English test 10th grade

Topic - Technology
Vocabulary and Reading
A. Read the following introductions to five paragraphs of an opinion text
about technology and organise them in a logical, coherent way.
(A) Secondly, it is difficult to imagine in advance how new technology can be used.
The fact is that it is difficult to avoid its being misused ...
(B) We are definitely suffering from the effects of technology. In this essay, I will say
why we need technology in spite of some of its risks ...
(C) Technology by itself cannot solve our problems. First of all, it is neutral, neither
good nor bad ...
(D) To sum up, I would say we should look at ways of using technology to tackle our
worlds issues, rather than using it for mindless consumerism ...
(E) However, we cannot just reject technology because of this and go back to living
simple lives ...
Seque
nce

______

______

______

______

______

B. Complete the text about teenagers reasons for sending text messages,
using words/expressions from the list (1-9). Do not use the same
word/expression more than once. Three of them do not apply. Write the
number from the list next to the letter on the table below.
a)

b)

c)

d)

e)

According to the Pew Internet Project survey (2010), _a)_ of

the teenagers interviewed (83%) mention catching up with
friends as the main reason why they send and receive text
messages several times a day or at least once a day. However,
13% say that they _b)_ do it (once a month).
Most teens say they use text messaging to say where they
are or to know someone elses whereabouts. Over _c)_ (28%)
say they check in with their parents or friends several times a
day and 24% do so a little less _d)_, i.e., once a day.
Only _e)_ of teens (11%) use text messaging to do things
related to their school work several times a day.
About 24% of texting teens _f)_ use text messaging to talk
about important personal matters (a couple of times a week).
Pew Research Centers Internet & American Life Project Surveys, 27.09.2010 (adapted)

f)

1. all
2. a
minority
3. a quarter
4. the
majority
5. always
6. daily
7.
frequently
8.
occasionally
9. rarely

C. Match the two halves of the sentences in columns A and B.

A

1. Nowadays teenagers text a lot,

2. Many teenagers text during the
night;
3. Technology can be useful
4. Experts are studying the
consequences
of texting
5. Mobile phone companies offer
unlimited plans;

a) even when they are in the

classroom.
b) in order to control its risks.
c) however, their parents often
ignore this.
d) therefore its easy for teenagers
to text for free.
e) if teens use it appropriately.

1
2
3
4
5

D.Read the text.

Texting Teenagers
They text late at night when their parents are asleep. They text in restaurants and

while crossing busy streets. They text in the classroom with their hands behind their
back. They text so much their thumbs hurt.
The phenomenon is beginning to worry physicians and psychologists, who say it is
5

leading to anxiety, distraction in school, falling grades, stress and sleep deprivation.
Sherry Turkle, a psychologist who has studied texting among teenagers, said it might
be causing a change in the way adolescents develop. Two of the jobs of adolescence
are to separate from your parents, and to find the peace and quiet to become the
person you decide you want to be, she said. Texting hits directly at both those jobs.

10

Psychologists expect to see teenagers break free from their parents as they grow into
autonomous adults, but if technology makes something like staying in touch very,
very easy, thats harder to do. As for peace and quiet, Turkle said, If something next
to you is vibrating every couple of minutes, it makes it very difficult to be in that state
of mind. The pressure to answer immediately is quite high. So if youre in the middle
of a thought, forget it.

15

Michael Hausauer, a psychotherapist, said teenagers had an interest in knowing

whats going on in the lives of their peers, coupled with a terrific anxiety about being
out of the loop. For that reason, he said, the rapid rise in texting has potential for
great benefit and great harm. Texting can be an enormous tool, he said. It offers
companionship and the promise of connectedness. At the same time, texting can
make a youngster feel frightened and overly exposed.

20

The pediatrician Martin Joffe says parents are less aware of texting than of video
game playing or computer use. Still, some parents are starting to take measures. Greg
Hardesty, a reporter in California, said that last year his 13-year-old daughter, Reina,
racked up 14 528 texts in one month. When her grades fell precipitously, her parents

took the phone away. Yet Reina said there was an element of hypocrisy in all this: her
mother, too, is hooked on the cellphone she carries in her purse. When this happens,
teens feel they are being punished for behavior in which their parents indulge.
Professor Turkle explained.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/health/26teen.html?_r=0 (abridged and adapted)

1. Pay attention to the repetition of they text in the first paragraph.

Who is the author referring to?
___________________________________________________________
2. Identify five consequences of texting mentioned in the text.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Complete the following sentences using the information given in paragraph 3.
a) Teenagers wont be able to become autonomous
___________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________.
b) The constant interference from the SMS teenagers send and receive disturbs
_____________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________.
4. According to Michael Hausauer, what are the advantages of texting?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
5. Identify the idea each of the following expressions. Choose the best option.
1.hits directly (l. 8)
a) affects
b) helps
c) shoots
2.break free (l. 9)
a) go away
b) become dependent
c) become independent
3.coupled with (l. 15)
a) married to
b) two more people
c) in addition to

4.being out of the loop (l.

15)
a) to know everything
b) not to know what is going
on
c) to keep up with the latest
gossip
5.racked up (l. 21)
a) received
b) accumulated
c) sentt
6.hooked on (l. 23)
a) in love with
b) addicted to
c) connected to

6. What do the following words refer to?

1. who (l. 5)

4. It (l. 17)

___________________________________
2. you (l. 8)

_____________________________________
5. her (l. 22)

___________________________________
3. their (l. 9)

____________________________________
6. in which (l. 24)

___________________________________

_______________________________