I was walking around on Saturday afternoon. It was cold and it was starting to rain. I was looking for a restaurant or a café where I could sit and have something to drink. When I saw one, I crossed the street and I was there. I sat at a round table and asked for a cup of coffee. While I was waiting for my order, I realised that there were other people in the place, but I sensed loneliness. I saw their bodies, but I couldn't feel their souls. That was because their souls didn't belong to them; instead they belonged to the Internet.
I stood up and walked between the tables. When I came to the biggest computer, I saw a thin, small man sitting in front of it. "I'm Steve", he finally answered after I had asked him a couple of times what his name was."I can't talk with you. I'm busy," he said. I thought he was working. I stood behind him. He was not working. He was chatting online with somebody-probably someone he didn't know- and, at the same time, he was playing a computer game- a war game. I was astonished.
Why didn't Steve want to talk to me? I tried again to communicate with that computer geek, but not a word came out of his mouth. I touched his shoulder, but there was no reaction. I was getting upset. I put my hand in front of the monitor, and he started shouting, "leave me alone!" I took a few steps back. I was ashamed. I wanted to look and see if all those people in the cafe were looking at me, so raised my head, but there was nobody interested in what was happening. I walked back to my table, and I noticed everybody was using a computer.
At that moment, I realised that the people in that place were having a cup of coffee and a nice conversation with their machines, not with people. All of them were more interested in having a relationship with the computer, particularly Steve. I wouldn't want to imagine the future of human beings if they preferred sharing their lives with machines instead of people. I was worried and I sank in my thoughts. I didn't even realise that the coffee was bad, just as Steve didn't even realise that there was a person next to him.
A-Are these statements true or false? Justify.
1-The writer went to a café on a sunny day.
False (It was cold and it was starting to rain.)
2-Steve answered the writer's question immediately.
False ("I'm Steve", he finally answered after I had asked him a couple of times what his name was.)
3-The people in the café didn't care about what was going on between Steve and the writer.
True
B-Answer these questions.
1-Why didn't the writer apologise?
Because he is rude
2-What was Steve busy doing?
Chatting and playing a war game
3-Why did Steve start shouting?
Because the writer is stupid and start disturbing him
C-Complete these sentences.
1-The writer felt lonely in the café although
2-When the writer saw that Steve was too busy, he wanted
3-The writer can't imagine a future where people shares her life with machines.
D-What do the underlined words in the text refer to?
1-they: the souls of the peolpe
2-machines: to the computers
E-Find in the text words that mean almost the same as:
1-surprised (paragraph 2): astonished
2-computer screen (paragraph 3): monitor
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Look at the pictures and answer these questions.
1-What do the pictures have in common?
In all the photos appears children
2-What problem does each one refer to?
To the computers
3-How do children become addicted to the Internet?
4-What are the negative effects of Internet addiction upon children?
5-What measures should be taken to protect children from Internet addiction?
