Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 23 to 30.
With the spread of the coronavirus getting worse and worse, many of us must be thinking about how to socialise without having to go outside. While this situation is novel to many of us, there are thousands of people who are constantly making lasting and meaningful connections from their homes, through the world of online gaming.
Almost all video games today have their own gaming communities where players can socialise, and most gamers value these socialisation aspects of games very highly. They are among the main motivations for playing, particularly when it comes to games that have large numbers of players who interact and play with each other on the same big server, also known as "massively multiplayer online games".
Over the past three decades, gaming has become more and more social, and many players have developed good friendships with the people they meet online. One surprising fact is that among gamers, the gender gap is narrowing - 46% are female (average age 34 years) and 54% are male (average age 32 years). Another significant finding is that 63% of gamers play with others and that many players get social support from the gaming communities that they are in. In addition, other research has shown that there appears to be no difference in the friendships between gamers and non-gamers.
Gaming often gets bad publicity because most media coverage tends to concentrate on the minority of gamers who play to such an extent that it compromises all other areas of their life (in other words, those who suffer from "gaming disorders"). However, we have to remember that millions of gamers play every day and many do so for the many positives it brings. So, if you're one of those people staying under lockdown, going online and connecting with hundreds and thousands of people in the gaming community might just be the perfect solution you're looking for.
(Adapted from theconversation.com)
