Is human life just a dream, from which we never really awake, as some great thinkers claim? Are we submerged by our feelings, by our loves and hates, by our ideas of good, bad, beautiful, awful? Are we incapable of knowing beyond those ideas and feelings?

The way we answer these questions will provide the ultimate context for everything else we do with our lives. If we place any value on our lives at all, we must give some consideration to these questions.

We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep… ~William Shakespeare

FOCUS ON TALKING:

• Are you a busy person? Why do/don't you think so?
• Are you a friendly person? Why do/don't you think so?
• Are you an ambitious person? Why do/don't you think so?
• Rate your life on a scale from one to ten. Ten is the highest rating, and means your life is perfect. One is the lowest rating, and means that your life is terrible. Now answer this question: Why did you give this rating to your life?
• Everyone has a routine. What's your routine in the morning?
• Everyone has a routine. What's your routine in the evening?
• What do you love to do in the summer?
• What do you love to do in the winter?
• What are your hobbies? Have these changed from time to time during your life?
• Please describe the perfect weekend.
• Please describe the perfect vacation.
• Would you want to change your name? Why/not?
• Would you want to change where you were born, such as in a different country?
• Was your childhood good or bad? If it were possible, would you want to be a child again? Please explain.
• What do you want to do/be in the future? Why?
• What were the best years of your life? (Or do you think the best years are in the future?) Why do you think so?
• What is the best memory of your life? How about the worst? What makes these memories so good or so bad?

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1. He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts.
2. Rubber baby buggy bumpers
3. Frivolous fat Fannie fried fresh fish furiously
4. Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager managing an imaginary menagerie.
5. I slit a sheet, a sheet I slit, upon a slitted sheet I sit.
6. A big black bug bit a big black bear. But where is the big black bear that the big black bug bit?
7. Round and round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran.
8 The winkle ship sank and the shrimp ship swam.
9. Excited executioner exercising his excising powers excessively.
10. Hi-Tech Traveling Tractor Trailor Truck Tracker
11. How many yaks could a yak pack pack if a yak pack could pack yaks?
12. Nick knits Nixon's knickers.

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Do social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter promote social interaction, or do they encourage people to become recluses? The sites - and there are dozens and dozens of them - have now caught on with working professionals. In fact, people over twenty-five are the largest growing demographic of users, primarily because of the increased demands placed on time. People are more harried than ever, with demands at work and at home clamoring for immediate attention. Social networking sites allow people to stay in contact with friends and family, and without scheduling face time.

But other reasons than time management exist. Social networking sites allow users to keep in contact with "proximity friends "- people who are or were close physically but not personally. Think of ex-classmates, ex-colleagues, parents of the children your kids play with in the neighborhood, and friends of friends. We may send these people holiday and birthday cards, call with congratulations of a wedding or a newborn, or express condolences of a death in the family. Face to face contact, however, remains largely nonexistent.

Although people "talk" with one another more frequently, they rarely do so without the forced solitude of a computer. Social networking sites beg the following question then: Are people becoming social hermits?

Do you agree or disagree? Why?

1. My schedule is busier than ever these days.
2. I couldn't live without email.
3. I couldn't live without social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.
4. Friendships are less important these days.
5. Friendships are shallower these days.

Comprehension: Talk about the following questions . Remember to support your answers!

1. Why do you think more and more people have begun to use social networking sites? Please explain.
2. Are people better or worse communicators because of social network sites? Why/not?
3. What is a social hermit? What images or ideas does this phrase raise?
4. How might social networking sites be used for business or education? What benefits might there be?
5. If there were no sites like Facebook or MySpace, would people once again regularly meet face to face?

PHOTO CREDIT: www.socialmediawatch.net/.../

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• Do you blog? Why/not?
• Do you use social network sites like MySpace or Facebook? Why/not?
• Have you ever considered making a website or blog? Why/not?
• Are you worried about security online? Why/not?
• Do you agree or disagree? The Internet is the most important invention of the past fifty years.
• Do you agree or disagree? The Internet is the most important invention ever.
• When did you start to use the Internet? Why did you start to use it? Please explain.
• What kind of sites do you usually visit on the Internet? Please explain.
• What is your favorite website (or favorite websites)? Why do you like it (or them) so much?
• How often do you use the Internet? Is this too much or not enough? Why?
• What are some positive things about the Internet? Why do you think so?
• What are some negative things about the Internet? Why do you think so?
• Has the Internet changed society around the world? If yes, how has the Internet changed society? If no, why don’t you think so? Please explain.
• Could you live without the Internet? Why/not?
• Would you want to live without the Internet? Why/not?
• How can the Internet help people learn English? Please explain.
• How can the Internet help education in general? Please explain.
• How do you use the Internet for work or for study? Has it helped you? Please explain.
• How do you use the Internet in general? Please explain.

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