As the title implies the text describes …

It is specially noted …

A mention should be made …

It is spoken in detail …

The text gives valuable information about …

The text is of great help to …

It gives a detailed analyses of …

It draws reader’s attention to …

… is (are) proposed.

… is (are)examined.

… is (are)discussed.

L istening skills

• Listen to the interview with David Collins,

the president of Videotex Link. He is explaining videotex system to a journalist. Complete the journalist’s notes.

Videotex: interactive system of information.

Allows anybody with a telephone and appropriate equipment to access a wide range of services.

• Need a ……… to be connected to a videotex network

• To install a modem one cable of modem is connected to ……

and the other to …………………………………………………….

• Public videotex system in Europe:

New Prestel in the UK

Teletel in France

Ibertex in ……………………………………………………………

Videotel in ………………………………………………………….

• Specialized services offered by the French Minitel system: ………

- Information services provided by videotex: current affairs, entertainment, …………………………………………………………

• Listen to the interview with Tom Bryant, a writer with a computer magazine. Are the following sentences true or false?

1. A pen-based interface uses an electronic stylus as an input device.

2. Pen computers do not require specialized operating systems to recognize pen gestures and characters.

3. Pen computers come with operating systems that can be trained to recognize handwriting.

4. Some pen computers are more powerful than desktop PCs.

5. A Personal Digital Assistant is a hand-held pen computer designed to organize and communicate personal information.

6. You cannot transmit data from pen computers to desktop PCs and peripherals.

7. Business people will make up a large section of the pen computer market.

• Read this extract from the interview and fill in the missing words. The first letters of each missing word is given.

Interviewer: Can you explain how a (1) p……… computer work?

Tom Bryant: Sure. A pen computer usually (2) r….. on rechargeable

alkaline batteries. You hold the computer with one hand and

with the other you use an electronic (3) s……. to write, draw

and make selections on a flat LCD (4) s………….

Interviewer: That means it doesn’t have a keyboard.

Tom Bryant: That’s right. You write (5) i…….. with the stylus like a pen.

Interviewer: And how does the computer (6) r…….. what you write?

Tom Bryant: It reads the (7) p……… of the pen and sends signals to the

screen. The computer then translates the movements of the

pen into characters or performs the functions like ‘delete’.

The operating system recognizes specific gestures.

D iscussion

Working in pairs make up dialogues

discussing the following problems.

1. You friend has just bought a computer and he is in doubt whether to use the Internet or not. Describe him pros and cons of this global net.

2. One of you is going to send a letter to your friend using the post office. The task of the other student to advise him to use the e-mail.

3. Can we balance the use of technology and real-life conversation? How?