Recent technological advances have meant that people nowadays are generally able to communicate much more easily and effectively than ever before. This may, undoubtedly, have benefited many people, but it has also resulted in a situation where people have perhaps become more isolated from their immediate surroundings. Two good examples of this negative trend can be seen in the way large numbers of people seem to have become dependent on mobile telephones and the Internet as means of communication.
C. Read the two following supporting paragraphs, which make up the main body of the essay. Choose the phrase or the sentence a), b) or c) below which best fills each of the gaps in the sentences.
To start with, increasing numbers of people are using mobile phones to communicate with friends and colleagues. Wherever they may be, (1)…………………........................................ To a large extent, this has resulted in less meaningful face-to-face contact between people. It has also led to a situation where meal times, social occasions and even (2)…………….., are apt to be interrupted by the bleeping of a mobile phone. Needless to say, (3)………….
Furthermore, the Internet has likewise (4)……………………………………... Since it is possible to send and receive almost any information people want over the Internet, the need to actually interact socially does not appear to exist anymore. In fact, the appeal of the Internet for many may be that they can work and play from home (5)………………...
1. a) they can contact whoever they want easily and reasonably cheaply
b) mobile phones are both cheap and easy to use
c) it will be possible to talk to whoever they want to
2. a) other important occasions
b) when driving to work
c) the Christmas dinner
3. a) it has been known for people to be woken up in the middle of the night
b) this is both annoying and has a detrimental effect on relationships
c) people nowadays are simply not allowed to be ‘unavailable’
4. a) affected people’s social skills
b) had a more disastrous effect on our relationships
c) grown over the past few years
5. a) and spend very little money in the process
b) without ever having to get involved in human relationships
c) and make many new friends in the process
D. Which of these conclusions is more appropriate for the essay?
a) To sum up, it is evident that the advantages of improved communications technology are significant as they encourage and facilitate communication. Nevertheless, it is true to say that there are negative aspects of this new technology and increased social isolation is perhaps the most important of these.
b)In conclusion, it is obvious that this new technology is slowly destroying the fabric of society.It may even be detrimental to people’s health. There have even been reports that mobile phones, for example, cause cancer.
Practice 3
“Traditional values are irrelevant to modern society.” Do you agree?
A. Look at the following beginnings and endings for the essay, and say which have been taken from an opinion essay and which from a for and against essay. In what way do they differ?
Beginnings
1. A matter of considerable controversy at present is the issue of whether society has preserved its dominant values and whether people are still guided by the same moral principles. Some sociologists argue that material values, for example, have become more important than spiritual ones. Thus, modern society has changed so much that the values of the past no longer have any place. However, it is evident that society people live in today would function better if traditional values were retained.
2. If given the chance to step back in time, people would probably be struck by the difference in values between then and now. On the one hand, it could be said that those values belong to a bygone age. There are those, however, who feel that society today would benefit from the application of some of those values.
Endings
1. To conclude, traditional values are clearly necessary for the proper functioning of society. However, it cannot be denied that society is evolving, and values should also change with the times. If this were to happen, perhaps people would no longer look back nostalgically to the past and talk about ‘good old days’.
2. To sum up, is seems evident that, whatever changes have occurred in society, people still maintain the traditional sense of right and wrong. Though many priorities have definitely changed, people still share a common value system.
B. What are the arguments developed in the bodies?
Practice 4
“Leisure society will never come true.”
A. Read the following beginning and ending for the expressing opinion essay and say whether they are logically interconnected.
Beginning
Nowadays people tend to choose work instead of entertainment spending more time in order to realize their ambitions and to succeed in life. Material values seem to have outweighed spiritual ones, which makes people prefer work to leisure. Thus, today society may be called consumer society rather than leisure society, which is unlikely to come true, as the growing tendency is that people choose workaholism as a lifestyle.
Ending
All in all, the priorities of people have changed, as they prefer working hard to having leisure and hope to rest after having retired. Moreover, workaholism is becoming a dominating life pattern which is difficult to get rid of. Therefore, leisure society is a dream of mankind that will never come true..