GCSE Mandarin: Technology in everyday life

照片里有三个年轻人，他们坐在公园里，每个人都在看手机。他们没有聊天。我觉得这不太好，因为和朋友聊天除了很有意思以外，也让我很开心。

In the photo there are three young people sitting in a park, and each of them is looking at a phone. They aren’t chatting. I don’t think this is very good, because apart from being interesting, chatting with friends also makes me happy.

我每天用手机给朋友发短信，也用手机听音乐、看电影。做作业的时候，我常常用手机上网，因为很方便。不过我爸爸妈妈觉得我用手机的时间太长了。他们认为用手机不但对眼睛不好，而且很浪费时间。

Every day I use my phone to text my friends, listen to music and watch films. When I do my homework, I often use my phone to go online, because it is convenient. But my mum and dad think I spend too long on my phone. They believe using a phone is not only bad for your eyes but also a waste of time.

我觉得社交媒体有好处，也有坏处。好处是我可以和朋友聊天，还可以看朋友的照片。坏处是很浪费时间，而且对年轻人的健康不好。虽然我很喜欢社交媒体，但是我每天只用一个小时。

I think social media has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that I can chat with my friends and look at their photos. The disadvantage is that it wastes a lot of time and is bad for young people’s health. Although I really like social media, I only use it for an hour a day.

上个周末下雨，所以我在家上网。我先和我的朋友聊了天，然后玩儿了电脑游戏。晚上我还给奶奶发了电子邮件。这个周末我打算和朋友去公园，因为我不想一直在家上网。

It rained last weekend, so I stayed at home and went online. First I chatted with my friend, then I played computer games. In the evening I also sent my grandma an email. This weekend I plan to go to the park with my friends, because I don’t want to stay at home online all the time.

我爸爸一般用手机看新闻，我妈妈常常用手机给朋友发短信。以前我奶奶只用手机打电话，现在她也用手机上网、发照片。我觉得将来手机会越来越方便，也会越来越便宜。但是我不希望大家每天都看手机，因为和家人面对面聊天更重要。

My dad usually reads the news on his phone, and my mum often texts her friends. My grandma used to use her phone only for calls; now she also goes online and sends photos. I think phones will become more and more convenient and cheaper and cheaper in the future. But I hope people won’t look at their phones all day, because talking to your family face to face is more important.