Lesson 3 a world of connections

Task 1. Read the title of the article and suggest the topic of the article. Discuss your ideas with a partner.

Task 2.Discuss these questions with a partner.

1. When was the radio invented?

2. What is microprocessor?

3. Where are microprocessors used?

Task 3.Read the article.

A world of connections

The radio is 110 years old this year and the microprocessor just under 50. As these two technologies move ever closer together, with wireless capabilities now being put on computer chips, something exciting is happening. All the benefits of the computing world—innovation, short development cycles and low cost—are being extended to wireless communications. As a result, a myriad of hitherto separate objects are becoming connected to networks, from televisions and cars to industrial machinery and farmland. Tiny devices are even being placed into the human body to perform useful tasks. The new technology enables control to be exercised from a distance and lets different devices interconnect to do something new.

This year around 10 billion microprocessors will be sold, embedded in anything from computers to coffee-makers. The vast majority of them will be able to “think” but not “talk”: they will perform specific tasks but cannot communicate. But this is now starting to change. The cost, size and power requirements of wireless functions are falling rapidly, so some unlikely candidates are now being connected to networks. For example, bridges and buildings are being monitored for structural integrity by small sensors. Farmland is being watched and irrigation systems are being switched on and off remotely.

In years to come, wireless communications will increasingly become part of the fabric of everyday life. David Clark, a computer scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who helped develop the Internet, believes that in 15 or 20 years' time the network will need to accommodate a trillion devices, most of them wireless. To illustrate what that world might be like, Robert Poor, the co-founder of two wireless companies, Adozu and Ember, uses a modest example: light fixtures in buildings. If every one of them contained a small wireless node, people would not only be able to control the lighting more effectively but put them to many other uses too. If the nodes were programmed to serve as online smoke detectors, they could signal a fire as well as show its location. They could also act as a security system or provide internet connectivity to other things in the building.

Such applications are already being developed. For instance, Philips, an electronics firm, plans to introduce wirelessly controlled lighting systems for commercial buildings in around five years' time. And its researchers are working on making networked light fittings capable of monitoring the objects throughout a building, tracking equipment in hospitals or preventing theft in offices.

Although the technology exists, different approaches do not as yet work well together. Unlike computer software, which can be deployed with a few mouse-clicks, each system still needs to be tailor-made. And the melding of communications and computing brings together two industries and engineering cultures that are generally at odds, slowing progress. Moreover, the business models to justify the time and cost of adding wireless services are embryonic.

Still, the general direction is clear. In the years ahead new wireless technologies will appear in a plethora of devices, much as computer chips did in the second half of the 20th century.

Task 4. Explain the meaning of the following words and phrases from the article:

1. computer chip

2. embedded

3. irrigation system

4. light fixture

5. switched on and off remotely

6. location

7. node

8. researcher

9. tailor-made

10. be at odds

Task 5. Match the verbs and nouns to make word partnership. Check your answers in the article.

1. put on	a) tasks
2. place into	b) networks
3. perform	c) structural integrity
4. connect to	d) computer chips
5. monitor for	e) the human body

Task 6. Decide if the following statements are true or false. Correct the false ones with the right information and discuss your answers with a partner.

1. Tiny devices are being placed into animals to perform useful tasks.

2. Bridges and buildings are being monitored for structural integrity by small sensors.

3. Farmland is being switched on and off remotely and irrigation systems are being watched.

4. Robert Poor is the co-founder of two wireless companies, Adozu and Philips.

5. Philips plans to introduce wirelessly controlled lighting systems.

6. Computer software can be deployed with a few mouse-clicks.

Task 7. Answer these questions.

1. What capabilities are being put on computer chips now?

2. Do coffee-makers have microprocessors?

3. What is David Clark?

4. What example does Robert Poor give in order to illustrate what that world might be like?

5. Where will new wireless technologies appear in the future?

Task 8. Work in groups. Write a list of as many uses of the microprocessor as you can think of. Compare your lists with other groups and discuss your ideas.

Task 9. Summarize the article.

ADDITIONAL TASKS.

QUIZ SHOW

Task 1a. Do the mini-quiz. How much do you know about the telephone?

1. When was the telephone invented?

2. Which country has the most telephone lines?

3. How many telephone lines are there in the world today?

Text 2a. Listen to this extract from a quiz show and circle the person who gets each question right. If neither Mary nor John gets the questions right, circle “Neither”.

Question 1: Mary / John / Neither

Question 2: Mary / John / Neither

Question 3: Mary / John / Neither

Question 4: Mary / John / Neither

Question 5: Mary / John / Neither

Question 6: Mary / John / Neither

Task 3a. Look at the questions. Can you remember the answers to any of them? Make a guess if you are not sure.

1. Who does Mary say invented the telephone?

2. What letter does John give as the answer to the second question?

3. What is Braille?

4. What word do Americans use for “mobile phone”?

5. What number do you dial in the UK for the emergency services?

6. What was the first used to send a letter in Britain in 1840?

Task 4a. Listen again and check your answers.

Task 5a. Listen to the first part of a radio programme and write a word or short phrase to complete the notes.

Name of programme:	1)
Name of presenter:	2)
People on future programmes: Socrates,…, Queen Elizabeth I	3)
Number of phone lines in the world:	4)
Country with most phone lines:	5)
Number of phone lines in the UK:	6)

Task 6a. Listen to the rest of the radio programme and choose the correct answer.

1. Alexander Graham Bell was born in…

A the USA

B Scotland

C Canade

2. Which of Bell’s relatives were deaf?

A his mother and his wife

B his father and his mother

C his grandmother and his mother

3. What was the problem with the telegraph?

A It was too slow.

B It sometimes lost the message.

C The messages got confused.

4. The first phone call was made on…

A March 17^th 1867

B March 9^th 1906

C March 10^h 1876

5. Bell’s assistant was called…

A Wilson

B Watson

C Winston

6. How did Bell feel about his invention?

A amazed

B pleased

C nervous

Task 7a. As a class, discuss these questions. Give your reasons for your opinions.

1. If you could interview someone from the past, who would you choose? Why?

2. What questions would you ask him or her?