Letter to the editor, modern reading problems (Сочинения ЕГЭ английский язык)

Dear Sir or Madam,

I watched your recent programme and was interested to learn the results of the survey. Actually, I’d like to address some of your findings regarding the use of computers and book reading.

In your programme you said that young people spend more time using computers and less reading books. This fact is not surprising if you consider the benefits of using computers. First, with the development of the Internet, a computer has become a source of information, so young people use it to get their daily news. Second, computers are used for studies and reading e-books. Third, computers have made the communication easier, for this reason young people spend a lot of time chatting with friends and relatives.

Also, I think that books can and actually should be replaced by computers. A lot of trees are cut down and a huge amount of energy is used to make books, so continuing reading paper books is not eco-friendly, especially considering the current environmental issues.

Computers, in turn, require simply charging once or twice a day. What comes to health issues, nowadays the screens are becoming more and more adapted to human eyes and of nicer quality so there shouldn’t be a problem if you don’t spend too much time searching the Internet or playing games. Finally, a computer is a quick and convenient way to search through stuff. In average, a person spends 1 minute looking for a word in a paper dictionary and 30 seconds in an online dictionary. So computers, in fact, save time.

As I have already mentioned, health issues are not a surprise when a person overdoes using a computer. However, everything can be unhealthy if it’s done thoughtlessly. If you don’t take breaks while doing something – doesn’t matter if it’s reading or playing games – you will definitely risk your health.

Speaking of reading less, currently books are not the only source of information as they used to be. There are lots of valuable articles on useful topics besides funny clips and photos of cats, starting from simply fashion facts and ending with the ozon depletion. It is still an information, the difference is just in the sources.

Of course, books are also important, especially when it comes to the lack of computers and the unavailableness of the internet. In fact, reading a book with a cup of coffee on a cold winter evening is an irreplaceable experience, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy the same process with a gadget. I believe that we should firstly think of the planet and only then of our joy.

Kazarian Amalia