Learning English

Mike
Hello and welcome to the Great Debate with me, Mike. Now here on the show we discuss the important topics of the day and give you listeners the chance to vote for what you agree with. In the studio with me today I have Alice...

Alice
Hello.

Mike
And Amith...

Amith
Hi.

Mike
Here is the deal. Each of our guests this morning has 30 seconds to argue their point of view. Then we hand it over to you at home to decide who was most convincing. The topic we're discussing today is Modern technology has made our lives much better. Arguing for this motion we have Alice. Alice, are you ready?

Alice
Yes, absolutely, Mike. I'm always ready.

Mike
Can I have 30 seconds on the clock? Alice, when I say go, you'll have half a minute to convince us all that modern technology is indeed a wonderful thing. Three, two, one. Go!

Alice
Well, firstly smartphones are fantastic because we have everything we need at the touch of a button. We can access any information we need 24 hours a day. They help us stay in touch with our friends and family when we live far away from each other. I've got friends in Asia and Africa and family in Australia. It's so far away. It used to take months for a letter to reach the other side of the world. Now I can message or email and they receive it instantly. We can even video call which feels like we're in the same place.

Mike
And your time is up. Thank you for that, Alice. Amith, she argued her case well didn't she?

Amith
Yes. But I disagree on some points.

Mike
Well, now we're going to hear from you arguing against the motion. Amith, when I say go, you'll have half a minute to argue your case. Tell us why you think modern technology is not all that great. OK, 3, 2, 1 go!

Amith
I'm old-school. Life used to be so much simpler when we didn't have to rely on all these stupid [technologies]. I used to like going to the library. I love the feeling of books and writing letters. But now it's all about social network, which I find absolutely bizarre. We didn't use to have to rely on our phones to remember our phone numbers. We used to be able to disconnect. Now it's all about sharing your daily life on social network. Technology is way too fast to keep up-to-date with. So I have to disagree with Alice.

Mike
Stop! And another very convincing argument! So who do we think has won the Great Debate this time? Well, sorry both of you, it's actually down to our listeners to decide. Tell us what you think at home at bbclearningenglish.com. That's all from The Great Debate this time.

All
Bye!