Page 176 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade8_Flipbook

aCTIvITy 2.13
continued
Example: We need to pass a law that stupid people cannot get a driver’s license. This statement incorrectly equates driving skills with intelligence.
Avoid logical fallacies by being sure you present relevant evidence and logical and sound reasoning—the cornerstones of effective argumentation.
5. Examine this statement of the premises and conclusion of the argument of the article you just read. Is it valid and sound? Explain why or why not.
Premises: If texting is distracting, and distracted driving can result in an accident,
Conclusion: then texting can result in an accident. Setting a Purpose for Reading
• As you read this article, underline words and phrases that indicate the science behind the article.
• Circle unknown words and phrases. Try to determine the meaning of the words by using context clues, word parts, or a dictionary.
The Science Behind Distracted Driving
from KUTV, Austin
1 Texting while driving can be deadly, but what is it that makes it so dangerous?
2 No longer are people simply talking on their cellphones, they’re multi-tasking—
checking email, updating social media and texting.
3 “Particularly texting, that seems to be a really hazardous activity, much more dangerous than talking on a cellphone, rising to a level that exceeds what we see with someone who’s driving drunk,” David Strayer says. He has been studying distracted driving for 15 years.
4 Strayer says we’re becoming a nation of distracted drivers. He says that when you take your eyes off the road, hands off the steering wheel, and your mind off driving, it’s a deadly mix. “That combination of the three: the visual, the manual, and the cognitive distraction significantly increase the crash risk,” says Strayer.
5 With two sophisticated driving simulators, an instrumented vehicle, an eye tracker, and a way to measure brain activity, Strayer and his team at the University of Utah have been able to pinpoint what’s happening when a person texts while driving. He says, “They’re not looking at the road. They’re not staying in their lane. They’re missing traffic lights,” creating a crash risk that is eight times greater than someone giving the road their undivided attention. “That’s a really significant crash risk. It’s one of the reasons many states have enacted laws to outlaw texting.”
my Notes
online article
Word CoNNeCTIoNS
Roots and Affixes
Distracted comes from the prefix dis-, meaning “away” and the Latin root word tract, meaning “to drag or pull.” “Distracted driving” happens when your attention is being pulled away to something other than driving.
6 Thirty-nine states have banned texting while driving.
Unit 2 • The Challenge of Utopia 149
simulators: machines that model certain environmental and
other conditions for purposes of training or experimentation
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