Use of English

How the Internet Took Off

Most of us (0) TAKE the Internet for granted, but it didn’t appear overnight. In the 1960s, researchers in the US were trying to build a network that could keep working even if part of it went down. The idea was to (1) .......... computers so they could share information quickly and safely. One early breakthrough was packet switching, which meant data could be split into small pieces and sent by different routes. Later, a project called ARPANET (2) .......... the first real test of these ideas, linking a few universities. At first, it was mainly scientists who used it, and they were more interested in sending messages than browsing websites. The big change came when TCP/IP became the standard way for computers to “talk” to each other. Once everyone agreed (3) .......... the same rules, networks could connect more easily. In the 1990s, the World Wide Web made the Internet far more user-friendly, and suddenly it (4) .......... off. Looking back, it’s clear the Internet wasn’t invented by one person in one moment. It was (5) .......... up step by step, thanks to teamwork, funding, and a lot of trial and error. And even now, it keeps (6) .......... as new tools appear. So next time your Wi-Fi is slow, remember: this whole system was designed to be (7) .........., not perfect. Still, it’s hard to (8) .......... life without it.