31-й—40-й тесты. Английский язык. ЕГЭ, 2024. На базе материалов ФИПИ

I should correct myself, actually: I’ve been a user, abuser and loser of Network since King Mark Zuckerberg bestowed his charming gift upon the world.

I call him a ’king’ because he virtually rules over my life, and not in the typical way an actual king would, but in the way I have allowed myself to get sucked into the phenomenon. Let’s face it: the man has more influence over some people, me being one of them, than some parents have over their own children.

I’ve had my ups and downs with Network. I’ve gone from having thousands of friends I’d never met in real life, to deleting my account entirely and starting again from scratch, adding only real friends, as if that would make my experience more meaningful.

But why would I need Network to add depth to my existence? I’ll tell you why.. it’s because Network makes you slightly famous. It’s like having your picture in the paper with a little news story about you, where you’ve been, what you’re doing, what you bought today. You’re surrounded by all the trappings of Western society in your status update photos and they’re right there for the whole, um, small network of your friends to see.

I know what you’re thinking.. I’m sad and hopeless, and you’ll never turn out like me. But how many of you reading this can honestly say you don’t do the same things? Maybe you do it to different degrees, and maybe you’re even worse. You just have to ask yourself.. is there anything wrong with that?

I freely admit that I take pleasure from posting amusing pictures of a night out with friends, or what my dog’s chewed up on my return from work, or the fantastic rearrangement I did of my living room.

There was a time when I thought «There must be something wrong with me. Surely I can find a better way to spend my time.» Apparently, I can’t, because I haven’t, so my conclusion is that I never will and I’m better off accepting it than trying to fight it.

Allow me to present a solid case in favour of Network addiction.

. isn’t it far better than watching TV for hours on end? Or what about playing video games? That’s much more harmful and pointless, in my opinion. At least with Network, the things I do are seen by my peers, for better or worse, and my actions are not completely invisible and meaningless. At least there’s a purpose, right?

I suppose we find purpose where we want to find it. One could argue that a TV addiction helps keep you up-to-date with current events.