The Internet and Other Addictions

Unit 1

The Internet and Other Addictions

Addiction is a psychological and physical inability to stop consuming a chemical, drug, activity, or substance, even though it is causing psychological and physical harm.

Internet addiction is a psychological disorder that causes people to spend so much time on a computer that it affects their health, job, finances, or relationships.

Vocabulary

Surf: look for information ( one the internet).

Engaging in: taking part in or becoming involved in.

Turning each other in: identifying each other to the police or an authority.

Devoting: giving or using something ( time, effort) for an activity or purpose.

Compulsiveness: inability to control certain behavior.

Therapy: treatment of problems by talking about them.

Putting together: organizing.

Support groups: people who meet to help each other with a problem they all share.

Present with: show signs of an ilness by having a particular type of behavior or condition.

Coming out: becoming publicly known.

Fulfillment: personal satisfaction.

Grammar

We use wish or if only to describe unreality.  When we use wish we are speaking about what we want or desire, but we know that it is unrealistic or impossible.  When we use wish in the past, we are expressing a regret.

To wish about the present

   

I wish I had a car.    (But I don’t have one and don’t expect to have one any time soon.)

She wishes it weren’t raining.  (It’s raining and there is nothing she can do about it.)

If only it weren’t raining, we could go to the beach.  

Scott wishes he didn’t need to wash the car. (But he must wash it.)

I wish Miami didn’t have such a terrible baseball team. (The team is horrible and I can’t change that.)

If only Miami didn’t have such a terrible baseball team, I would go to the games more often.

WISH WITH MODAL VERBS

 to express a desire about an ability

I wish I could fly.  (to express a desire to have a particular ability)

She wishes she could speak Chinese.

to show annoyance or irritation

I wish he would stop complaining.  (I am annoyed with him.)

The teacher wishes you wouldn’t keep coming late for class.  (The teacher is irritated about your tardiness.)

TO WISH ABOUT THE PAST

I wish I had studied more when I was young.  (I didn’t study enough.)

If only I had studied more, I might have been a physicist.

She wishes she had not gone out last night.  (She went out and now she regrets it.)