The trend for children to multitask by juggling all sorts of electronic gadgets at the same time is seriously damaging their levels of concentration, scientists have warned. 1________ use of the Internet, iPods, mobile phones and DVDs 2________ behind that finding. Scientists have 3________ the belief of many parents that it is impossible to concentrate on more than one thing at the same time. They found that children 4________ homework while sending messages via the Internet can 5________ up sending 50% longer than if they had done each task 6________

 David E. Meyer, Professor of Cognitive Psychology at the University of Michigan, said that true multitasking is 7________ possible for simple activities such as ironing and listening to the radio. He 8________ experiments demonstrating that young adults who had to 9________ from one maths problem to another wasted significant amounts of time. Meyer said: “For situations 10 ________ more complex tasks, especially those requiring language, the total time taken to get all the tasks done will increase 11________. Over long periods, this kind of multitasking can stress you out and 12 ________ to mental and physical exhaustion.”