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Topic 24: The leisure industry is growing rapidly. The active role of modern technology in
people's leisure lives nowadays has made them less creative. Do you agree or disagree?

(the way of thinking), (bound to their desks), (social life) (practical experience),
(replace manpower), work out solutions to problems under different circumstances)
(receive information passively),(resource);
(the ability to read and visualize images in three-dimensional space), (improve one's ability to cope with
change);
(educational and intelligence-enhancing); (obey rules), (music files), (albums), ( video clips)

Nowadays, leisure time activities are set to play a larger part in people's daily lives than ever
before. There has been a perception that nowadays people could not derive the same pleasure as
they did from the entertainment of yesteryear, as technology has made them less creative. This
view is open to debate.
The maturity and popularity of network technology, together with the expansion of the
software industry, has given today's entertainment seekers many opportunities to share pleasure,
and enhance their intelligence. In the past, people could only play chess, cards, or other similar
games with their friends. Now they can challenge other players via the Internet, professional or
non-professional, familiar or unfamiliar. Some online games, by simulating real life conditions,
enable players to exercise various tactics in dealing with difficulties. They improve players'
abilities as well.
Technology also enables any person in a contemporary society to become enlightened and
empowered and exhibits a high degree of creative power. Creativity stems primarily from
knowledge. In the past, one's knowledge developed slowly or even stagnated throughout much
of his/her life, simply because the access to information was limited. The situation has been
subject to dramatic change, with the advent of modem technology. By gathering information
from a variety of sources, modem people can adopt, adjust and restructure different strategies to
address an issue. Even in doing simple jobs, such as gardening, dressing, people can expand their
creative energy and add new varieties, regarding it as a means of self-expression.
Some people might argue that watching TV, a common leisure activity, has seriously
hampered the viewers' development in creativity. Their argument is based on an assumption that
TV viewers are passive when absorbing information presented by TV and respond with no active
thinking. However, there is evidence that television programs are becoming increasingly
educational and instructive. For example, quiz shows encourage critical thinking, while
educational channels, such as Discovery, broaden watchers' knowledge. While advertisements
bear aesthetical and ideological values, talk shows display the art of languages.
What have been discussed above refutes a prevailing notion that modem technologies stifle
people's creativity and make them passive and mechanical entertainment seekers. Modern
technologies, as shown in above discussion, have made people more creative, and also given
them more enjoyment in leisure activities.
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1. Debate=dispute=argument=heated discussion
2. Together with=accompanied by=coupled with=combined with=alongside
3. Intelligence=intellect
4. Professional=proficient=trained=skilled
5. Non-professional=inexperienced=amateur
6. Unfamiliar=strange=unusual
7. Simulate=replicate=imitate
8. Empowered=competent=authorized=capable
9. Stagnate=stand still=languish=remain unchanged
10. Restructure=reform=reorganize
11. Bear=have