Question

It is estimated that five billion people used social media in 2023. That’s five billion people who could have been volunteering, spending time with loved ones, or helping their neighbors instead of staring at a screen. It is past time that people started focusing on in-person relationships and stopped relying on social media, which only worsens the problem of isolation.
2 Social media is often celebrated as a way for people to connect with each other. However, if that were truly the case, people would be less lonely. In fact, the opposite is true. Loneliness is becoming a bigger problem, and social media has a lot to do with it. Loneliness and isolation can contribute to a host of health problems, including heart disease, strokes, and dementia. People who are lonely also tend to have shorter lifespans than people with strong connections to others.
3 So, what is the link between social media and loneliness? In the past, people used to join teams and leagues. They met each other to go to dinner or the movies. They invited friends over to chat or play board games and took classes to learn a new skill or hobby. But these kinds of face-to-face interactions have gradually become less common. Now, people don’t need to leave their homes to socialize with others. Instead, they can “meet” on social media.
4 Yet, social media has become more like a prison than a party. People can’t escape from checking their social media accounts. They feel the need to constantly monitor whether someone has liked or commented on their posts. This is the case even when people are with others. How many times have you seen a group of people sitting together, checking their phones instead of talking to each other?
5 What is the solution to this dilemma, then? It’s not likely that social media will ever go away, but maybe we can all make a greater effort to truly spend time together. Let’s decide to lift our faces up and put our phones down for our own health and that of others.

Reread paragraph 4 of Selection 1. In the paragraph, the author uses an analogy that compares social media to a prison. What kind of tone does this comparison help convey?
A. sympathetic
B. fearful
C. angry
D. critical

Answer 1

D. critical

The prison vs. party analogy and phrases like “can’t escape” and the rhetorical question about people checking phones convey disapproval of social media behavior rather than sympathy, fear, or anger.