That can be a good thing, with the Web serving as a kind of buffer zone (缓冲地带) for uncomfortable interaction. It’s easier to face rejection, there aren’t lulls in conversation or geographic boundaries-and social networking is like a window into the lives of potential mates. Say two people meet on Facebook, though a mutual friend, Immediately, they know whether the other person is single-without having to ask. ______ It’s all the details a person might encounter on a first or second date, without ever having to go on one. As David Yams, a recent graduate of Babson College, outside Boston, trots it: "Facebook has taken the potentially awkward first stages of flirting and getting to know someone into the comfort of your own home."

• A. it’s easier to approach each other, to talk casually, to get to know one another and feel out romantic potential without ever having to truly put themselves out there.
• B. "And you don’t even have to be on the computer to engage in it."
• C. They can see where that person grew up, their political interests, whether they’re "looking for a relationship" or only interested in "hooking up."
• D. As the thinking went, if you had to go to the Web to find a mate, or break up with one, it must have meant you weren’t capable of attracting anyone in the real world.
• E. Now a relationship may still begin by locking eyes across a crowded bar, but instead of asking for a phone number, the next step almost surely involves a Facebook friendship offer.
• F. David Hein zinger, a 24-year-old new-media specialist in New York, recently asked a girl he met at a happy hour to dinner,