3 N ow look at this essay and fill in the gaps w ith one of the words or phrases from Exercises 1 and 2. In some cases, more than one answer will be possible. You may need to change some of the w ord forms.
'Te c h n o lo g y has com e a lo n g w a y in the last 50 years, a n d o u r lives have becom e b e tte r as a result. O r have th e y?'
T h e last 50 years have seen m ore changes tha n in th e previous 200. Th e re have been m any rem arkable advances average
in
m edicine
and
medical
1...............................................................
techn o lo gy w ay
th a t
beyond
have
th a t
of
helped our
to
increase
ancestors.
our
Incredible
topic-specific vocabulary
Science & technology
2..............................................................such as satellite television have changed th e w a y w e spend o u r leisure hours. Perhaps th e m ost im p o rta n t 3 ..............................................................., how ever, has been th e m icrochip. N o b o d y could have im agined, w h e n it was first 4 ............................................................... , th a t w ith in a m atter o f years, this tin y piece of silicon and circuitry w o u ld be fo u n d in alm ost every household object fro m th e kettle to th e video recorder. A n d n o b o d y could have predicted th e sudden p roliferation o f com puters th a t w o u ld com pletely change o u r lives, a llo w in g us to access info rm a tio n fro m th e o th e r side o f th e w o rld via th e 5............................................................... or send messages a ro u nd th e w o rld by 6 ............................................................... at th e to uch of a b u tto n . M e a n w h ile , 7 ............................................................... into oth e r aspects of info rm a tio n te ch n o lo g y is m aking it easier and cheaper fo r us to talk to friends and relations a ro u nd th e w o rld . G o o d news fo r 8 ............................................................... w h o
love m od ern technology,
bad
news fo r the
9 ...............................................................w h o w o u ld prefer to hide fro m these m od ern miracles.
But everything has a price. Th e developm ent of 10............................................................
led to mass
autom ation in factories, w hich in turn led to millions losing their jobs. Th e genius of Einstein led indirectly to the threa t of nuclear w a r and the dangerous uncertainties of 11.................................. (w e
hear o f
accidents
and
mishaps
at
nuclear
power
stations
around
the
w o rld ,
w he re
1 2......................................................... to prevent accidents w ere inadequate). T h e relatively n e w science of 1 3......................................................... has been seen as a m ajor step forw a rd , b ut p uttin g m odified foods on to the m arket before scientists had properly 14............................................................ the m was perhaps one of the most irresponsible decisions of the 1990s. M eanw hile, pharmaceutical companies continue to 15............................................................ on animals, a move tha t m any consider to be cruel and unnecessary.
O f course w e all rely on m odern science and technology to im prove o ur lives. However, w e need to make sure th a t w e can control it before it controls us.
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