6Th Year (A) : Cultural Inglesa de Buenos Aires - Sede Belgrano Departamento de Alumnos Libres
6Th Year (A) : Cultural Inglesa de Buenos Aires - Sede Belgrano Departamento de Alumnos Libres
GAME ON!
Are computer games bad for kids? Absolutely not! People who believe this obviously didn’t
grow up playing computer games. If you look at a first person shoot’em up game in a store, it looks
like a solitary game. But according to research, about 60% of gamers play with friends. They take
turns playing and giving advice so it’s a social activity, not one that isolates people. In any case,
most computer games these days have at least some multiplayer functionality. And in case you
hadn’t realized, part of the success of the Wii console is that it is fun for the whole family, old and
young.
There’s another stereotype that I’d like to challenge. Computer games are not just a male
activity. In fact, there is evidence that more girls than boys now play computer games online. This
should be no surprise as games designers have always been ahead of the movie business in
providing positive role models for girls. Female game characters are often portrayed as powerful
and independent. Look at the classic platform Tomb Raider. It’s famous not only for its impressive
graphics, but also for its fabulous main character. Lara Croft is a great role model for girls: she’s
tough and intelligent and leads an exciting international life.
It’s important to note that computer games are not just for fun. They also teach a great deal.
Most systems need to have simple gameplay to help people start quickly. But afterwards, users
need to gain the confidence and determination to go up a level. This teaches us that in order to
accomplish more in life we need to up our game! In addition, computer games have a strong
narrative, so they teach people about storytelling, character and other things that we also learn from
literature.
Finally, I’d like to look at the issue of computers and childhood obesity. Many children don’t
do a lot of exercise these days, but it’s wrong to blame computer games for this.
Have you ever seen young kids jumping around with the controllers on their Wii system? With the
new motion sensors on the next generation of consoles, the machine can even read the players’
movements without a control. With a split-screen game, two children can play and do exercise at the
same time. So games aren’t responsible for poor health. The biggest problem is that adults don’t let
their children go out and play in case something bad happens to them. You can’t blame computers
for that.
Read the following statements and mark them True (T) or False (F)
1. Computer games can prevent young people developing social skills. F
2. Most computer games can be played by several players at the same time. T
3. Female characters in games are often weak and helpless. F
4. Computer games teach you that you need to make an effort to achieve things. T
5. Many children are overweight because they spend too much time playing computer games. F
3. You’re still making too many mistakes in your written work, I’m afraid.
THERE
that there are
I’m afraid ………………………...…………………….. too many mistakes in your written work.
You will hear five different people talking about online activities. For questions 1-5, choose
from the list (A - F) what each speaker says. Use the letters only once. There is one extra
letter which you do not need to use.
Speaker 1 ……..
Speaker 2 ……..
Speaker 3 ……..
Speaker 4 ……..
Speaker 5 ……..