English is my cup of tea. Part 5. Учебное пособие

Supplementary Reading

And take a shit.

Email ceremony divorces

Password money

Check it out

Desk top e sign

Fake diamond chime.

Digital Devil: Internet Hell (by Richard W. Hughes)

Webbed feet

Yikes! Is you shakin' in yo boots? You've read all about it and so have I. The internet menace, of course. Given the dangers of child porn, online gambling and the fact that, with that humble Macintosh in your basement, your 12-year old son now has the potential to hack into NORAD and bring the entire female western world to its knees with the threat of a tactical nuclear strike on Bill Clinton's pecker, I guess we should all be calling for some good old fashioned totalitarianism. Break out the Gestapo. Where is Joe Stalin in our hour of need? At the very least, a bit of the Mahathir "I-will-rule-forever/pray-to-me-or-I-will- lock-you-up-on-improper-sex-with-a-water-beetle" charges seems apropos. C'mon, baby, we gotta stomp that crap out right now, with a Shaquille O'Neal size 21 steel toe.

Deja vu

Ooo-eeee-oooo… Ever felt like you've been here before? Let's look at some of the previous menaces to Mom, religion, the flag, mango pie and the downfall of the human race. Just in my lifetime, it's been communism (ho hum), rock and roll music (yeah, yeah, yeah), television (nod), miniskirts (oo la la) and long hair (does anybody still remember the Lee Kwan Yew 'hippie-goat' forced haircuts at the Singapore border?). And that's not even including the Reagan presidency, which, in my youthful folly, appeared as serious a threat as any posed by the Soviets. Funny, despite all the above, the world has not come to an end. Life goes on.

Scary monsters

Ooo-eeee-oooo… Let me tell you what scares me. Child porn, online gambling, drug dealers and terrorists passing secret messages to one another are

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not among them. What sends the creepy-crawlys up my spine is the idea that any government body anywhere can claim to have the right to listen in on private conversations.

S'kuse me, but to my way of thinking, a fundamental human right is that of being able to speak with a fellow human being without the threat that someone else is listening. Isn't that what "free speech" is all about? What's so seditious about that?

Boston chat party

Today, we have the means to speak to one another in complete privacy. It's called private key/public key encryption. Such technology is virtually uncrackable. So why isn't William "I-want-to-own-the-world-and-the-axis-on- which-it-spins" Gates incorporating this directly into our operating systems? Simple. The idea scares the devil out of governments. Particularly that so-called leader of the free world, the USA.

Basically, what governments want is the right to spy on us. The idea that people can communicate without them understanding or listening in scares the bejesus out of them. And to me, that's as it should be, as pure as mother's milk. Because that's the only thing that keeps them honest.

Honesty check

These clever cats couch their arguments under the guise of the fight against terrorism, drugs dealers and other such dangers. Let's examine the facts. Deaths from so-called terrorism (i.e., non-government-sanctioned killings) and illegal drug use total far less than just the deaths attributed to one single legal drug alone: tobacco. More people probably die falling down the stairs each year than from illegal drug use or terrorism combined. So why all the fuss?

Protecting our privates

Why is privacy important on the internet? Because the internet has the potential to help us reclaim so much that has been lost over the past few decades. Good encryption will allow us to finally communicate again in privacy, back to the days before wire taps, centralized databases, and all of the other encroachments on our personal lives by government and corporate interests. The simple step of building encryption into our software will do more than any number of other things. No longer will you receive five credit card applications when you apply for a driver's license. Nor will your health problems be fair game for companies offering you car insurance.

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Supplementary Reading

Nobody's business but our own

As businesspeople, why should you care? Because lower levels of government interference in business have traditionally yielded better results. Hong Kong is a shining example, a place that has prospered mainly because government mitts have been slapped away before they can grab hold of what is yours and mine.

Privacy is part and parcel of the precious stone business, a trade traditionally more laissez-faire than the limp-wristed Pathan border guard who threw a piece of hashish at me when I crossed the Afghan-Pakistan border twenty years ago. Gem dealers understand the need for privacy better than a $500 a night call girl. Which is why the internet can be a boon to our business. With proper encryption, the internet offers more privacy than a Bill Clinton wet dream.

Spy versus spy

Basically, what governments say is that they reserve the right to spy on us. And they will use computers to do it. The fact is that with the onset of high technology, we have lost our privacy. And with the onset of the internet, we have the means to get it back. Encryption is David's sling against Goliath. It is our a- bomb, our big stick, an end run around government regulation and spying. But only if we insist on proper encryption, not the watered down version the US government is trying to peddle.

Perfect day

Ooo-eeee-oooo… Will the internet change the world a lot? Will it make our lives that much better? Probably not. But what does? The internet will only make our lives a little better. And like anything, just for those who embrace it. I am embracing it. I am no longer young. I no longer expect the earth to shudder and shake with each new idea. I've seen too much. This nail sticking up has been pounded into submission too many times. I have learned to take what's offered. Today, a little bit better is just alright. A little bit better is enough. Now if the dweeb geniuses can just figure out to get back the final two digits on the goddamned century, it'll be a perfect day.

New Technology

Energy 2045

Texas has joined the Union! After years of contentious negotiations, the country’s king of renewable energy has agreed to fully link its Texas-only

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electric infrastructure to the rest of the country: For the first time, the continental U.S. will have one unified power grid. With Texas coming into the fold, leadership in both the House and Senate have said they’re fast-tracking bills to mandate a rapid rollout of what they’re charmingly calling ANGEL (Automated

Next-Generation Energy Localization) load-balancing and risk-distributing technologies that work best with more people on the grid producing more power from more sources. About one quarter of the country mainly people in the newest housing units already live with some of the changes we can expect, barring some kind of Texit disaster. Herein, a guide for the rest of us. (And a few tips that even the people already living in the future can benefit from.)

The Microgrid

What It Is: A system that links you and the power generated by your home with your neighbors and the power generated by their homes (and maybe local businesses or other nearby buildings).

Why It Matters: As long as you’ve got a way of producing your own power, like rooftop or window solar, you are now a power company. That not only makes you money, it keeps the utility from having to fire up a giant plant just because your neighbors all want to charge their Teslas. Plus, if there’s an emergency for the national grid, your microgrid can disconnect and run independently until problems are resolved.

How to Get Started: If you’re not on a microgrid, call your utility and find out when you can get on one. If you already are, legally you should have a map of the properties you’re connected to and an upgraded electric meter with a command module showing the type and source of electrons flowing into your home.

Transactive Energy

What it is: An algorithmic method for managing the grid. Individual devices will tell the grid how much the homeowner is willing to pay to operate them (for example, you may be willing to pay more for air conditioning on a hotter day), then the grid will look at all the inputs from all the homeowners and calculate a price that will meet everyone’s needs while balancing generation and demand. (This price will change constantly.)

Why it matters: It makes energy cheaper both because competition will drive prices down, and because we’ll efficiently use the infrastructure we have, instead of paying to build more.

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Supplementary Reading

How to get started: Inventory your major appliances. Transactivecompliant devices bear a stylized TE logo next to the Energy Star icon. Then the onerous part: configuring each one to bid prices you’re comfortable with. To start, turn on transactive mode and go with the defaults (which represent an average person/budget). Then check out our tips.

2045 Energy Tips

Use Your Car Strategically

If there’s an autonomous electric vehicle in your family or circle of friends, garage it at the home with the least predictable generation, where its battery can even out demand. (There’s little loss of convenience, since you can summon the car whenever you want.)

Upgrade Your Command

Utility-included command modules are pathetic, and they’re installed outside, where you never see them. (And they can’t help you make decisions if you never see them.) Buy an aftermarket module for your kitchen or living room. Get one capable of the following breakdowns:

Bid View: When, from where, and at what price you’ve been getting

power.

Balance View: How much the utility has been using your appliances for stabilization, which earns account credits.

Self-Sufficiency View: How many hours you operate under your own power. Buying a battery will boost this number, saving money; this view helps you size the battery.

Optimize Your Appliances

New appliances come with presets that dictate to you, their owner, when they should be used. Here are some rules of thumb for when you should listen:

For always-on appliances, like your refrigerator, always accept the presets. They’ll never sacrifice the appliance’s main function. For example, if the grid is stressed, a transactive fridge will adjust when the compressor

kicks on but that’s never going to push it above a safe temperature.

There’s no downside.

For time-shiftable appliances, like the washer and dryer, sometimes accept the presets. If you’re about to wash your dress shirt for tomorrow’s important meeting, you can’t have the washer/dryer deciding to turn on after you’ve left for work.

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For adjustable appliances, like the air conditioner, never accept presets. Who knows if you’re comfortable with what GE thinks the average

American likes? Go in and set your own preferences.

Your Stuff in 2045

The idea of EDC originated as insurance against a society that was possibly crumbling. In today’s digital city, it’s a set of things that helps you make sense of a society that’s definitely overwhelming.

Leatherman: Besides a knife for opening Amazon Alpha Prime boxes, this version has a pentalobe screwdriver for fixing small devices swapping batteries, etc.

Ray-Ban AR Wayfarer: When the information layer can be just as overwhelming and inscrutable as the street parking signs you sometimes still see in landmarked districts, a pair of good shades is crucial. The RBAR app

lets you select what types of information you see food and drink or public transit options, for example. (Think of sailors wearing sunglasses of different tints depending on the water they’ll be out on.) Plus, these still shade your eyes from the sun.

Bose SoundSight 35 Headphones: An alternate way to cope with augmented reality, especially if glasses are inconvenient, like in the rain: audio. Location tracking and accelerometers mean that you can look toward a building, and the voice assistant will tell you the hours that restaurant is open. Use skull vibration cancellation for especially loud environments.

Yeti Ionoprinted Mug: Since the disposable-cup ban, it’s been crucial to have a cup with you. This is the best one out there: It’s the size and shape of a credit card, until you use Bluetooth to give it a small jolt of electricity, which folds it into shape.

Mophie Battery: Public inductive charging mats are (still) slow. One of these will get your devices through the day.

Faraday Bag: A cloth case woven with material that blocks all radio signals. In a city covered with wireless service, stashing your devices in one of these is the only way to truly check out.

Dyson Personal Cool: Most cities are now officially unbearable during the summer. Personal a/c is a must. This device makes a halo of cool around your body, with a retro design of the company’s room fans from the 2010s.

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Supplementary Reading

II.Answer the following questions after reading the text.

1.What is the Microgrid?

2.Why is the Microgrid important?

3.What is Transactive Energy?

4.What are the advantages of Transactive Energy?

5.What does “strategic use of the car” mean?

6.Why is it reasonable to accept presets for always-on appliances?

7.What are functions of Ray-Ban AR Wayfarer?

8.Why has it been crucial to have a cup with you?

9.What does Faraday Bag do?

10.Which of mentioned in the article things would you like to have?

Moonstruck

What do you know about space exploration?

Would you like to travel in space?

Charles Duke is one of nine surviving astronauts who stood on the Moon. He and his wife Dorothy describe the highs and lows of being involved in the space programme

Charles Duke: I remember vividly the day I volunteered for the space programme. Dottie was very supportive. But my new job brought instant success and celebrity, and my ego swelled. Things were starting to go wrong between us. as I was so strongly focused on my career. Being chosen for one of the later Apollo missions is still one of the high points of my life. Our view of the Earth was the most spectacular sight I'd ever seen, and I walked in wonder on the Moon. It was an incredibly still, crater-pocked, awesome environment.

Everyone knows about Buzz Aldrin's alcoholism, but I think all 12 of us who've been there were left with a heavy sense of, 'What now?' afterwards. I stayed to work on the Space Shuttle. It wasn't the same, the buzz was gone. Money became my goal, and I was working even longer hours than before.

It was a strange time, which Dorothy and I should have helped each other through, but we ended up competing. I was more of a military drill sergeant than a father, I was always demanding perfection. Things got much worse before I could learn to be more calm and encouraging. We had a different relationship after that.

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I'm retired from the military now, but am active in business, and Dottie and I are involved in a Christian ministry. We're still not perfect, but we're best friends. I feel lucky that we found the strength to love and accept one another, because once you do that, you start to change.

Dorothy Duke: Test pilot school and the space programme never seemed that dangerous, because it was always very structured and controlled. Anyway, Charlie has always taken the typical pilot attitude of 'Oh, it'll never happen to me, I'm too smart.' But there was anxiety. The difficult thing was the constant separation, so it was almost a relief to finally get to Charlie's flight (Apollo 16).

I've never seen Charlie so excited as when he first came back. But then it was straight on to Apollo 17. I'd been hoping for a new beginning, more family time after the lunar landing, but it never came. It just seemed to get worse as Charlie struggled with the comedown. I cried a lot. Then I decided I was going to divorce him. The only thing to stop me was a nagging feeling that maybe this perfect husband I was looking for wasn't out there. The next logical step seemed to be suicide, and I thought about that. Once I recall telling him about these thoughts, and he rolled over and went back to sleep!

The change came one day when some people visited our church. Like a lot of Americans, I'd always gone out of habit, despite being agnostic at best, but what they said about the power of prayer really moved me. I developed the ability to forgive Charlie. Finally the change in me affected him and now we're very contented. The pain we went through was worthwhile. We've been part of each other's journey.

The Observer

Comprehension

1.Why is Charles Duke famous?

2.What was the Moon like?

3.What were the astronauts' feelings on being back on Earth?

4.How did space (ravel affect Charles Duke and his family?

5.How did Charles Duke behave towards his wife and family?

6.Why did things improve between him and his wife?

Holidays in Hell

I. Before you read, read the synopsis.

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Supplementary Reading

Holidays in Hell is P. J. O'Rourke's account of his travels while working for Rolling Stone magazine. He usually ended up in places where there had recently been a war. The extract describes his first visit to El Salvador in Central America.

II. Find El Salvador on a map. Do you know or can you imagine what kind of country it is? Do you know anything about its recent political history?

I thought El Salvador was a jungle. It isn't El Salvador has the scenery of northern California and the climate of southern California plus - and this was a relief no Californians. My flight came in over the cordillera that separates El Salvador from Honduras. The mountains were crisp and pointy like picture-book Alps but forested to the peaks. We flew across a wide, neatly cultivated valley and then turned east above the spectacular volcanic cones that divide the central valley from beaches as beautiful as any I've ever tried to avoid at Christmas time. The airport was in the coast littoral, among green fields. Tidy lines of palm trees stood along the roads. ()

I got a taxi into San Salvador. It was a little Toyota station wagon whose driver had filled the rear window with blinking lights, dangling Wise Men and FELIZ NAVIDAD in glitter letters. The road to town runs forty kilometres up through the lava-soil hills. () Nothing particularly sinister was on view, unless you count armed men - though every Latin country seems to have plenty of these. In the capital, some of the architecture was a shambles, but not from war, just from the earthquakes that level everything periodically.

I expected to see gross, barbaric haciendas owned by the oligarchy, the so-called Fourteen Families, who control more than half of El Salvador's industry and agriculture. But San Salvador's richest suburb, Colonia Escalon, looked like the second-string good parts of LA. () The wealthiest 20 per cent of the population gobbles up 66,4 per cent of El Salvador's personal income. Maybe this is unfair, but it still didn't look like any oligarch had enough worldly goods to scare Barry Manilow's accountant. ()

The middle class usually described as 'infinitesimal' or 'statistically almost nonexistent' appeared to be all over the place, honking their horns in dusty Jap cars and dented mini-pickups. At rush hour, San Salvador seemed to be populated () by one million New York cabdrivers, though Salvadorans speak

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more English than New York cabbies. All of the well-off people and many of the poor have been to the United States. ()

You can go to El Salvador, for the moment at least, and see nothing too dreadful, just some assorted anomalies. The soldiers guarding the highway to the airport were dressed in full camouflage but also in Day-Glo-orange road-crew vests. It must have been tough choosing between guerrilla sniper fire and the way the average Salvadoran drives.

But when you pick your hotel, you pick according to the kind of fear you prefer. The Sheraton, outside town on the hip of the San Salvador volcano, houses US military trainers, State Department and CIA types and oligarchs home on a visit after taking their bank accounts out for air in Miami. Behind the hotel, running down the volcano into town, is one of San Salvador's dozens of slumfilled ravines, or barrancas. This one is known locally as Calle Ho Chi Minh (Ho Chi Minh Street). The hotel security guards are probably useless against the leftwing guerrillas who trundle up and down the barranca. And the guards are probably in league with the right-wing death-squad boys who hang out in the bar. In January 1981, two US agrarian-reform advisers were gunned down in the Sheraton dining room by pistoleros, who escaped through the lobby at a slow walk. A month before, a US freelance journalist had been desaparecidoed there.

III.Answer the questions.

1.Do you get the impression that the author found what he expected in El Salvador?

2.Was he impressed by the evident wealth of the Fourteen Families?

3.Did he think that El Salvador was a dangerous place?

IV. Read again and answer these questions.

1.Was O'Rourke impressed by the geography of the country?

2.What time of year was it?

3.What was his reaction to the armed men?

4.What does he mean by this sentence?

San Salvador's richest suburb, Colonia Escaldn, looked like the secondstring good parts of LA.

5.Did he find that statistics about the middle class were true?

6.What was amusing about the way soldiers on the highway were dressed?

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