11 READING &
LISTENING EXTRA
PRE-INTERMEDIATE UNIT 11 3 Read the essay again. Are the sentences true (T) or false (F)?
1 Connecting on social media is now more common than
by telephone.
2 Social media helps raise awareness of social issues.
3 Social media can help people get money to start new
companies.
4 Some users of social media spend too much time online.
5 People only look at pictures posted by people they
know well.
6 Social media is only used for meeting people online.
4 Match the words and phrases in bold in the essay with
their meanings 1–6.
1 get worse
2 knowing and caring about problems in society
3 keep going
4 a letter from lots of people asking for something,
1 Work in pairs and discuss. What are three usually political, to change
5 thinking the same as you
advantages and three disadvantages of using
social media? 6 not afraid to tell people your opinions
2 Read the essay about social media. Does it 5 Work in pairs and discuss. Do you agree with the author
mention any of your ideas from Exercise 1? of the essay? Why/Why not?
6 11.1 Listen to two people talking about social media
ia? and circle the correct answer.
To be or not to be on social med
nowadays
1 Rachel
It seems impossible to go anywhere
of som e form of social a) knows people living far away.
without feeling the presence
or at play, whe n you mee t someone b) only knows people close by.
media. At work
you to ‘look them up’
new, the chances are they’ll tell 2 When Rachel moved to a small town she
l netw ork befo re off ering their
on their chosen socia a) knew lots of people there.
hone num ber. But wha t are the positives and
telep
negatives of social media? b) didn’t know anyone there.
media has the 3 Rachel bought
Let’s start with the positives. Social on a social networking site.
more peop le more quickly than any
ability to connect a) new things for her home b) a second-hand car
histo ry. But what’s
other means of communication in 4 Gordon
Well , for thos e peop le who have
so good about that?
a stron g soci al cons cien ce and wan t to be a) uses social media a lot.
h a large audience
outspoken about it, they can reac b) uses social media less than he used to.
fully gain supp ort for their cause, for
and hope 5 Gordon to keep up with all his social networks.
tion for people to sign.
example through sharing a peti
it to raise mon ey for charitable causes a) didn’t have enough time b) had plenty of time
People also use
also a great way to
or to fund new business ideas. It’s 6 Gordon in the evening.
ion abou t wha t’s goin g on in your
find out informat a) goes online. b) doesn’t go online.
l area , for exam ple, grou ps to join or new fitness
loca
ing like-minded
classes to try. Again, it’s all about bring
people toge ther , not only virtu ally, but physically. 7 A Complete the extracts with the correct words/phrases.
ia sites can be 1 I found out loads of really useful information about
Now onto the negatives. Social med
mely addi ctive , and peop le wast e a lot of time what was on …
extre
look ing at phot os of people they
online, for example, 2 … people trying to get of you …
even know . Whil e it can be a grea t way of
hardly 3 I was spending so much time
real worl d, a lot of people
arranging meet-ups in the
d so muc h time talki ng to their online friends checking messages …
also spen
suffer. It is also
that their face-to-face relationships 4 I feel so much better having had a bit of a digital
using socia l med ia incre ases anxiety in .
thought that
unde r so much
young people because they feel
onlin e pres ence .
pressure to main tain their B Listen and check.
is for sure : socia l media is
Love it or hate it, one thing
here to stay … 8 Work in pairs and discuss. Would you like to have a
digital detox? Why/Why not?
© Pearson Education Limited 2016
