::: Star Weekend Magazine :::

Education

Below is an article titled "Is technology making us unhealthy?"
The paragraphs are not in correct order. Can you put them into the correct order?
Check the answer box before you attempt the next task.

Paragraph a.
As leading computer game consumers, are we spending too much time in front of computers? What effect does this have on our lives? Does it matter that we spend less time communicating and interacting with other people?

Paragraph b.
It certainly seems that children today are spending more time indoors than their parents did when they were little. Children used to regularly play in the street or in parks. Today, empty parks symbolise how "play time" has changed because of advances in affordable technology like home computers. What effect will this have on our society?

Paragraph c.
Levels of obesity are rising and are especially worrying amongst young children but this isn't just an issue about what we eat. As a nation of couch potatoes are we sacrificing our health by only exercising our fingers and thumbs?

Paragraph d.
Research into the effects on the human brain of playing computer games is ongoing. Recent studies have looked at the impact on beta brainwave activity, which is important for emotional progression, planning and self-control. Mori has been conducting research into this area but as their report findings have yet to be published it would be wrong for us to draw any conclusion. There are many things that may affect the levels of beta brain activity, like fatigue, so researchers that proclaim with authority that playing computer games stunts brain growth have had their claims dismissed because of the lack of published evidence. Cautious parents who are worried by the lack of research but don't want to spoil their children's fun could monitor the time they spend on the computer.

Paragraph e.
There are several health concerns being raised as technological advances mean we spend more time playing on computers, watching TV and using our mobile phones to talk, text and play games.

The words in the box were taken from the article. Can you match the words to their definitions?

1. ........................... means relating to or associated with technology.
2. If someone is ..........................., they are extremely fat.
3. ........................... means the same as among.
4. A ........................... is someone who spends most of their time watching television and does not exercise or have any interesting hobbies.
5. If you ........................... something that is valuable or important, you give it up, usually to obtain something else for yourself or for other people.
6. An ........................... situation has been happening for quite a long time and seems likely to continue for some time in the future.
7. ........................... are electrical signals produced by the brain which can be recorded and measured.
8. ........................... is the ability to not show your feelings or not do the things that your feelings make you want to do.
9. Someone's ........................... are the information they get or the conclusions they come to as the result of an investigation or some research.
10. ........................... is a feeling of extreme physical or mental tiredness.
11. When people ........................... with each other, they communicate as they work or spend time together.
12. If something is ........................... , most people have enough money to buy it.

When we talk about technology most people think of the internet. The internet is just a collection of computers all linked together by the World Wide Web this was created by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. In the fifteen years since then many new words have appeared, or old words have been used to express new, or slightly modified meanings. The crossword contains words related to the internet. Read the definitions/clues and complete the crossword.