Page 48 - Grasp English C1+ (Workbook)

5 Style and Manner

In the past, watches kept us punctual as we did not have any other option for keeping track of the
time. Nowadays, though, with the evolution of mobile phones, we have found an alternative to the
cumbersome timepieces of yesteryear which frequently required winding. Our mobile phones now
keep us on track, and we can set alarms for everything from morning wake-up to a reminder to feed
the cat.

That said, in the last decade, the watch has made a comeback – though it is much more technologically
advanced than its predecessor. Nowadays, it is all about the smartwatch – a wearable computer
which is linked to your mobile phone, allowing you to check messages, listen to the radio or shop
online at the touch of your ngertip.

Smartwatches are becoming evermore streamlined whilst performing the functions of yesteryear’s
chunky timepieces and more. Whereas in the past a watch which could tell you your GPS location,
altitude and ambient temperature, as well as the time, would weigh down your arm, nowadays it is
all there on the touch-screen display. They plug and recharge just like your mobile phone, and many
even have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity.

However, as technology becomes more sophisticated, so too do the ways in which people will cheat
to get ahead. There are a number of concerns around smartwatches in education as they are
becoming the contemporary alternative to copying exam answers onto your leg or sneaking in your
annotated notes to a test.

In many official exam centres now, students are forbidden from taking smartwatches into the exam
room, and even those with old-fashioned watches must leave them on the table at all times during
the exam. This is to ensure that there is no communication with the outside world during high-stakes
exams.

And, if you are into fitness, today’s smartwatches can monitor your heart rate, report on your sleeping
patterns and give you a friendly reminder if you have been sedentary for too long. Not everyone is
keen on having further checks on their health, though, and it will be a long time before conventional
watches disappear completely.

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