Degrees of Adjectives Comprehension

of text

MODERN PARADOXES

Teacher: Áurea Christina

Modern ParadoxesThe paradox of our

time in history is that we have taller

buildings but shorter tempers,

wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.

And this is just the beginning...

• The paradox of our time is that we spend more, but have less,

we buy more, but enjoy less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families,

more comforts, but less time.

We have more information, but less knowledge,

more questions, but fewer answers.

• We build more computers to hold more information, but we communicate with each other less and less.

We have more possessions, but fewer values.

We are now long on quantity, but short on quality

• We drink too much, smoke too much, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, read too little, watch TV too much. We know much about the Moon and Mars, but avoid crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We are masters of outer space but not of inner space. We say “yes” to a bigger car in the showroom, but “no” to a homeless street kid who tries to sell us a

bag of cookies.

• These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion,

tall men and short character,

large profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of luxurious houses,

but broken homes. These are the times of more leisure, but less fun,

overweight bodies, but selfish souls.

It is a time when technology brings this message to you, and a time you can choose either to make a difference and pass it on, or to just hit “delete”.

(Adapted from “The Paradox of Our Time”, by Dr Bob Moorehead, in Words Aptly

Spoken, 1995)

Word Study

Find the Opposites. Scan the text to find the words that are antonyms of the words below:

1-fast 9- tall2-work 10 - outer3- sell 11-questions4 –ignorance 12-calm5 – taller 13-wider 6 - less 14-fewer7- bigger 15-deep8- altruistic, selfless 16-bodies

Find the words that are missing in these expressions:

• * digestion• * men• large *• * space• a new *• * homes• less *• Wilder *• * kid• * souls• more *• * houses• * buildings• * bodies• * space• a bag of *

slowtall

profitsouter

neigborhoodbroken

knowledgefreeways

streetselfish

informationluxurious

talleroverweight

innercookies

Comprehension

• Mark the correct answer:• 1) If you have narrow viewpoint, A)you are a tolerant person

• B)you do no t accept opinions that are different from yours.

• 2- Some people drive to fast• A) on wide freeways,• B)on narrow streets.

• 3- If you avoid meeting a new neighbor,• A)you ignore someone who lives very near

you

• B)you choose to across the street and walk away