Http://msn.Careerbuilder.Com/custom/msn/careeradvice/viewarticle.Aspx

Task 3. Express in English your own opinion of the text (orally to the teacher).

Task 4. Read the text once again and write down in the notebook the translation of the underlined words from Russian into English. Write down in the notebook your own examples with them /situation /dialogue.

Task 5. Using English-English dictionary write down all the meanings of the following words, get ready to speak on them in the classroom.

1. To point, point (noun)

2. To prevail

3. To mean, mean (noun), (adject.)

4. Level (noun)

5. To hold

6. To cite

Task 6. Find in the text and put down in the notebook English equivalents for the following Russian words and word combinations.

ценить превыше всего иметь смысл стремиться, искать преобладающий в нищете это не так оставаться верным в общем и целом, полностью

обширный, сильный возлагать надежды на термин относительный неизбежно карьерная лестница повышение зарплаты исчерпаемый выглядеть бледным, проигрывать

утопия помочь, способствовать смутный скользкий (сложная задача) облегчить ценный достичь счастья разрушать планы, мешать

Task 7. Write down and be ready to ask your group mates 15 questions to the text.

Task 8. Using the underlined words get ready to discuss the following issues in the classroom and to retell the text. (If it is necessary make notes in your notebooks.)

1. Will a Bigger Salary Make You Happier?

2. How many hours per day are you prepared to work?

3. What is more important for you career or family?

4. ‘Time is money’ do you agree with this statement?

Unit 6

Task 1. Answer the following questions to the teacher:

1. How can You define the term “smart home’?

2. Device, gadget, ‘machine’, computer … . What place do all these things occupy in your life?

3. Are you fond of high-tech? What role does шеи play in your life?

4. What is your attitude to global computerization?

5. Do you consider your-self to be a non-technical person or a computer genius?

6. How much do you spend on devices monthly? Yearly? Are they all really that much necessary?

Task 2. Read the text and sum up in English its main ideas in 10 sentences (orally to the teacher).

Smart home dream could be for all

By Jo Twist BBC News science and technology reporter

Smart homes in which a single button controls lighting, heating, security, music, film - everything digital - has long been promised, but has never quite delivered.

This is partly down to technology that cannot talk to each other. It has also traditionally been a dream that only the uber-rich can make reality. But with rising broadband speeds and connections, the rise of wireless networks, and cheaper more powerful machines in homes, it is getting easier to realise the smart home dream. A lot more now can be controlled from one central machine, with one central and easy interface, which is what convergence¹ is supposed to be about. Hooking² devices together, either wirelessly or with cables, is another matter.

'Digital plumber'

Technical know-how is just one of the stumbling blocks many face when trying to work out why one gadget will not talk to another. Homes that are smart are not just about being able to send pictures and video to different rooms either. It is also about the more mundane³ technologies in life, such as heating and lighting, and security technologies. Central locking for homes, for example, could be all controlled through fobs⁴ in the near future, for instance, or even through biometrics. Will Levy, founder of Touch of a Button, imagines one day soon being able to pick up the phone directory and easily find the equivalent of a registered "digital plumber". For a reasonable fee, they could come and install your fresh bit of kit⁵, advise on security, and be on hand at the end of an e-mail or phone for aftercare services. Mr Levy's vision of "digital plumbing" is squarely⁶ aimed at ordinary people who want their homes smart and more connected.

"There is a huge amount of integration needed between different products," he told the BBC News website. "There are hundreds of companies which are home automation installers. "The problem for me is that the starting price for that is a minimum of £27,000."

That is not the way to push convergence and smart home technologies out to the mass market, he says.

"These are not distant future technologies, they are all out on the shelf today, and they are just a few hundred pounds.

He thinks there needs to be more qualified people who can take the ordinary non-technical person step-by-step through the set-up and the integration of technologies with other systems around the home.

"It could be very much like getting the plumber around," says Mr Levy. "I could see in five or 10 years' time having them in the Yellow Pages alongside plumber of electricians that you call out."

Cost of living digitally

According to research by US digital home consultants, The Diffusion Group (TDG), more than half of US households are interested in some sort of home control system, if the price tag is less than $200. TDG also found that global home networking is set to grow from 35 million households in 2004 to more than 162 million by 2010. With that, says TDG, the number of devices and gadgets that will be able to use that network will rise from 108 million in 2004 to just shy ⁷of one billion by 2010. Instead of three devices able to talk on the network to others in every household in 2004 on average, there will be six. Others predict that 23 million European households will be using wireless home networks to share media content by 2009. Despite these healthy-looking predictions, Intel research on the 21st Century living room revealed that 42% of Brits complained that technology was already crowding them out of their own houses. One in four living rooms are stacking up more than seven separate technology devices. The average Brit does not have an American style open-plan living space either. Rooms are smaller and ceilings are lower. But if there are going to be digital plumbers who can come around and fiddle⁸ with plugs and networks, there needs to be an industry standard qualification to protect against digital cowboys. The ComTIA international standard for teaching such skills is being promoted in certain areas of the UK, such as Yorkshire. /4200/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4607747.stm

Task 3. Express in English your own opinion of the text (orally to the teacher).

Task 4. Read the text once again and write down in the notebook the translation of the underlined words from Russian into English. Write down in the notebook your own examples with them /situation /dialogue.

Task 5. Using English-English dictionary write down all the meanings of the following words, get ready to speak on them in the classroom.

1. To step, step (noun)

2. Smart (adject.)

3. To suppose

4. To set, set (adject.), set (noun)

5. To push, push (noun)

6. Kit (noun)

Task 6. Write down and be ready to ask your group mates 15 questions to the text.

Task 7. Using the underlined words get ready to discuss the following issues in the classroom and to retell the text. (If it is necessary make notes in your notebooks.)

1. Would you like to live in a smart home? Why or why not?

2. What devices do you normally use in your everyday life?

3. What is your ‘digital’ dream? What devices would you like to purchase?

Task 7. Find in the text and put down in the notebook English equivalents for the following Russian words and word combinations.

1. соединять, подключать устройства

2. осуществлять мечту

3. менее чем, не доходя до

4. вытеснять, выселять

5. предсказывать, предсказание

6. содержимое

7. цена, ценник

8. соединение

9. гарантийное обслуживание

10. телефонный справочник

11. быть в продаже

12. шаг за шагом

13. напрямую

14. быть направленным на

15. быть доступным

16. центр управления

17. устройство

18. камень преткновения

19. обыкновенный, земной

20. водопроводчик

21. набор

22. толковый, умный разумный