CPE Essay example 2016

Submitted by Zane Muceniece

Number of words: 275

"Succeed in Cambridge English: Proficiency" by Andrew Betsis, Sean Haughton and Lawrence Mamas published by GLOBAL ELT.

Essay on young people and communication

The trend nowadays is towards communicating via devices, which might be argued as the cause for a decrease in real social interaction among

friends and family. This raises the issue of whether technology is making us more knowledgeable or ignorant of happenings in the world around us. Both passages discuss the nature of these notions, but from differing viewpoints. 

The first extract argues that youngsters are addicted to the use of phones and social networks, which allegedly has affected their ability of speech when being in a real social environment.  I share the view that the Internet has a big influence on modern peoples` lives, but I am not really concerned.

I am inclined to believe that the Internet gives young people more than what it takes from them. Juat bear in mind that this invention has led cultures, races and continents closer to each other and has given us the opportunity to have more effective cross-cultural communication and understanding. 

The second extract is more positive about technology. It puts forward the idea that it leads us to limitless communication and great awareness of happenings in our surroundings. The author suggests that not only the limits of time and place have disappeared, but also that the fast advance in technology has fostered new generations with undeniably powerful skills of interaction, unimaginable for the people from the last century. 

As a conclusion I would like to state that while technology takes a lot of people`s time, it is a magnificent tool for communication and we and the younger generation need to lear to make the best possible use of it.