📱 Technology and Social Media ⚡

Get your ideas and words ready before speaking.

1. Social media platforms use a complex ______ to decide which posts appear on your feed.

2. Many teenagers mindlessly ______ through short video clips late into the night.

3. A smartphone buzz on your desk is a major ______ that breaks your concentration while studying.

4. Mobile video games and instant feeds are designed to be highly ______, making it hard to stop playing.

5. Users should regularly review their account settings to safeguard their personal ______ online.

1. When people feel bored on the subway, they ______ pull out their smartphones without thinking.

2. Leaving phone notifications active during exam revision ______ cause memory lapses and mental fatigue.

3. If developers keep shortening video formats, users ______ lose their patience for long-form reading.

4. When the wifi goes off, many young people ______ fall asleep without checking their social accounts.

In a 2022 Pew survey, what percentage of US teens said they are online "almost constantly"?

In studies from 2016 to 2020, Gloria Mark found that people stayed on one screen for about how many seconds on average?

⚡ Ready for Spoken Output

You have activated the core toolkit for Technology & Social Media!

Keep these expressions in mind: "scroll through feeds", "highly addictive", and "teens tend to...". They will make your spoken responses in the next modules sound fluent, nuanced, and authentic.

Take one minute to think, then talk about an app you know well.

Describe an app you often use.

You should say:

• what it is
• how often you use it
• what you use it for
• and explain why you like it.

🎯 AI Grading Criteria

[Bài tập luyện nói]

Answer four questions about how technology affects our daily life.

"Well, honestly, I think the primary reason is how apps are engineered today. Most platforms rely on smart algorithms that push endless content tailored to your exact taste, so people just scroll endlessly without realizing hours have slipped away. On top of that, our phones combine work, entertainment, and instant messaging all in one device. Whenever someone feels slightly bored or stressed, they tend to instinctively pull out their screen. It's basically become a default habit that many folks find it hard to break during the day."

Key Phrases Explained

"To be honest, it really is a double-edged sword. On one hand, social platforms let young people stay connected with distant friends, discover creative communities, and learn fresh digital skills. However, these feeds are highly addictive, and constant exposure to idealized lifestyles is likely to hurt their self-esteem or spark social comparison. Teens often find it hard to disconnect before bed, which severely disrupts their sleep cycle. So, while social networks definitely offer genuine perks, they require strict boundaries to prevent mental burnout."

Key Phrases Explained

"Well, you know, communication has sped up tremendously compared to a decade ago. We can send a voice message, video call relatives abroad, or share files in the blink of an eye. In that sense, technology has eliminated physical distance completely. But the downside is that face-to-face conversations have taken a back seat. People now tend to prefer texting over calling because it feels less demanding, which may well weaken deep interpersonal empathy. So we're much more connected technically, but arguably shallower in our everyday conversations."

Key Phrases Explained

"I definitely believe schools should enforce restrictions. When students keep phones in class, constant buzzing and incoming alerts are a massive source of distraction. In fact, I really think multitasking on mobile screens is likely to drag down student grades and impair classroom discussions. However, rather than an outright ban, schools ought to set clear boundaries—like requiring devices in lockers during lessons while allowing them during lunch or emergencies. That teaches teenagers self-discipline instead of turning smartphones into forbidden fruit."

Key Phrases Explained