Look at the words and phrases taken from the text and try to predict exactly what is being discussed in the text.

Mobile technology, allows to connect, you’re on move, access the Internet, communicate with special receiver, surf the net, endless possibilities, great advantage.

Work in pairs and speak on the questions. Agree or disagree with your partner.

1) Do you use a computer or a laptop? What do you use it for?

2) What do you think about the Internet? Give five adjectives to describe it.

3) Name various ways in which people communicate with each other long distance?

8. Read text А and decide which is the best title for it:

A) The World Wide Web C) Wireless World

B) The Educational Hope of the Future D) Mobile Technology

Text A

In the space of a few years mobile telecommunications technology – the technology that allows you to connect with people and get information while you’re on the move – has advanced at an amazing pace. With talk of WAPs, WML and wireless LANs, it’s getting hard just to remember what all the acronyms stand for, let alone understand the technology. One such development that’s causing some excitement is the much talked about Wi-Fi technology.

Wi-Fi – which, in case you didn’t know, stands for Wireless Fidelity – is a way to access the Internet without the need to connect your computer to a phone line. This means you can send e-mails and surf the net from your own laptop computer and not have to worry about finding a phone jack or having wires trailing all over the place.

However, it doesn’t mean you can connect from anywhere – not yet anyway. You have to be close to an access point, where your computer can communicate with a special receiver. In truth, there aren’t that many access points around at the moment, but more and more are appearing daily, and you might be surprised by the kinds of places which are already Wi-Fi connected.

A couple of major airlines have set up wireless access points onboard their airplanes, allowing time-pressed business travelers to connect with their offices from 36.000 feet in the air. A group of enthusiasts in Brighton have set one up on the beach there, so you can surf the net as well as the waves. A team of teachers has created one in the middle of a wood in southern England as part of a project to help children learn about the environment. And in some British pubs you can even access the Web whilst downing a pint of beer. The possibilities, it seems, are endless.

But Wi-Fi isn’t only for busy business tycoons or people looking for fun at their local pub; it’s not just another hi tech toy for spoilt Westerners. One of the system’s great advantages is that it is bringing the Internet to some of the world’s poorest regions, and helping to narrow the ‘digital divide’ between the West and the Developing World. Some remote villages in Bangladesh, for example, where costly telephone lines have never reached, now have schools with wireless Internet access. Here Wi-Fi is giving a new generation of school children a window on the word and educational opportunities never dreamt of by their parents. And that is something to get excited about.

Choose the best way to complete each statement.

1) Wi-Fi is a system designed to help you

a) use your mobile phone.

b) get a faster connection to the Internet on a normal telephone line.

c) connect your portable computer to the Internet.

2) Wi-Fi

a) is already considered old technology.

b) will probably never become very popular.

c) is becoming more popular.

3) Wi-Fi

a) is only available in Europe and the USA.

b) will be available in developing nations in the near future.

c) is available in developing nations now.

10. Decide whether these statements are True or False, according to the information given in the text.

1) If your computer is fitted with Wi-Fi technology you can connect to the Internet from any location.

2) Wi-Fi is a short for «wireless fidelity».

3) Most airlines now offer Wi-Fi access points onboard their flights.

4) It’s cheaper to provide a Wi-Fi system to remote villages than it is to provide a regular telephone system.

5) Wi-Fi technology has been used in education projects.

6) Wi-Fi will probably widen the technology gap between the world’s richer nations and the developing world.

7) There are only a small number of access points available at the moment.

10. Answer the following questions on Text A:

1) What does the mobile telecommunication technology allow you?

2) How does Wi-Fi work? What kind of access does Wi-Fi provide?

3) Why do you have to be close to an access point?

4) According to the text, where are new access points appearing daily?

5) What are the endless possibilities of Wi-Fi?

6) What is one of the system’s great advantages?

Work with a partner and discuss how you use e-mail or the Internet. What do you use them for? Brainstorm as many uses as possible for both.

12. Read two extracts from an interview where two persons talk about how they use e-mail and the Net. Do you identify with any of them? Can you guess what each speaker is like (age, sex, occupation, way of life, personality)?

A.: I work as a doctor in a very busy medical practice, and I never thought I’d have time to use the Internet. But I discovered of course how useful it is for e-mailing and sending messages, particularly work related messages. And also I’ve discovered that I can Find information out much quicker than by looking up the telephone book for instance, or the newspaper to find out train times or maybe what’s on at my local cinema. And if I have a problem, a professional problem, I can also get in touch with colleagues and find out their opinion. I don’t use it socially though – I hardly ever use it to talk to friends. Frankly I still like the old fashioned telephone.

B.: I use the Net for a couple of reasons, one because I have family that are scattered all over the world and I find it quite a good way to keep in touch with them. And again it’s quite cheap. But I primarily use it because I’m doing a degree part-time and I find it really helpful for various reasons. And probably the best thing is that I can get in touch with the lectures and professors and the professors without actually having to speak to them in person which I find to be a plus. They are very hard to track down and it seems to be easier for them to communicate with me or other students in that way, so that’s one advantage. And I suppose that the other advantage is that on the Net you have access to various different libraries and so it is very easy to track down materials and books and reserve them or find out where they are anyway and if you can gain access to them. So that’s primarily why I use the Net.

13. Find the other English words to paraphrase the ideas in italics.

Find the right word (associated with computers or the Internet) to the following definitions. Use the tips in brackets.

a) The programs used to operate a computer.(s_ _ _ _ _ _ e)

b) More formally known as navigating, this means to visit various sites on the Internet, usually moving from page to page using highlighted links. (s_ _ _ _ _g)

c) Places on the Internet where companies or organizations display information about their products. (s_ _ _ s - plural)

d) Short extracts, designed to give you a taste of a product and hopefully encourage you to buy it. (b_ _ _s - plural)

e) If you have copied pages or programs from the Internet onto your computer you have done this. (d_ _ _ _ _ _d)

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