Annales gratuites Bac STG : A clinic for computer game addicts

       A Dutch clinic that has begun offering the world's first treatment for computer game addicts
       has been overwhelmed with pleas for help from parents and children all over the world.
         "It's amazing, I've never seen anything like it," said Keith Bakker, the American director of
       the clinic in Amsterdam. "The phone has been ringing constantly. Computer game addiction
  5    is obviously an even greater problem than we imagined."
         The clinic will begin treating two teenagers from Britain this week and other sufferers are
       being signed in from America and Asia.
       "These are perfectly decent kids whose lives have been taken over by an addiction," said
       Bakker, a former drug addict.
 10     "Some have given up school so they can play games. They have no friends. They don't
       speak to their parents."
         Last week Bakker took his first group of "gamers", as he calls them, on a parachuting trip to
       take their minds off their computers. Treatment also involves meditation, fitness training and
       group therapy.
 15     Although experts are still debating whether excessive game playing counts as an addiction,
       Bakker has no doubt that the symptoms are the same.
         "It's not a chemical dependency, but it's got everything of an obsessive compulsive disorder
       and all of the other stuff that comes with chemical dependency."
         Tim, a 21-year-old from Utrecht, said he had hardly left his bedroom for five years because
 20   he was so obsessed by his computer games. "My room was a mess," he said. "Curtains drawn,
       pizza boxes, empty bottles and junk food wrappers everywhere."
         His parents were frightened of him because, weighing more than 21 stone*, he was too
       strong for them to confront. Eventually they threatened to kick him out unless he enrolled for
       a month of therapy.
 25     Bakker said he had been hearing horror stories from parents about their children's addiction
       to computer games. One couple brought a six-year-old to the clinic, hoping the boy could be
       treated.
         "All we could do was have a chat with him," said Bakker. "He used to be a perfectly
       healthy kid but they gave him a Nintendo and he changed. He doesn't talk to his friends any
 30   more."
         Many adolescent addicts have stopped maturing because of their addiction, claims Bakker.
       "I've met 19-year-olds with the emotional intelligence of 10-year-olds," he said, "because
       when they were 10 a parent said 'Here, have this Game Boy,' and they haven't stopped
       playing ever since."
 35     South Korea and China, where people are particularly passionate about computer games, are
       discussing with manufacturers ways of discouraging compulsive behaviour.
       Bakker thinks that European and American distributors should issue warnings about the
       dangers.

* 21 stone = 134 kilos

The Sunday Times, July 23^rd, 2006.

I - GENERAL COMPREHENSION :

A - This text is an extract from
1. a web page
2. a newspaper
3. a medical journal
4. a novel

B - The text deals with people accustomed to
1. drugs
2. TV
3. video games
4. the Internet

C - The clinic offering help is located in
1. Great Britain
2. the Netherlands
3. Germany
4. the United States

II - DETAILED COMPREHENSION :

A - Right or wrong? Justify your answers by quoting from the text
1. Treatment has been on offer for a long time.
2. This situation is only a European problem.
3. The director of the clinic used to have the same sort of problem.
4. Sufferers prefer playing with their friends.
5. Sport is part of the treatment.

B - The following statements are right. Pick out sentences to justify them. Quote the line.
1. This problem can have disastrous effects on school attendance.
2. Sufferers do not get on well with their parents.
3. All experts do not agree on the nature of the problem.
4. This problem can lead to obesity.
5. Even very young children are concerned.
6. This problem prevents teenagers from growing up normally.

C - Write down 4 adjectives which best describe the players.
1. lazy
2. talkative
3. solitary
4. disturbed
5. healthy
6. anti-social
7. cooperative
8. innovative

D - Pick out two activities proposed as a treatment by the clinic, except physical exercise.

E - Find the equivalent words or expressions in the text.
1. young people between the ages of 13 and 19
2. have stopped doing something
3. scared
4. menaced
5. signed up
6. to publish

F - From the following list, write down the four adjectives which best describe the parents' attitude.
1. indifferent
2. fed up
3. irresponsible
4. helpless
5. afraid
6. understanding
7. anxious
8. dependent

I - L'ANALYSE ET LES DIFFCULTES DU TEXTE

Les sujets vous proposent une batterie d'exercices simples et rapides à effectuer. On retrouve les QCM, les vrais-faux, les recherches de citations et de synonymes... Ce sujet ne doit pas vous poser de problèmes.

II - LES REPONSES ATTENDUES

GENERAL COMPREHENSION:

A - This text is an extract from
1. a web page
2. a newspaper
3. a medical journal
4. a novel

B - The text deals with people accustomed to
1. drugs
2. TV
3. video games
4. the Internet

C - The clinic offering help is located in
1. Great Britain
2. the Netherlands
3. Germany
4. the United States

DETAILED COMPREHENSION:

A - Right or wrong? Justify your answers by quoting from the text
1. Treatment has been on offer for a long time.
Wrong (l.1) : " A dutch clinic that has begun offering the world's first treatment...".
2. This situation is only a European problem.
Wrong (l.2) : "Children all over the world" ou (l.6) "from Britain", "from America and Asia"
3. The director of the clinic used to have the same sort of problem.
Right (l.9) : "a former drug addict"
4. Sufferers prefer playing with their friends.
Wrong (l.10) : "They have no friends"
5. Sport is part of the treatment.
Right (l.12-13) : "parachuting", "fitness training"

B - The following statements are right. Pick out sentences to justify them. Quote the line.
1. This problem can have disastrous effects on school attendance.
(l.10) : "Some have given up school so they can play games"
2. Sufferers do not get on well with their parents.
(l.10-11) : "They don't speak to their parents"
3. All experts do not agree on the nature of the problem.
(l.15) : "Although experts are still debating"
4. This problem can lead to obesity.
(l.21-22) : "pizza boxes, empty bottles and junk food wrappers" ou "weighting more than 21 stone"
5. Even very young children are concerned.
(l.26) : "one couple brought a 6-year-old"
6. This problem prevents teenagers from growing up normally.
(l.31-32) : "Many adolescents addicts have stopped maturing", "I've met 19-year-olds with the emotional intelligence of 10-year-olds"

C - Write down 4 adjectives which best describe the players.
1. lazy
2. talkative
3. solitary
4. disturbed
5. healthy
6. anti-social
7. cooperative
8. innovative

D - Pick out two activities proposed as a treatment by the clinic, except physical exercise.
- meditation
- group therapy

E - Find the equivalent words or expressions in the text.
1. young people between the ages of 13 and 19
teenagers
2. have stopped doing something
have given up
3. scared
frightened
4. menaced
threatened
5. signed up
enrolled
6. to publish
issue

F - From the following list, write down the four adjectives which best describe the parents' attitude.
1. indifferent
2. fed up
3. irresponsible
4. helpless
5. afraid
6. understanding
7. anxious
8. dependent