Fashioning Goes High-Tech
Fashion is no longer something that is just made of cloth or leather. These days it has become something that needs batteries and is often connected to the Internet. When it comes to high-tech fashion, it might be (31) to your wrist or resting on the bridge of your nose, and it is doing a lot more than just (32) you look stylish.
Google was one of the first to burst on the scene with a fashionable item that was also very (33) . Google Glass, which looks like glasses, allows wearers to do all sorts of things, from seeing information in a simple viewer to simply saying out loud, “Take a picture.” What you are seeing in the picture that will be taken, (34) Google Glass heard you through its microphone and has a built-in camera. If you ask a question, you will (35) the answer in the tiny screen displayed before one eye. Google Glass uses Bluetooth technology to communicate with a smartphone, so it is not a stand-alone item.

The Internet: Changing Everything

Let’s do a little experiment: Take five minutes, and find some information about Angola. How did you get your information? How much information were you able to get? Chances are, you probably just went online and typed the word “Angola”. You were probably able to find out all sorts of things. This experiment shows us how useful the Internet is.

Over the last 20 years, the Internet has changed the way that we live, work, and study. The biggest change has been the way that we access information. Twenty years ago, you would have needed an encyclopedia to learn about Angola. If you had wanted information, you would have had to get out of your chair, open your encyclopedia, and look up the word “Angola”. Today all you need is about five seconds and you’ll have the exact same information. This technology makes work a lot faster and more efficient.

It has also made information storage a lot easier and neater. Twenty years ago, offices had papers and files all over the place. If you wanted to find a file, you had to open a desk drawer and find the right piece of paper. Today, many of us keep our files in cloud storage. Cloud storage is a technology that lets people store files on the Internet. All you have to do is to sign into the site, and you can find all of your files in seconds.

Another big change is communication. These days more and more people are working from home. People have “home offices”. They just do their work at their house and e-mail it to their company. It makes life a lot easier.

Some people don’t like these changes. They say that life is too convenient these days, and it is making people lazy. However, most people think that even if this technology makes us a little easier, it still has more benefits than disadvantages. In the end, it doesn’t matter what we think. The Internet has changed all of our lives forever.

Are Human Beings Getting Smarter?

Do you think you are smarter than your parents or grandparents? According to James Flynn, a professor at a New Zealand university, you might be. Over the course of the last century, IQ test scores of people in some countries have got increasingly better - on average, three points better for every decade that has passed. This trend of improving scores is known as “the Flynn effect,” and scientists want to know what is behind it.

IQ tests and other similar tests are designed to measure general intelligence rather than knowledge. Flynn knew that intelligence is partly inherited from our parents and partly the result of our environment and experiences, but the improvement in test scores was happening too quickly to be explained by heredity. So what happened in the 20th century that led to higher test scores?

Scientists have proposed several explanations for the Flynn effect. Some suggest that the improved test scores simply reflect an increased exposure to tests in general. Because we take so many tests, we learn test-taking techniques that help us perform better. Others have pointed to better nutrition, which results in babies being born larger, healthier, and with more brain development than in the past. Another possible explanation is a change in educational styles - children are encouraged to discover things for themselves rather than just memorizing information. This could prepare people to do the kind of problem-solving that intelligence tests require.

Flynn himself suggested that learning new technologies may have improved people’s problem-solving skills. This may be true for the first decade of his tests, when IQ scores in many countries increased. However, in recent years, IQ test scores in some countries have begun to decline. Data from Norway, the Netherlands, Australia, and Great Britain have shown that as these countries become more and more modern, IQ scores have begun to drop.

While scientists aren’t sure what is causing this decline, they think technology is dramatically changing the way that we learn and get information. For example, people are now able to access all kinds of information easily using online resources like Google or Wikipedia. The danger is when they start to rely too much on these sources of information, and not do any thinking for themselves. Lifestyle changes that come with modem technology may also have a negative effect on intelligence, such as video games and television making people less social. So while the world may have got smarter over the 20th century, improving technology and
changing lifestyles may soon reverse that trend.

Note: heredity (n) = the process by which features and characteristics are passed on to you from your parents through your genes