Reading and comprehension (4): study guide

Reading and comprehension

The shrinking world: how small has it become?

Next, task 2: Read the two texts quickly. Then answer the questions.

Text A: a parent who worries about young people

Note

Communication today: Text A ¹ ▶ As a parent, I’m becoming increasingly worried about the effect communications technology is having on young people. My fourteen-year-old son seems to spend hours every day texting or chatting online, or updating his social media page. He says he’s going to do his homework, but an hour or two later still hasn’t started it, and I can’t help feeling that he’s wasting so much time on this instead of doing useful things, or even just being with his friends and communicating with real people. ² Is all this texting affecting young people’s ability to use language properly? Is there a danger that they could become addicted to technology? What potential dangers are out there in the online world? I don’t know enough about these new technologies to be able to answer questions like these.

Now read Text B, and see whether its writer shares these worries.

Text B: are these fears justified?

Note

Communication today: Text B ¹ ▶ Like it or not, today’s young people are the connected generation. A recent study in the US found that nearly a quarter of teenagers use social media sites at least ten times a day and 75% own mobile phones. Texting is now the main form of communication for young people. The figures obviously vary between countries, but the one thing we can predict is that they will continue to rise. ² Inevitably, this has led to panic among parents, teachers and other adults. But are these fears justified? Not according to Dr Amy Lehane, who has studied exactly how young people are using technology. ‘If you look back,’ she says, ‘you find the same panic reaction from older people to the growth of the telephone or television. Often it comes from a fear of something they don’t understand, but our research indicates that young people are quite capable of telling the difference between the online world and the real world, or between the types of language used for texts and job applications. They’re also very aware of the possible negative effects of technology: they know, for example, that it’s not a good idea to post a message like ‘I’m having a party next Saturday’ on a public site.’

1 Which text gives evidence to show how young people communicate? _____

2 Which text is about personal feelings? _____

3 Which text includes a list of concerns? _____

4 Which text suggests that we shouldn’t worry about young people’s use of technology? _____

Period 1 / Reading and comprehension

Words from the texts: complete the definitions

1 If you are _____ to something, you can’t stop yourself from doing it. (Text A, paragraph 2)

2 A _____ problem isn’t a problem yet, but might become one in the future. (Text A, paragraph 2)

3 If things _____, they are different in different situations. (Text B, paragraph 1)

4 If an action or idea is _____, it is the correct thing to do or believe. (Text B, paragraph 2)

5 A feeling of _____ happens when we stop thinking properly because we are frightened. (Text B, paragraph 2)

6 _____ is what you feel when you are afraid. (Text B, paragraph 2)

7 If you are _____ of doing something, you have the necessary ability to do it. (Text B, paragraph 2)

Which writer would say it?

I feel as if changes are happening too fast for me.

1 The writer of Text _____

We should learn to trust young people more.

2 The writer of Text _____

There are reasons to be positive about the future.

3 The writer of Text _____

Things were different when I was young.

4 The writer of Text _____

Talk about it: a public message and a class poll

Next, ask your own class: a poll about how friends communicate.

Period 2 / Reading and comprehension

The article: good or bad for society?

Note

The article It isn’t hard to explain why parents, teachers and older people in general get so concerned about the negative effects of young people’s use of communications technology. They may be motivated by a wish to protect their children from harm or to control them, but throughout history older generations have always tried to put limits on the behaviour of the young. The only difference now is that the Internet is such a powerful force, and older people generally don’t really understand this new world of social media and instant communication, so they’re unable to control it. And the situation is changing so fast that the gap in their knowledge is widening all the time. In a similar way, governments, even in democratic countries, like to put limits on people’s behaviour. After all, it’s a large part of what governments are about. They may have more technological knowledge than the average parent, but the spread of social media sites and communications apps like Twitter and WhatsApp is making it harder and harder for them to control what their citizens are saying and doing. Clearly, this isn’t always a positive trend, but what we can say for sure is that new information and communications technologies are a force for social change and economic development, especially in poorer countries without a reliable traditional phone network. The World Bank has calculated that in countries like this, a 10% increase in high-speed Internet connections leads to a 1.3% increase in economic growth. It is, they say, ‘the single most powerful way to extend economic opportunities and services to millions of people, especially in remote areas’. A recent headline on the BBC website asked: ‘Could Ramallah become an Arab World technology hub?’ The article went on to show how young Palestinians are starting small technology companies that could help the Palestinian economy to break free from the restrictions placed on it by the Israeli occupation. As one interviewee explains: ‘This is what is good about technology: it breaks the borders. A person with a laptop can work in the worst situations; he can work from his home and interact with the global community, without a passport and despite the occupation. It is limitless.’

Words from the article: match, then complete

WORDS FROM THE TEXT	MEANINGS
1 motivated	a limits
2 citizens	b system of connections
3 trend	c dividing lines
4 network	d difficult to get to
5 hub	e caused or encouraged
6 restrictions	f people who live in a country
7 remote	g central point
8 borders	h movement, fashion or change

1 There are ___ on how many books you can borrow from the library.

2 Most companies are ___ by the need to make a profit.

3 A government’s first duty is to protect its ___ .

4 During our train journey we crossed four international ___ .

5 There is a ___ towards smaller and smaller telephones.

6 I think there’s a problem with the phone ___ because I can’t make any calls.

7 The capital city is a ___ for road and rail travel to the rest of the country.

8 He lives in a ___ house, far away from the nearest town.

True, false or doesn’t say?

1 The reasons why adults try to control young people are always the same.

TRUE FALSE DOESN’T SAY

2 In future, it is likely to be more difficult for older people to control young people’s use of technology.

3 Governments use technology to check their citizens’ actions.

4 New communications technology plays an important part in economic development.

5 Palestine will probably become an important place for technological change.

Reading and comprehension

The topic explained