Technology Paired Passages

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PAIRED TEXTS

Technology

Both highlight the negative effects of technology.

question 1/4

In what way are the topics addressed in both passages similar?

Both discuss the potential misuse of technology.

Both show how technology can be used correctly.

Both warn about the use of technology in the future.

Passage 1

Passage 2

The health benefits associated with the overuse of technology.

QUESTION 2/4

What is one point in Passage 1 that is not shared in Passage 2?

The health risks associated with the overuse of technology.

Passage 1

The negative impact of technology on the modern world.

The positive impact of technology on the modern world.

Passage 2

highlights the positive side of the issue

QUESTION 3/4

In writing both passages, the author -

focuses mostly on the negative side

describes a variety of potential viewpoints

Passage 1

addresses both sides of the argument

Passage 2

The first passage begins with a story and the second begins with an example.

QUESTION 4/4

Passage 1

In what way do the beginning of the passages differ?

Passage 2

Passage 1 begins looking back in the past to show progress and Passage 2 begins in the future to show how technology might help us.

Passage 1 begins with a positive look at technology and Passage 2 begins with a negative look at technology.

Passage 1 begins by saying technology makes us lazy and Passage 2 begins by saying technology is great.

Congratulations! Your secret word is SCREENS.

OH NO!

Wrong answer

PASSAGE 2: Excerpt from Technology Makes Us Weaker! By Jacob Nelson Dominique Jackson snarkily writes that in the near future, Boy Scouts will be teaching kids how to use a GPS instead of a compass. His thinking is that with every new release of technology, we become less physically active and more reliant on a screen, fearing that one day we will be the space humans in Wall-E who hover around on chairs, the epitome of laziness. Dominique is not alone in these fears though. On his blog, Andy writes that technology makes us weaker socially, physically, and mentally. He points out that technology has led to less face-to-face communication. It has also allowed us to remain sedentary for longer periods of time. Andy’s gripes are very common among those who dissuade against the overuse of technology. The underlying feeling among this group is that technology allows us to not do things that we were forced to do before. Their biggest fear is that if we continue to rely on technology, we will reverse all the progress we have worked so hard to achieve.

PASSAGE 1: Excerpt from Is Technology Making Us Lazy? By Jacob Nelson Is technology making us lazy? Hasn’t technology enabled us to do things that we have never been able to do before? Where would we be without the computer? Man would not have made it to the moon. Traffic would be horribly inefficient. We would still commute by boat. If technology is bad, how do you explain all of this? The answer is in how we use technology. How many Netflix shows have you binge watched in the last month? How many hours do you spend hopelessly scrolling on the internet? According to Reader’s Digest, binge watching may be worse than we think. Research from the American Heart Association suggests that watching more than three hours of television in a day doubles a person’s risk of premature death. So Andy’s fears were valid. Technology put to poor use can have negative effects.

PASSAGE 2: Excerpt from Technology Makes Us Weaker! By Jacob Nelson Dominique Jackson snarkily writes that in the near future, Boy Scouts will be teaching kids how to use a GPS instead of a compass. His thinking is that with every new release of technology, we become less physically active and more reliant on a screen, fearing that one day we will be the space humans in Wall-E who hover around on chairs, the epitome of laziness. Dominique is not alone in these fears though. On his blog, Andy writes that technology makes us weaker socially, physically, and mentally. He points out that technology has led to less face-to-face communication. It has also allowed us to remain sedentary for longer periods of time. Andy’s gripes are very common among those who dissuade against the overuse of technology. The underlying feeling among this group is that technology allows us to not do things that we were forced to do before. Their biggest fear is that if we continue to rely on technology, we will reverse all the progress we have worked so hard to achieve.

PASSAGE 1: Excerpt from Is Technology Making Us Lazy? By Jacob Nelson Is technology making us lazy? Hasn’t technology enabled us to do things that we have never been able to do before? Where would we be without the computer? Man would not have made it to the moon. Traffic would be horribly inefficient. We would still commute by boat. If technology is bad, how do you explain all of this? The answer is in how we use technology. How many Netflix shows have you binge watched in the last month? How many hours do you spend hopelessly scrolling on the internet? According to Reader’s Digest, binge watching may be worse than we think. Research from the American Heart Association suggests that watching more than three hours of television in a day doubles a person’s risk of premature death. So Andy’s fears were valid. Technology put to poor use can have negative effects.

PASSAGE 2: Excerpt from Technology Makes Us Weaker! By Jacob Nelson Dominique Jackson snarkily writes that in the near future, Boy Scouts will be teaching kids how to use a GPS instead of a compass. His thinking is that with every new release of technology, we become less physically active and more reliant on a screen, fearing that one day we will be the space humans in Wall-E who hover around on chairs, the epitome of laziness. Dominique is not alone in these fears though. On his blog, Andy writes that technology makes us weaker socially, physically, and mentally. He points out that technology has led to less face-to-face communication. It has also allowed us to remain sedentary for longer periods of time. Andy’s gripes are very common among those who dissuade against the overuse of technology. The underlying feeling among this group is that technology allows us to not do things that we were forced to do before. Their biggest fear is that if we continue to rely on technology, we will reverse all the progress we have worked so hard to achieve.

PASSAGE 1: Excerpt from Is Technology Making Us Lazy? By Jacob Nelson Is technology making us lazy? Hasn’t technology enabled us to do things that we have never been able to do before? Where would we be without the computer? Man would not have made it to the moon. Traffic would be horribly inefficient. We would still commute by boat. If technology is bad, how do you explain all of this? The answer is in how we use technology. How many Netflix shows have you binge watched in the last month? How many hours do you spend hopelessly scrolling on the internet? According to Reader’s Digest, binge watching may be worse than we think. Research from the American Heart Association suggests that watching more than three hours of television in a day doubles a person’s risk of premature death. So Andy’s fears were valid. Technology put to poor use can have negative effects.

PASSAGE 2: Excerpt from Technology Makes Us Weaker! By Jacob Nelson Dominique Jackson snarkily writes that in the near future, Boy Scouts will be teaching kids how to use a GPS instead of a compass. His thinking is that with every new release of technology, we become less physically active and more reliant on a screen, fearing that one day we will be the space humans in Wall-E who hover around on chairs, the epitome of laziness. Dominique is not alone in these fears though. On his blog, Andy writes that technology makes us weaker socially, physically, and mentally. He points out that technology has led to less face-to-face communication. It has also allowed us to remain sedentary for longer periods of time. Andy’s gripes are very common among those who dissuade against the overuse of technology. The underlying feeling among this group is that technology allows us to not do things that we were forced to do before. Their biggest fear is that if we continue to rely on technology, we will reverse all the progress we have worked so hard to achieve.

PASSAGE 1: Excerpt from Is Technology Making Us Lazy? By Jacob Nelson Is technology making us lazy? Hasn’t technology enabled us to do things that we have never been able to do before? Where would we be without the computer? Man would not have made it to the moon. Traffic would be horribly inefficient. We would still commute by boat. If technology is bad, how do you explain all of this? The answer is in how we use technology. How many Netflix shows have you binge watched in the last month? How many hours do you spend hopelessly scrolling on the internet? According to Reader’s Digest, binge watching may be worse than we think. Research from the American Heart Association suggests that watching more than three hours of television in a day doubles a person’s risk of premature death. So Andy’s fears were valid. Technology put to poor use can have negative effects.