may be abstraction from any subject, course activity or anything else.
Also students "'like** to send and to receive e-mail messages.
Chuvashia
huvashia is located in the centre of the European part of Russia. The republic is not large, its population is about 1 mln people.
About 60 per cent of the people in Chuvashia live in urban areas. Many nationalities live in the republic. The Chuvash nationality makes up 67% and the Russian nationality - 27%.
There are 9 towns in Chuvashia. The capital of the republic is Cheboksary. Its population is about 500.000 people. The surface of Chuvashia is rather hilly. Forests cover about one third of the territory. The main rivers are the Volga, the Sura, the Tsivil, the Anish.
The Chuvash ancestors were tribes of ancient Bulgars and Suvars that lived in the Northern Caucasus from the 5th to the 8th centuries. In the 7th and 8th centuries one part of the Bulgars left for the Balkans, where they dissolved among the Slavs. Another part moved to the middle Volga region, where they later formed the ethnic foundation for the Chuvash people. The Chuvash nationality was formed from the part of the Bulgar population that did not adopt Islam in the 15 — 16th centuries.
Chuvashia joined the Russian state in 1551. In tsarist Russia the territory of modern Chuvashia belonged to Kazan and Simbirsk districts. In 1925 the Chuvash Autonomous Republic was established. Now it is called the Chuvash republic. In population the Chuvashes take the 4th place in Russia(about 1.5 mln people).
Chuvashia is not rich in mineral resources. It has sand, peat, clay, gypsum, limestone, dolomite, forests and water. Industry takes a leading place in the economy of Chuvashia. There are enterprises of electrical engineering, machine-building, electrical power engineering, chemical, light industries and timber industry complex.