The author implies that cyber-optimists view the use of new media technologies by minor parties as

The author’s central claim is thatA) while there is disagreement about whether or not newmedia enhance democracy, all agree that they arechanging politics.B) political candidates cannot influence elections withoutmanipulating new media to benefit their campaigns.C) citizens must become more engaged in politics byblogging to truly exercise their democratic privileges.D) it is too soon to tell what new media’s political effectswill be, but they are generally thought to be positive.45As used in lines 1–2, “concerned with” most nearly means46The author implies that cyber-optimists view the use of newmedia technologies by minor parties as47Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer tothe previous question?48The expressions “cyber-optimists” and “cyber-pessimists” (line 4) primarily serve toA) frame the debate surrounding new media and politicswith familiar oppositional terms.B) legitimize the author’s argument by creating a new kindof jargon to reference the players in this political field.C) clarify that there are only two possible positions to takeregarding this issue, and they are opposed to one another.D) distinguish between major and minor parties with newterms that allow the reader to view them as positive andnegative.49The author uses the Pew Research Center findings to implythat50Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer tothe previous question?

D) it is too soon to tell what new media's political effects will be, but they are generally thought tobe positive.2As used in linesl-2, "concerned with”most nearly means

Questions 1-11 are based on the following
passage.

Political communication scholars are keenly concerned with the extent to which new media is affecting politics... Accordingly, the following sections present the respective

positions of cyber-optimists and cyber-pessimists in relation
5 to three key areas of the debate: how new media enable minor parties to have a greater [or lesser] presence; how new media could make it possible to strengthen citizens’ attempts in political participation; how citizens are using (micro) blogs to participate in political communication.

10 The ﬁrst area of debate to be considered here is to what

extent new media are able to put minor parties on a par with their larger counterparts, in terms of exposure. Minor parties are able to make use of new media technologies to disseminate information and promote themselves; typically,

15 these new technologies not only provide broader exposure for

minor parties but also act as additional channels through which to challenge major opponents and break into the political debate. However, cyber-pessimists argue that a higher number of communication channels does not equate

20 with more democracy. Both minor and major parties tend to

approach the Internet in utilitarian terms, using it as a tool to provide information about policies rather than as a new platform for the promotion of interaction and interorganizational links.

25 However, political cyber-optimists have criticized cyber-

pessimists for being too extreme and maintain that new media might be the decisive element in pushing the democratic agenda of elections nowadays. For instance, based on data published by the Pew Research Center, sixty-

30 six percentage of social media users have participated in at

least eight online political activities, such as encouraging people to vote or posting their comments on politics through social media. Thus, Internet voters may shape election campaign agendas to some extent. The fact that Barack

35 Obama obtained an electoral victory following a triumphant

grassroots campaign and successful use of social media such as Facebook and MySpace is a case in point.

The third area of the debate to be considered here is the

phenomenon of citizen (micro) blogging. Citizens are using

40 social media, such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and Weibo, as

a channel for participation in political discussions, aiming to directly or indirectly inﬂuence public concerns or even reshape the public agenda, promoting the democratic public sphere. Voltmer, in his empirical study of political

45 communication, revealed the interdependencies between

politicians, citizens and the media, and highlighted why some media are more successful channels for democratic public communication than others. Voltmer cites the example of a Chinese blogger named Lixiaode, who was the ﬁrst

50 successful case of using a blog as a ‘watchdog’ to expose

numerous ofﬁcial corruptions in China in 2004 and 2005, thereby broadening the channel of political participation through blogs. This example illustrates the potential power of new media, which has already started to challenge the

55 existing political system.

Looking at the three key areas of debate outlined above, it is apparent that there is nothing inherently democratic about the new media; the extent to which they are being used to enhance democracy depends on who is using them and

60 why. . . [But whether] or not new media technologies are

enhancing democracy, they are the driving force behind some radical shifts which are taking place in politics, and these changes are inevitably bringing with them both beneﬁts and limitations.