Cons of TV - Exercise

A new study, conducted in the UK by The Eyecare Trust and the pharmaceutical company Optrex, has found that British people spend an incredible 128,780 hours stuck in front of a TV or computer screen during their lifetime. Eye health campaigners have warned this can be exceedingly detrimental to vision and general health. The situation is somewhat exacerbated by the fact that most people are unaware that their eyesight is being damaged by staring at TV screens or computer monitors. There are quite often no telltale warning signs, beyond the occasional eyestrain or headache, that something more serious might be happening. Even worse, says the study, is the fact that ten percent of adults have never had an eye test.

The study found that adult couch potatoes were glued to the TV for 30.5 hours a week, while workaholics spent 35 hours focusing on their computer monitors. Sixty-three percent of computer users complained about “terrible headaches” or migraines upon leaving work, while 53 percent suffered from tired or strained eyes. Thirty percent of those questioned in the study said they regularly put up with dry, irritated and watery eyes. Twenty percent confessed to having imperfections with their eyesight but not doing anything about it. Iain Anderson, chairman of the Eyecare Trust, said: “It’s vital that computer users…follow a healthy eyecare regime. Screen fatigue - sore, itchy, irritated eyes or temporary blurring of your vision - affects up to 90 percent of VDU users.”

 

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘eye’ and ‘strain’.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the gap fill. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?
4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.
5. STUDENT “EYES” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about eyes, TV and computers.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

conducted incredible detrimental unaware telltale eye test

potatoes migraines put up with imperfections regime blurring