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4B FROM SMOKE SIGNALS TO SMARTPHONES

Writing

a Do you agree that life was
better before smartphones? 1 2
Why/ Why not? Explain your
ideas and give examples.

b Look at the photos. What problems do you see
in them? Discuss.

c Read the essay and find out in which paragraphs
the problems in the photos are mentioned.

REMEMBER, WE ARE SMARTER THAN
SMARTPHONES 3

Everyone has got a smartphone nowadays, maybe professor in the Department of Cognitive Science at
not an expensive one or the latest model available, but the University of Toronto, stated that in many cultures
smart enough to surf the Internet, to play games, to do parents have been raising up their children without eye
banking or even to count our steps and calculate our contact which is vital to their development. That kind
burnt calories. Our lives seem to be revolving around of parent behaviour causes children to feel neglected,
smartphones; we cannot concentrate on our work, insecure and worthless. Consequently, they have
spend time with our family or do anything without problems with their relationships in the future.
consulting them. This is hardly healthy or safe, so And then, there’s the issue of underused brains.
should we stop it at once or can we go on like that? We don’t have to memorise phone numbers, find
It’s recent news that many celebrities and business an address using our sense of direction, do basic
executives have left their smartphones and adopted sums, remember a piece of knowledge. Therefore,
old-fashioned phones which are not so ʻsmart’. The our minds have become lazy. In a recent experiment,
first reason of giving up smartphones is to get the people were asked to solve some analytical problems
time we lose because of them back. According to a and allowed to use their smartphones. By the results,
survey, 50% of employees admitted that they spent scientists concluded that heavy smartphone using
at least an hour a day on personal emails, texts and was associated with lower intelligence and they call
personal calls. Also, there is the problem of distraction these people lazy thinkers.
for students. At school or while studying at home, In conclusion, although we can say the smartphone
students check their phones every ten minutes and is one of the most significant inventions of our age,
chat or text to their friends who are also at school. spending our time staring at a screen and isolating
Another point is that human relationships have been ourselves from the rest of the world, even from our
badly affected by the increasing use of smartphones. family is not a good way of life. People should learn
For example, it’s a common scene that a parent gives to put their smartphones away for some time and
her little one a smartphone to play and goes back to educate themselves on not using them while working,
their occupation or the other way round, a parent studying or spending time with their families.
looks at the screen and the child sits across the table, Otherwise, we will lose the most important qualities
expecting a word from the parent. Gordon Dale, that make us humans.

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