People are talking about the “new economy”. It's very different from the “old economy”.
　　In the old economy, people travel to walk. They buy things in stores. They use the post office, the fax and the telephone to send information. They see people face-to-face at their jobs or in stores. People get information from newspapers, radio, television, books and libraries.
　　In the new economy, people do business through the “net”, which is a connection of millions of computers everywhere in the world. In the new economy, workers often work at home. They can get information on-line. They can communicate with employers and co-workers by e-mail. Businesses have “virtual (虚拟的) stores”. They are websites on which customers can see the products. Businesses can sell to customers anywhere in the world.
　　In the new economy, people live a fast paced, convenient and colorful life. The whole world develops more quickly than before. But the new economy is a double edge sword(双刃剑). Its disadvantage is also obvious. For example, the internet has led to a huge increase in credit-card (信用卡) cheating. Some illegal websites offer some cheap or banned (禁止的) goods or services. On-line shoppers who enter their credit card information may never receive the goods they want to buy and their card information could even be for sale in an illegal website. So people in the new economy should be smarter and knowledgeable.

当今，人们都在谈论“新经济”，而“新经济”与“旧经济”则相差
甚远矣。
在“旧经济年代”，人们出门靠步行，买东西上商店，传递消息靠邮
局、传真和电话，相互见面在上班场所或在商店，通过报纸、广播、
电视、书刊和图书馆来获取信息。在“新经济年代”，人们通过联接
世界各处几百万台电脑的网络来做生意。人们可在家里上班，可从网
上获取信息，用电邮来联系雇主和同事。买东西可到“虚拟商店”，
还可在网上看到商品，商品可卖给世界上任何一个地方的客户。
在“新经济年代”，人们过着一种快节奏、方便而又丰富多彩的生
活。整个世界的发展比以往更迅速。然而，“新经济”也是一把双
刃剑，其弊端也非常明显。例如，互联网就造成了信用卡诈骗的
大量增加。一些非法网站提供某些廉价或禁止的商品和服务。提供了
自己信用卡资料的网上购物者可能永远都收不到他们要买的东西，而
他们的信用卡资料却被卖给了某些非法网站。所以，在新经济时代的
人应该更聪明，更要知识渊博（知识面广）。