English exercise

1. 1. The following text is an extract from an interview with the authors of TECHNOSTRESS, a book on
how growing dependence on technology is affecting us negatively.
Q: What is TechnoStress about?
A: TechnoStress is our reaction to technology and how we are changing due to its influence.
Over the past15 years,as technology has become an increasinglyprevalent part of our lives,
we have watched TechnoStress develop and impact people in our personal lives, our family
and work environment.
Q: What is TechnoStress doing to us?
A: Some of the ramifications of the rapid influx of technology in our world are blatant, while
others are quite subtle. Because technology lets us do so much, today we take on too much
and end up feeling overwhelmed and never "finished". We feel invaded by technology on all
fronts, by the beeps of our cell phones, incoming mails and of others around us. We carry
our laptops, tablets, Ipads on vacation and our employers and colleagues expect us to be
always reachable. Our personal and work boundaries are blurred and we never feel truly
"downtime" (unavailable) any more.
Q: What are the symptoms of TechnoStress?
A: There are many signs of it. For example, technology allows us to do many things
simultaneously. If we work at home, we can cook our dinner in the microwave oven, talk on
our mobile phone, do a load of laundry and emailing a document all at the same time.
However, even though technology enables us to do many things at the same time, our brains
become overload. We call this "multitasking madness" and we are seeing more and more of
it every day. We can find ourselves unable to think clearly and we become forgetful and
incapable of having a restful sleep as the stimulation from the overload keeps our brain
working overtime.
Q: What other signs have you seen that technology is upsetting our lives?
A: For example, you arrive at work at 9 a.m. and check your voice mail to find 8 messages. As
you are writing them down, two more arrive. Then your mobile phone starts ringing, You
turn on your computer and you find you have 12 emails to read. This goes on all day as you
are trying to work and get things done. All these jar your concentration. You arrive home
for a quiet dinner only to be interrupted by telephone calls, incoming emails and
messages.
Q: Isn't technology inevitable? Isn't it part of ourlives whether we want it or not?
A: We want to make it clear that we are not anti-technology. Technology provides us with a
range of options that can enhance our lives. However, to fight TechnoStress we must learn
to be the driver and not be driven by technology.

2. 2. Match the words from column A with its synonyms in column B
COLUMN A COLUMN B
2.1. due 2.6 gives, offers
2.2. overwhelmed 2.1 because of
2.3. boundaries 2.2 admired
2.4. blurred 2.7 improve, better
2.5. overloaded 2.3 frontiers
2.6. provides 2.4 unclear, imprecise
2.7. enhance 2.5 burdened, overweighed
3. Find evidence in the text for the following statements.
3.1. The stress caused by technology is affecting people in more different ways
“Some of the ramifications of the rapid influx of technology in our world are blatant, while others are quite
subtle.”
3.2. Technology affects our behaviour in such a way that we end up feeling that what we do is never
enough.
Because technology lets us do so much, today we take on too much and end up feeling overwhelmed and
never "finished".
4. Answer the following questions:
4.1. How does technology invade negatively both our personal and working life?
Because we are constantly getting beeps from our cell phones, incoming mails and of others around us.
Mobile technology can decrease communication and relations between people. There’s less personal
time, where you find that you don’t enough time for yourself because you’re always in contact with
someone.
4.2. Explain what the authors mean by the expressions:
"Personal and work boundaries are blurred"
We don’t know where the limits are anymore, they’re blurred, makes us available all the time since
there’s no “downtime” anymore.
"multitasking madness"
People doing many things at the same time with their brain becoming overloaded.
4.3. The authors say that technology can enhance our lives. Give 3 examples of how this applies to your
life.
For one, it’s made learning more interactive and collaborative, this helps people better engage with the
material that they are learning and have trouble with, allowing better access to resources. Staying
connected with people it’s a plus for me, as long you are the driver, I agree with the authors. Lastlythere’s
plenty technology to help us on daily or just make our life comfortable, food processors save me tons of

3. time when cooking, wireless phones when I’m running, being able to talk and see friends/family miles
away through the internet.