Read the passage and answer the questions:
Cyber Space – Internet
Cyberspace is the world of electronic computerised space. It is encompassed by the Internet such as the World Wide Web (www). In simple words, it is the electronic digital world for communicating or accessing information over computer networks without physical movement of the sender and the receiver. It is also referred to as the Internet. Cyberspace exists everywhere. It may be in an office, sailing boat, flying plane and virtually anywhere.
The speed at which this electronic network has spread is unprecedented in human history. There were less than 50 million Internet users in 1995, about 400 million in 2000, over two billion in 2010 and about 5.4 billion in 2023. In the last few years there has been a shift among global users from U.S.A. to the developing countries. The percentage share of U.S.A. has dropped from 66 in 1995 to only 25 in 2005. Now the majority of the world’s users are in U.S.A., U.K., Germany, Japan, China and India.
As billions use the Internet each year, cyberspace will expand the contemporary economic and social space of humans through e-mail, e-commerce, e-learning and e-governance. Internet together with fax, television and radio will be accessible to more and more people cutting across place and time. It is these modern communication systems, more than transportation, that has made the concept of global village a reality.
Which of the following is NOT true regarding percentage share of global internet users in last decade?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → The major trends of global internet users is shifting from developing to developed world.
Option (1) The major trends of global internet users is shifting from developing to developed world. — Not true (Correct). The passage says the shift among global users is from the U.S.A. to the developing countries. The option turns the direction round.
Option (2) The percentage share of global internet users of U.S.A. has dropped. — True (Incorrect). The U.S.A.’s share of the world’s users fell from 66 in 1995 to only 25 in 2005.
Option (3) The majority of the internet users are from the countries like U.K, USA, India, China etc. — True (Incorrect). The passage names the U.S.A., the U.K., Germany, Japan, China and India as the countries where most of the world’s users are.
Option (4) 41% decrease in terms of percentage share of U.S.A between 1995 to 2005. — True (Incorrect). The share fell from 66 per cent to 25 per cent, that is, by 41 percentage points.
Note: Strictly, a fall in the share from 66 per cent to 25 per cent is a fall of 41 percentage points; measured against the 1995 share it is a fall of about 62 per cent. Option (4) reads the ‘41%’ as percentage points, and Option (1) is the one statement that is untrue on any reading.
NCERT (2025-26): “Cyber Space – Internet … The speed at which this electronic network has spread is unprecedented in human history. There were less than 50 million Internet users in 1995, about 400 million in 2000, over two billion in 2010 and about 5.4 billion in 2023. In the last few years there has been a shift among global users from U.S.A. to the developing countries. The percentage share of U.S.A. has dropped from 66 in 1995 to only 25 in 2005. Now the majority of the world’s users are in U.S.A., U.K., Germany, Japan, China and India.…” |