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Visita Mikael Books en Facebook para ver más contenido de libros en inglés.

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Unit 1. Page 4. Read.

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Connected.

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Most of us hardly go anywhere today without a cell phone, an iPad, or a laptop.

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Or so it seems.

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We're trying to communicate with each other 24-7.

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We want to be connected.

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How do we accomplish this?

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We access the Internet to contact friends on Facebook or Twitter.

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We send and receive emails, write and read blogs, call others, and text them on our cell phones.

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We're available most of the time.

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Is this constant communication good?

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I think it's positive overall, though there are some downsides to living digitally.

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My 17-year-old daughter, Allison, is an excellent example.

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She has joined the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter.

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Facebook has been around since 2005 and Twitter since 2006.

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This evening, Allison is sitting in front of her computer.

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She's reading posts from her friends and writing responses.

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At the moment, she's laughing.

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Probably at a...

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picture or amusing comment.

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She's having a great time, but she still hasn't done her homework,

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and she probably won't finish it until very late tonight.

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Then there's my 15-year-old son, Nick.

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It seems that he just can't do without his cell phone,

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which he's had since his birthday four months ago.

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Right now, Nick is texting friends.

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He's been doing that for the last half hour and shows no signs of stopping.

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I'm afraid that Nick spends far too much time on his phone

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and that it's affecting his powers of concentration.

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Nick's teachers say he isn't doing well in the classroom.

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They've been having difficulty getting his attention.

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Then there's my wife, Elena, who loves email.

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After a while, Nick's phone rings.

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He's on the phone.

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After dinner every night, Elena gets out her laptop,

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logs on to the Internet, and reads and answers her messages.

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These days, she's getting hundreds of email messages a week,

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and she's having trouble staying on top of them.

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This makes her feel stressed out.

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And then there's yours truly.

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I go to the office three days a week and telecommute the other two.

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When I'm working at home, I'm always on the phone.

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When I'm at home, I write a blog.

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By the way, do you know the origin of the word blog?

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It's a contraction of weblog, which is a type of website.

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On my blog, I write regular entries and comment on what others say.

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I really enjoy doing this, but it takes up a lot of my time.

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In addition, I start to feel anxious if I don't update it frequently.

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Staying in near-constant communication with others often leads to stress.

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It tends to prevent us from spending quiet time alone,

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from reading, from enjoying nature.

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It can be addictive.

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It can have undeniably negative effects on our ability to work or study efficiently.

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There are a few downsides to living digitally.

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1.

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Does that mean we should limit our exposure to the digital world?

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As with so many other things in our lives, we need to put things in perspective.

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Most people realize that there are many advantages associated with frequent communication with others.

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Through texting and the Internet, my family and I find out important news almost immediately,

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and we stay in touch with friends we seldom see.

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So, would we give it all up?

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Not on your life.