Question

Down on the Farmville A Bulgarian official has been sacked after being caught milking a virtual cow on the hugely popular online farming game, Farmville. So what is it about it that’s made it so popular? At the end of a hard day seeing to patients at the surgery there is more work to be done. Tending to the crops, feeding the cows and making sure the fields are ploughed. For one GP, who is too embarrassed to be named, the internet game Farmville has become a part of daily life. The premise of the game is simple – you are a farmer, albeit a virtual one – with your own plot of land. Your job is to cultivate it and rear animals. You get points depending on how successful you are and the aim is to get the highest score you can. On her farm, the GP grows potatoes, watermelons and keeps chickens and cows. She never tends to her fields during her working day, but is on it most evenings. “It does seem like a terrible waste of time”, she says. “It’s like watching trashy TV though, a bit of escapism to help you unwind.” For her and many others, Farmville has become a guilty pleasure. While it’s highly unlikely that everyone who has joined the game plays it on a regular basis, there is no doubting it has a huge regular following, with people around the world, from all ages and backgrounds playing it. Like full-time mum Gemma, for whom Farmville has become part of the daily routine, inbetween nappy changes and feeds. Both her sisters and her mum are signed up too. She was initially dismissive of Farmville when she was asked to join, but is hooked now. So, what is the appeal? “It becomes a personal experience and something you care about”, says Johnny Minkley, a computer games expert. “What you’re doing needs to have some meaningful effect, like the planting and growing of crops.” The game also has a competitive element – it’s about having the best farm and earning the most money to see to its upkeep. But it can also be co-operative and it’s possible to interact with your friends’ farms on the site by watering their plants and feeding their animals. The game is free to play, but if you want to buy extra coins to keep up your farm, you are given the option to buy more with your credit card. Parallels can be drawn between Farmville and the Tamagotchi craze in the 1990s, where people looked after a virtual pet housed in a plastic egg, developing an emotional attachment to their virtual being. But the fact Farmville has been introduced in an age of social media has had other effects. For the embarrassed GP, it resurrected an old friendship – sort of. “There’s a girl I went to school with, and who I never speak to, but I now fertilise her crops for her”, she says. It is this sense of reward which keeps people playing, says psychologist Dr Mark Griffiths. He describes Farmville as “virtual Lego”, where building something from scratch and seeing it grow gives players a sense of accomplishment and a “psychological high”. GP = general practitioner; a doctor who is trained in general medicine and treats people in a particular area or town. Adapted from . [25/3/2010]. Considering the information from the text, choose the correct alternative(s). 01) In the extract “… too embarrassed to be named …” , the word underlined is in the simple past tense. 02) The pronoun “it” refers to the Farmville game. 04) In the sentence “She never tends to her fields during her working day, but is on it most evenings.” , a contrast of ideas is expressed. 08) The underlined word in “It does seem like a terrible waste of time …” is used for emphasis. 16) Gemma is the only member of her family who has joined Farmville.

Answer 1

cade a traduçãoExplicação: