Exercise 1
1. National or international?
The news right now are international.
2. Environment, politics, crime, covid-19?
They are mostly about COVID-19 and some are about shootings in USA.
3. Why does this topic concern you/is interesting to discuss about for you?
This topic does not concern me because I don't follow news on TV at all since I don't find it interesting.
Exercise 2
1) Her concern is influence of video games on children.
2) She has a personal interest because of her younger brother and she is afraid that he might become a video game addict.
3) He used to have many hobbies and interests, he used to play football, learn judo and ride his bike with his friends.
4) Research tells us that children aged between 2 and 5 regularly play video games and by the age of 8 they spend 25 minutes on them.
5) No, only a small minority of teens become addicts.
6) Dr Griffiths finds this figure worrying, that they might become so addicted that they would stop doing their homework, stop going to school and even steal money to buy games.
7) She worries that violent games might cause children to become more violent and that sitting for many hours without exercise is bad for health.
Exercise 3
1) "The thing I'm concerned about at the moment.."
"Let me explain why."
"Research shows that.."
"I have two more concerns."
"Finally.."
These words are used to help us transition from one point or concern to another.
2) "You see, I have a younger brother.."
"..he becomes really angry if our parents tell him to stop."
"My brother isn't violent, but he is certainly bad tempered if he is stopped from playing."
"Craig often plays five hours a day.."
3) "Research shows that.."
4) She concludes her speech by saying that she doesn't need to read more research to conclude that video games cause problems.
She also adds that Dr Griffiths should meet her brother because her brother is all the evidence he needs.