Complete the blank (1) in the summary using items A-M from the wordlist below. (điền chữ cái tương ứng với đáp án chọn)
A in sequence
B revolution
C beneficial effect
D much
E messages
F letters
G electronics
H negative impact
I electronic gizmos
J behaviour
K development
L significant amounts
M all together
Excessive demands on young people
Being able to multi-task is hailed by most people as a welcome skill, but not according to a recent study which claims that young people between the ages of eight and eighteen of the so-called 'Generation M' are spending a considerable amount of their time on fruitless efforts as they multi-task. It argues that, in fact, these young people are frittering away as much as half of their time again as they would if they performed the very same tasks one after the other.
Some young people are juggling an ever larger number of electronic devices as they study. At the same time as they are working, young adults are also surfing the Internet, or sending out emails to their friends, and/or answering the telephone and listening to music on their iPods or on another computer. As some new device comes along, it too is added to the list rather than replacing one of the existing devices.
Other research has indicated that this multi-tasking is even affecting the way families themselves function as young people are too wrapped up in their own isolated worlds to interact with the other people around them. They can no longer greet family members when they enter the house, nor can they eat at the family table.
All this electronic wizardry is supposedly also seriously affecting young people's performance at university and in the workplace. When asked about their perception of the impact of modern gadgets on their performance of tasks, the overwhelming majority of young people gave a favourable response.
The response from the academic and business worlds was not quite as positive. The former feel that multi-tasking with electronic gadgets by children affects later development of study skills, resulting in a decline in the quality of writing, for example, because of the lack of concentration on task completion. They feel that many undergraduates now urgently need remedial help with study skills. Similarly, employers feel that young people entering the workforce need to be taught all over again, as they have become deskilled.
While all this may be true, it must be borne in mind that more and more is expected of young people nowadays; in fact, too much. Praise rather than criticism is due in respect of the way today's youth are able to cope, despite what the older generation throw at them.
