C. The computer society
In the very near future, life as we know will be very different. It’s focused on five major areas: The Leisure Industry; Work; Trading; Education and Government.
First of all, leisure will be different. This will impact on two main areas: Travel and Entertainment. On-line services will provide people with rail and air tickets as well as with their home entertainment. There will be no need to rent videos, go to the cinema or buy CDs because these can all be downloaded from the internet.
Work will be different. The digital age is having a profound impact on jobs. Over 100,000 jobs in insurance will disappear in the next few years. In the retail sector, it is likely that some shops will close as on-line shopping facilities become more popular.
Thirdly, trading will be different. Already for many companies 10% of total sales are made over the internet. And we are likely to see an explosion in cyber banking, hotel reservations, theatre ticket sales, real estate, books and sports goods.
In the field of education, information technology will improve both quality and access. Students will no longer be restricted to one particular location and will have access to the libraries of the world for the price of a local telephone call.
Finally, it is possible that information technology will change the way people interact in the democratic process. It is likely that they will become more involved in decision-making at all levels and we will see a new form of electronic democracy with much greater participation in local and national issues.
D. The computer revolution
At the beginning of the computer age, experts predicted big changes in our lives: computers to do our work for us and give us easy, stress-free lives, shorter working hours, more leisure time, longer holidays. Thirty years later the results of the IT revolution look very different. The pace of life is getting faster and faster and stress at work is becoming a major problem. People are working longer, not shorter, hours.
According to studies by Harvard economist Juliet Schor, today the average American works 163 more hours a year than in the 1960s. Our computers work 24/7/52, in other words, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. Are we beginning to do the same? “Yes”, say economists. They believe we have no choice. Computers are getting faster and more powerful all the time. But we humans are also learning how to live faster lives and to do more and more things at the same time: in fact, we are learning how to multitask. Americans are experts at multitasking. The classic example of a multitask is eating. Instead of wasting time eating, Americans get their evening meal from a fast-food drive-through window and eat it on the way home from work. In the US, sales of food products that you can eat with one hand while you multitask are increasing. Yes, the pace of life is getting faster, but new hi-tech products are helping us to do everything faster. You can’t stop the advance of technology, but for every problem it brings, it also brings a solution.
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X. Перечислите следующее и занесите ответы в Exercise Book.
1. The areas that will be impacted by the computer
2. The benefit of the computer society
3. The drawback of the computer revolution
4. The adjustment to the pace of life
XI. Используя информацию из текстов C и D, закончите предложения. Озаглавьте текст и перепишите его в Exercise Book.
The Leisure Industry, Work, Trading, Education and Government areas will be ________in future. _________services in ________and Entertainment will provide people with rail, ______, theatre and cinema __________. On-line shopping ____________will become more popular. People are likely to see an explosion in _________banking, hotel ___________, theatre ticket sales, _______estate, books and sports _________. Information technology will ________ both quality and _________to ____________. Information technology will change the way people __________as they will become more involved in __________ at all levels.But the ____________is getting faster, ______________ is becoming a problem and people are working _______hours. Computers are getting _______ and ______________ all the time.People are learning how to live faster and to do _______things at the same time: in fact, they are learning __________. People can’t stop __________of technology so they have to adjust to _____________.
XII. Вспомните правила образования сравнительной и превосходной степеней прилагательных и наречий. Познакомьтесь с таблицей, перепишите ее в Exercise book, она поможет вам сделать следующее упражнение.
COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE FORMS OF ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS
COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE