The ears

Vocabulary

The eyes

The elbows and hands

The brain

Brightness of the screen demands

the eyes to focus on a response;

shaking of the screen when moving

can tire eye muscles; the blinking

rate also decreases when focusing

on the screen, which leads to dry eye

symptoms and eye pain.

Scientists at Columbia University in New York have

found that regular use of several web services

means we are losing our ability to remember things.

Since the array of online services allows us to

access information anywhere at any time, it can be

a threat to our prospective memory (eg the time

of a meeting or list of things to be done). What is

worse, scientists say mobile phone users could be

at risk of getting rare brain tumours. In fact, studies

have found that rare tumours happen on the same

side of the head that people usually use to talk

on their mobile phones.

Orthopedic specialists are reporting cases of

‘cell phone elbow’, in which patients damage

an essential nerve in their arm by bending their

elbows too tightly for too long. Using excessive

force on the touch-screen may damage the

fi nger cartilage and the joints.

1. Why are young people inseparable

from social networking platforms?

2. Despite their convenience, how are

smartphones causing harm?

Critical questions

Digital devices like smartphones offer

useful information and convenience

that people can become addicted to,

eventually leading to physical and mental

problems. They could also become isolated

from normal social interactions.

D

u

Key ideas

We are straining our muscles in our

necks, our upper backs and our

shoulders to accommodate for hunching

over our smartphones. For every 2.5 cm

you lean your head forward, the strain on

the neck increases ten-fold, according to

Dr Alton Barron, an orthopedic surgeon in

the US. Hunching 7.62 cm forward is like

adding an extra 13.6 kg to your head.

W

n

Did you know?

ht tp ://news.hkhead l ine.com/

dailynews/content_hk/2012/05/

15/190780.asp

www.hkdevelopers.info/articles/3796

References

Constant companions

Discounts for ‘phoneless’ meals

Liberal Studies ■ Text : Nieve Wong (Source: S-fi le) ■ Photos : Sing Tao Daily

■ Hong Kong Today

■ Modern China

■ Public Health

■ Globalisation ■ Personal Development & Interpersonal Relationships

■ Energy, Technology & the Environment

This article enables students to:1. assess qualities, phenomena, changes, trends and impacts in relation to various aspects of

society and culture;

2. apply critical thinking skills and adopt multiple perspectives in making decisions and

judgments regarding social issues and problems

Read the story online

http://edu.singtao.com/eng-s

Click"Liberal studies"

Tuesday

E06-0718 December 2012

Smart way touse a phone?

DO you like dining with your family or friends in absolute silence? Nowadays you may fi nd yourself sharing a table with your friends who are so into playing with their phones you might as well be alone. Or perhaps you are one of those smartphone addicts? Some people disapprove of this trend to the point that they hope to reverse it.

Mark Gold, a Los Angeles-based chef, runs a family restaurant with his wife, Eva, where they aim to create a warm and friendly ambience just like at home. However, since the start of the smartphone era, Mark has noticed more and more people with their heads

down, focusing on their screens and ignoring their fellow diners. People have no interest in their food anymore.

Mark and Eva could not stand to see their customers missing out on precious family time, so they devised a plan to reduce the use of smartphones at the table. Eva offers to look after the devices in return for a 5 percent discount on their meals. Despite some concerns, more than half of the customers chose discounts over their smartphones. People are perhaps not that inseparable from their smartphones after all.

WE live in a world of digital gadgets and devices that have taken over our lives. If you take a look around trains and buses, it is apparent that the smartphone ‘curse’ has spread. There are scenes of people hanging their heads over their gadgets and phones, making public transport felicitously quiet.

ONE of the local political parties found that most people use their smartphones to go online for two hours a day, with over half of them admitting they use their phones at family or social gatherings. Smartphones have taken over users’ lives and alienated them from loved ones. This is ironic as smartphones provide more options for communication such

as instant messaging and emails. While new phone technologies give us

freedom to access a wealth of information and entertainment, users get caught up in their devices and spend hours texting and facebooking. Many seem to be afraid of missing any messages. If you have to list your biggest anxieties, will smartphone alienation be one of them?

RECENT research in the US has shown that people are more likely to leave or lose their wallets than their phones. Findings from a market research study show that it takes less time to find out a phone is missing than a wallet. It probably takes just a few minutes before people realise they have forgotten their phone. Nancy Gibbs, Deputy Managing Editor of TIME magazine, explains, “Most people wouldn’t keep their wallet close to their bed or check it every few minutes.”

What can be concluded from the study is how important smartphones have become

in our lives. Out of 5,000 interviewees, 68 percent have their phones on the bedside when they sleep; over half of them cannot leave their phones alone for an hour; 18 percent check their phones every ten minutes; and 35 percent think that they can go without their phones for several hours.

Some even suggest smartphones are going to replace wallets. According to Pew, a US think tank, 65 percent of the participants of a survey believe that by 2020 smartphones are to replace cash and credit cards as primary payment tools.

As savvy smartphone users become more and more inseparable from their devices, they suffer a decline in their physical, mental and social health by turning a blind eye to people and the world around them

According to Li Yuejuan, the

ch ie f phys ic ian at X iyuan

Hospital, talking on the phone

for more than 30 minutes can

be as harmful as listening to

music at high volume through

headphones for more than

an hour. It may damage vital

organs in the ear. New concerns

are being raised concerning

electromagnetic radiation

from mobile phones and

whether our hearing is

affected.

Health risks

Distanced and unhealthy relationships

iDisorder

‘ iDisorder’ is what  California psychologist Larry

D. Rosen  claims many of us suffer from. His new

book,  iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession With

Technology And Overcoming Its Holds On Us, warns us

that social media overload is bad for our health, and offers

ways to control our usage. Topics such as ‘The Google

Effect’, the ‘phantom vibration syndrome’ and ‘Facebook

Depression’ are discussed.

Smartphones discourage face-to-face interaction.

smartphone alienation (n phr) 智能手機的異化 ambience (n) 周圍環境 devise (v) 想出 realise (v) 了解 primary (adj) 主要的 alienate (v) 使疏遠 absolute (adj) 絕對的felicitously (adv) 恰當地