Before you read
How do you feel about people who text too much? Do you think that texting can be a dangerous habit? Why?
Do you think it would be possible to give a money fine to people in Korea for walking or driving and texting?
Avid texters beware: Fort Lee, N.J. police said they will begin issuing $85 jaywalking tickets to pedestrians who are caught texting while walking.
"It's a big distraction. Pedestrians aren't watching where they are going and they are not aware," said Thomas Ripoli, chief of the Fort Lee Police Department.
Ripoli said the borough, which is home to approximately 35,000 residents, has suffered three fatal pedestrian-involved accidents this year. He hopes his crackdown on people who display dangerous behavior while walking will make his town safer, but not everyone is on board with the idea of issuing $85 tickets.
"When I walk I still look around. I'm not like constantly looking down the whole time," said resident Sue Choe.
Another woman complained about the tickets were "a lot of money."
Officers handed out notices during a short grace period in March before they began actively punishing "dangerous walkers."
Two professors at Stony Brook University in New York conducted a study on walking and texting. They found texters are 60 percent more likely to veer off line than non-texters.
"We want make people to know that is a real disruption happens because of texting," Eric Lamberg, co-author of the study, told Long Island Business News. "Texting disrupts your ability much more than does talking."
Guessing meaning from context
Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. The answers are below the table.
|
Avid |
A |
1 |
Police or authority looking for and punishing people for doing something |
|
jaywalking |
B |
2 |
Like doing a lot, passionate about doing something |
|
distraction |
C |
3 |
A time when there is no penalty, forgiveness for doing something wrong |
|
crackdown |
D |
4 |
Something that causes you to lose your concentration/focus. Takes your attention to some other thing |
|
is on board with |
E |
5 |
To go off into another direction, not straight |
|
grace period |
F |
6 |
Agree with, be part of something |
|
veer |
G |
7 |
A break, stopping of something, |
|
disruption |
H |
8 |
Walking freely into a dangerous area such as onto a road, but not at a safe crossing area (illegal) |
A=2, B=8, C=4, D=1, E=6, F=3, G=5, H=7
Some example sentences using the new words to help you to better understand their meaning.
1. Avid golfers go out and play every weekend.
2. It is very dangerous and illegal to jaywalk on the wide roads in Seoul.
3. It is hard to teach teenage students because their minds are constantly distracted by other things such as, friends, or cell phones.
4. A few years ago the Seoul government decided to crackdown on people not wearing safety-belts in cars.
5. For the 6 party talks to work, we need all 6 countries to get on board and come to the meeting and talk.
6. The student could not finish his work on time, so the teacher gave an extra week’s grace period.
7. The driver feel asleep and the car veered off the road and crashed.
8. Snow has caused a big disruption to train travel in Europe.
Some discussion questions using the new words to help you better understand the word meaning and how to use them correctly. Try to use the words in your answer.
1. Describe an avid texter? How do you feel about the texting habit?
2. Do you agree that jaywalking should be penalized? Why?
3. Do you agree that texting is more of a distraction than doing other things such as reading while walking?
4. Do you agree with the New Jersey government’s decision to crackdown on texting?
5. Do you feel that other parts of the USA or even Korea could get on board with the idea to penalize people who walk and text? Why or why not?
6. Why did the New Jersey city government give a grace period?
7. Have you ever seen texters veer off while texting?
8. Describe the disruption that the writer of the story is talking about.
ECK Education
