Unit 1 A very modern world

IELTS Reading
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1 Work in groups. Discuss one or more of the statements below, saying how they relate to
you or people you know.
1 Just under half of all young people (44 per cent) have a social networking profile.
2 Forty-five per cent of young people said they felt happiest when they were online.
There are three 3 Eighty-four per cent of young people said that the internet brought communities of
reading passages in similar people together.
the exam, each
containing a 4 Young people are highly digitally literate in how they use media and are well connected in
minimum of750 a social context.
words and each with
2 Skim the title of the reading passage and the questions that follow it as quickly as you can.
1-14 questions.'The Decide what the topic of the passage is.
passages usually
become progressively
3 Scan the reading passage and confirm your predictions in exercise 2.
more difficult. To
prepare for the IELTS
4 Answer questions 1-13 about the reading passage.
exam, you need to
develop your
The Age of the Digital Native or M-Ager
prediction, skimming
and scanning skills so A The internet is a 'natural' space for young Natives' or perhaps 'M-Agers' (short for
you can move around people. It is fully integrated into their lives 'Mobile Agers'). The implication in these
the passage and the and is as commonplace for the vast majority terms is that this group has grown up
questions easily. Learn as walking down their local high street. It is surrounded by digital media with access to
to survey the whole the first place that many of them will go to computers, the internet, mobile phones and
reading passage and search for information and provides digital video games from pre-school age. The
the questions first. unparalleled opportunities for communicating Digital Native generation are young people,
Always looks at titles, and engaging with others. The fact that young aged 16 to 24. The internet is a key part of
sub-titles and irJ;lages. people can interact, maintain their anonymity young people's lives today - it is completely
Then skim the passage and compare information sources empowers natural to them. It is so much a part of them
and the questio%s. them. It can give them a sense of purpose and that they can be said to be living hybrid lives,
Remember, the control, especially at difficult and challenging combining the physical and virtual in a
questions are times in their lives. At such times, feelings of seamless network of communication,
effectively a summary being in control may on occasion be information, entertainment and sharing.
of the reading misplaced and can lead to risk of exposure to D For the vast majority of young people, the
passage. Write your unwanted danger. However, the vast majority digital world is a far from isolating experience.
answers on the of young people are able to minimise risk It extends reach and connectivity, building on
answer sheet as you through cross-checking information sources physical or close relationships as well as
do the exam and against one another. providing opportunities to interact and build
practise doing so as friendships with people who are not
B Negotiating the vast amount of information
you prepare for.the available on the internet presents its own geographically close to them. Young people
exam . There is no challenges. The ability to locate appropriate associate the internet with a strong sense of
transfer time at the community and as a place where similar
information quickly and which is in a
end. language and format that a young person can people can meet and share together. It is
relate to is not always easy. Equally, as young likely that young people have far wider and
people's needs have changed so too have their more varied support communities than
expectations of how they should be able to previous generations had.
interact with individuals, organisations and E They are the 'ever on' group. They demand
companies. fast and immediate access to both information
C Young people today use a variety of digital and friends with the internet ensuring their
means to communicate and interact with friends are available whenever and wherever
others at the same time - a mobile phone, a they need them. As access to the internet
television, a laptop - to build very complex becomes ever more mobile this trend will
and deep 'tapestries' of connectivity to one continue. Digital Natives are not just different
another and internet locations. Their life to their parents in using digital media in a
experience and the context in which they use natural and hybrid way.
the media inevitably contain many differing F They are often characterised as being visually
behaviours and emphases. At a general level literate and as having highly developed visual-
they are often labelled in a variety of ways, spatial skills. Indeed, it has been argued that
the most established terms being 'Digital through this age group we are moving toward
 Unit 1 A very modern world

a more visual right brain-orientated society
with an emphasis on 'creators ... and
meaning makers' and that young people
represent the vanguard . They are experiential,
shift their attention from one task to another
with great rapidity, are highly digitally literate
(in how they use the media) and are well
connected in a social context. Importantly,
whilst older groups may judge online against
an ideal of face-to-face communication
(although this is changing), young people
evaluate against a wide range of options
including instant message, chat, phone, SMS
and face-to-face according to their
communication needs . These might range
from immediacy, message complexity,
mobility to cost, privacy, or embarrassment.
G This is a response to both the simple presence
and availability of technology and to social
and environmental change. In combination it
demonstrates how young people use today's
tools and communication opportunities to
connect to the world and to establish and
maintain their identities. Although there is
much debate, it should be considered that this
virtual communication and connectivity is not
necessarily to the detriment of more
established physically rooted behaviours.
Rather, it represents the degree to which,
particularly this group, lives hybrid lives -
lives that combine digital access and virtual
communication into their physical lives.

Questions 1-5
The reading passage has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
1 the fact that young people nowadays have more support around them
compared to the past
2 digital natives are at the forefront of a skills shift in society
3 how the internet is the primary information source for many young people
4 why digital natives are changing the way they do things
5 an explanation of the main names to categorize modern youth
Questions 6-10
Classify the following as relating to
A benefits of being connected to the internet
B challenges faced by being connected to the internet
C neither benefits nor the challenges of being connected to the internet

6 there is a lot of information available

7 the information may be available in a few languages
8 users are able to hide their identity
9 the information may be available in only one format
10 it can give meaning to their lives

Questions 11-13
Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
11 What does the digital world expand for digital natives?
12 What standard do older people measure online communication against?
13 How might young people's lives be described nowadays?

Reaction
S Work in groups and discuss questions 1-3.
1 Do you think having the opportunity to access the internet at all times makes your life
easier? Why/Why not?
2 Does people being online or texting while talking to friends affect communication? How?
3 What do you think the effects are of not possessing such skills in th~ modern world?