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Task 10

Read the text and then discuss in groups the advantages and disadvantages of modern technologies:

TECHNOLOGY

Technology affects nearly every area of our lives …

  1. Communication

We can talk to other people in almost any part of the world by phone, satellite, or computer. People can take part in teleconferencing, online discussions, or do some home shopping. But this can also mean that people may spend less time actually with their families and friends, and may spend much more time in their houses. This could have a very bad effect on local communities.

  1. work

a lot of boring or complicated jobs can now be done by computers, machines, or robots instead of people. Some manufacturing processes and services are now fully automated. This can lead to high unemployment as more jobs are done by machines or computers.

  1. Cards, money and information

Smart cards can carry a lot of information on a magnetic strip, and you can sometimes use them to work electronic machines. Soon we may no longer need to use coins or banknotes, as credit cards and smart cards can be used to pay for things. This can lead to cashless society. But some people are worried that confidential information stored on cards might be seen or used by other people. There has also been a big increase in card crime and computer fraud.

  1. Medicine

Advances in medical science mean that many more diseases can be cured or treated than ever before. New techniques include the use of lasers in operations, and new equipment makes it possible for doctors to see what is happening inside a patient body on a monitor. But new treatments can also mean new moral or ethical problems, for example whether people should be kept alive by machines when naturally they would have died. Other people believe that all new medical techniques should be available to anyone who wants or needs.

  1. Genetic engineering

scientists can use genetic engineering to grow crops and breed animals, which provide more food for people to eat. Genetic engineering or gene therapy can also be used to treat some diseases in humans. However, genetically engineered plants and animals, are unnatural and may affect the balance of nature. Biological weapons may be made that can change viruses which are normally harmless into viruses that can kill people. There may be harmful effects of genetic engineering that we do not know yet.

Task 11 What machines are important in your life?

In pairs, put the inventions in order. Which do you think is the most important? Which has changed the world the most? Mark them 1 for the most important down to 10 for the least important.

The telephone

The car

The television

The plane

The space satellite

The atom bomb

The space rocket

The computer

The fax machine

The washing machine

Work in groups of four then. Try to persuade the others that your order is the right one.

Talk together as a class. What other machines would you add to the list?

What do you think are some of the greatest wonders of the twentieth century?

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