There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide in which blank (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.
Sentence: Having made citizens more and less knowledgeable than their predecessors, the Internet has proved to be both a blessing and a curse.
Paragraph: Never before has a population, nearly all of whom has enjoyed at a least a secondary school education, been exposed to so much information, whether in newspapers and magazines or through YouTube, Google, and Facebook. ___(1)___. Yet it is not clear that people today are more knowledgeable than their barely literate predecessors. Contemporary advances in technology offered more serious and inquisitive students access to realms of knowledge previously unimaginable and unavailable. ___(2)___. But such readily available knowledge leads many more students away from serious study, the reading of actual texts, and toward an inability to write effectively and grammatically. ___(3)___. It has let people choose sources that reinforce their opinions rather than encouraging them to question inherited beliefs. ___(4)___.
The sentence would best fit in Blank 4 because it ties together the ideas presented in the paragraph. The paragraph states that people today have access to a vast amount of information, but it is not clear if they are more knowledgeable as a result. It also mentions that the readily available knowledge can lead students away from serious study and towards an inability to write effectively. The missing sentence introduces the idea that the Internet has both positive and negative effects on knowledge and learning. It fits well in Option 4 because it connects to the idea that the Internet has let people choose sources that reinforce their opinions rather than encouraging them to question inherited beliefs, which is the final point presented in the paragraph.
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