Reading Comprehension – There is a curious new reality: Human contact is becoming
Slot – 3 – RC
[There is] a curious new reality: Human contact is becoming a luxury good. As more screens
appear in the lives of the poor, screens are disappearing from the lives of the rich. The richer
you are, the more you spend to be off-screen. . . .
The joy — at least at first — of the internet revolution was its democratic nature. Facebook is
the same Facebook whether you are rich or poor. Gmail is the same Gmail. And it’s all free.
There is something mass market and unappealing about that. And as studies show that time
on these advertisement-support platforms is unhealthy, it all starts to seem déclassé, like
drinking soda or smoking cigarettes, which wealthy people do less than poor people. The
wealthy can afford to opt out of having their data and their attention sold as a product. The
poor and middle class don’t have the same kind of resources to make that happen.
Screen exposure starts young. And children who spent more than two hours a day looking at
a screen got lower scores on thinking and language tests, according to early results of a
landmark study on brain development of more than 11,000 children that the National Institutes
of Health is supporting. Most disturbingly, the study is finding that the brains of children who
spend a lot of time on screens are different. For some kids, there is premature thinning of their
cerebral cortex. In adults, one study found an association between screen time and
depression. . . .
Tech companies worked hard to get public schools to buy into programs that required schools
to have one laptop per student, arguing that it would better prepare children for their screenbased future. But this idea isn’t how the people who actually build the screen-based future
raise their own children. In Silicon Valley, time on screens is increasingly seen as unhealthy.
Here, the popular elementary school is the local Waldorf School, which promises a back-tonature, nearly screen-free education. So as wealthy kids are growing up with less screen
time, poor kids are growing up with more. How comfortable someone is with human
engagement could become a new class marker.
Human contact is, of course, not exactly like organic food . . . . But with screen time, there has
been a concerted effort on the part of Silicon Valley behemoths to confuse the public. The
poor and the middle class are told that screens are good and important for them and their
children. There are fleets of psychologists and neuroscientists on staff at big tech companies
working to hook eyes and minds to the screen as fast as possible and for as long as possible.
And so human contact is rare. . . .
There is a small movement to pass a “right to disconnect” bill, which would allow workers to
turn their phones off, but for now a worker can be punished for going offline and not being
available. There is also the reality that in our culture of increasing isolation, in which so many
of the traditional gathering places and social structures have disappeared, screens are filling a
crucial void.
Q.1 The author is least likely to agree with the view that the increase in screen-time is
fuelled by the fact that?
some workers face punitive action if they are not online.
screens provide social contact in an increasingly isolating world.
there is a growth in computer-based teaching in public schools.
with falling costs, people are streaming more content on their devices.
Answer: 4
Q.2 The statement “The richer you are, the more you spend to be off-screen” is supported
by which other line from the passage?
Gmail is the same Gmail. And it’s all free.”
“. . . screens are filling a crucial void.”
“. . . studies show that time on these advertisement-support platforms is unhealthy . .
“How comfortable someone is with human engagement could become a new class
marker.”
Answer: 4
Q.3 The author claims that Silicon Valley tech companies have tried to “confuse the
public” by?
concealing the findings of psychologists and neuroscientists on screen-time use
from the public.
developing new work-efficiency programmes while lobbying for the “right to
disconnect” bill.
pushing for greater privacy while working with advertisement-support platforms to
mine data.
promoting screen time in public schools while opting for a screen-free education for
their own children.
Answer: 4
Q.4 Which of the following statements about the negative effects of screen time is the
author least likely to endorse?
It can cause depression in viewers.
It is designed to be addictive.
It increases human contact as it fills an isolation void.
It is shown to have adverse effects on young children’s learning.
Answer: 3
Solutions: Q.1 Options 1 and 2 are mentioned in paragraph 6. The author supports these options with regard to an increase in screen-time. They can be eliminated.
Option 3 is mentioned in paragraphs 4 and 5. The author supports the fact that there has been a growth in computer-based teaching in public schools. They can be eliminated.
“Falling costs” with regard to content online is not mentioned in the passage. Moreover the author has not implied that is the cause of increasing screen-time.
Hence, the correct answer is option 4.
Q.2 If option 4 is true then it supports the statement in the question stem. The rich can afford to spend to be off-screen and communicate with people while the poor cannot. This could be the new form of class system.
Option 1 is a neutral statement that does not support the original statement.
Option 2 contradicts the original statement as a support statement. If screens filled a crucial void, the rich would spend to get on screen and not off-screen.
Option 3 is close but it applies to both the rich and the poor. Only option 4 makes the distinction between the rich and the poor and is at the same time supportive of the original statement.
Hence, the correct answer is option 4.
Q.3 Refer to the following extract, “Tech companies worked hard to get public schools to buy into programs that required schools to have one laptop per student, arguing that it would better prepare children for their screen-based future. But this idea isn’t how the people who actually build the screen-based future raise their own children. In Silicon Valley, time on screens is increasingly seen as unhealthy. Here, the popular elementary school is the local Waldorf School, which promises a back-to-nature, nearly screen-free education.” This extract supports option 4 as the correct answer.
Options 1, 2 and 3 have not been mentioned in the passage.
Hence, the correct answer is option 4.
Q.4 Options 1 and 4 have been endorsed by the author in the third paragraph.
Option 2 has been endorsed by the author in the second paragraph.
The author is not likely to endorse increased screen time in order to fill an isolation void. Refer to the following extract, “There is also the reality that in our culture of increasing isolation, in which so many of the traditional gathering places and social structures have disappeared, screens are filling a crucial void.” The author acknowledges this phenomenon but does not endorse it.
Hence, the correct answer is option 3.
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