READING

WHAT KIND OF COMMUNICATION CAN’T YOU LIVE WITHOUT?

Jeff. I can’t imagine life without my mobile phone! I can’t stand it when the battery goes dead or when I can’t get through to a friend or someone in my family. I always get the latest model, as soon as it comes out. I use my phone all the time. It’s like an extension of myself. Anyway, 5 billion people in the world use mobiles, so I’m not alone! I probably text about twenty times a day, but I don’t make that many calls because it’s expensive. I listen to music when I’m bored, I take photos to send to my friends and I read emails and post comments on my blog. 

Kate. I live in Canada now, but I’ve only been living here for 6 months. I use Facebook to keep in touch with all my friends from the UK. I signed up when I arrived in Canada. I think it’s the best social networking site - well, there are over 200 million active users (400 million if you listen to some people). It’s really nice to see photos of my friends and read what they’ve been doing. I really miss them! I like the fact that it’s instant too. You just have to write something and click on the button and it’s there.

Mark. I love YouTube!! It’s only been going since 2005 but about 100 million people use it every day! I’m in a band and I upload videos of our songs. Maybe someone will hear them and we’ll become famous. It’s happened to other people, so why not us? I love listening to music. You can find anything you want there. I’ve discovered lots of new singers and bands that are really cool. I download lots of clips too. 

Ruth. The Internet, definitely. I’m one of the 1.5 billion people who use it every day. I’m a reporter and I use it to find information. I hate it when my computer crashes and I can’t get online. I send a lot of emails too. I follow some forums. They’re useful to find out what people are thinking. I love the fact that I can be sitting on a train and still be connected to the Internet. When I started we only used pen and paper – what a difference! 

Thomas. Letters. I think they’re the best way to communicate. I know they’re becoming increasingly rare these days, because they’re not instant like email or texts. However, I think they’re more honest. I read a report that said that people lie 50% more in emails than in hand written letters. That doesn’t surprise me. I love receiving letters and opening them. I read them over and over again – I don’t think that’s true with emails.

Read the texts again. Are the statements true (T) or false (F)?