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Complete PICLE corpus of essays by Polish advanced EFL students (330,000)

/^t/No one can deny that before television and computers there was a stronger sense of community and a greater attachment to neighbourhoods and families. People used to write letters, organize get-togethers and talk over a cup of tea. The decline of human-to-human contact is apparent around the world now. Even public places such as cafes and bistros are going out of business or are closed earlier in the day. Television and computer screens have simply glued people to their homes and increased the isolation of human beings. It is said that the Internet pushes life beyond the old barriers of time and space and this is true. However, virtual reality can never fully replace the physical one. Meeting face-to-face will always be more valuable than corresponding electronically. People simply need that contact. Unfortunately, most people prefer, for example, buying things via television or the telephone than going to the shopping centre or working at home, which is possible in the era of computers and fax machines, than working in the office among people. Anyway, people who have gone computer mad or become addicted to television deprive themselves of a real social life. It is scary that children are taught this is the way they should live.