1. dust, smoke, fingerprint, hair

2. tiny

3. Task 3

   it's in a sealed case

If the group is fairly able and motivated, get them to cover the text and see how much of the table they can complete from their own general knowledge before they do the reading activity. When students come to work in threes, you could photocopy the page and cut it into three sections. This would ensure that each students focuses entirely on his or her given texts and does not try to read the others. Give them as much time as they need to read their texts and to complete the related sections of their tables.

Task 8

If you axe working with an able group, give them a few minutes to learn the information in their texts. Check that there are no comprehension problems. Then tell students to put the texts aside, and that they are not allowed to look at them during the information exchange. Weaker groups will need to check information in their texts in order to answer questions about it, but emphasize that this is a speaking, and not a reading activity. Go through the question forms. Then start the information gap activity: they have to complete the missing information in their tables by asking other students questions.

Task 7

Explain that they should also ask regarding any information they are not sure of, for example, any parts of the table they filled in just using their own general knowledge. When they have finished, put the table up on the board, and elicit the correct answers.

Reading

Task 6

Ask students to close their books and give them a few minutes to make a list of different kinds of storage devices mentioned in the course so far. Then tell them to add to the list any other kinds of storage devices that they know about. Ask for feedback and put the words on the board.

Key

Mentioned in this unit: CD-ROM, floppy disk, hard disk

Key

Medium

Floppy disk

Fixed hard disk

Removable hard disk

Others: double density floppy, DVD, high density floppy, magneto-optical disk, magnetic tape, removable magnetic disks

Advantages

standard, portable cheap

fast, large capacity

CD-ROM disk common, standard, removable, large capacity, cheap Magneto- removable, large optical disk capacity, can be written on, long-lasting Magnetic cheap, stores large tape amounts of data

fast, large capacity can transfer'data

Disadvantages

slow, limited capacity

fixed, cannot use to transfer data expensive, not standard, not common read-only, cannot change information, slow expensive, not standard

slow, no random access

Language work

Problem-solving

Linking words are essential in order to express anything more than the very simplest ideas. The words and phrases presented in this section are a collection of the most b asic ones - but, because, so, however, therefore, for this reason. Introduce the items one by one, and provide plenty of examples of each. To provide practice in using linking devices, take the opportunity to revise examples from earlier units. Put some sentences on the board in two columns.

A

Large companies use mainframes.

Notebooks are easy to They are popular with carry. salespeople.

Palmtops are very light. They are difficult to type with.

B

They are very powerful.

Get the students to link items from column A with items from column B, by adding either but, however, so, or because. Tell them to look for words in column A which axe related to words in column B, and to think of what that relationship is. Between the fact that mainframes are very powerful and the fact that companies use them, for example, the relationship is one of result, the link word is because. Between the positive fact that palmtops are light and the negative fact that they axe diffcult to type with, the relationship is contrast, the link word is but, and so on. This should make it easier for them to choose the appropriate word to link these ideas.

Thursday 5 Friday 1 Month 1 10 Month 3 2 Month 1 4 Monday

Task 10

Give the students as much time as they need to fill in the table, since it is a visual aid to understanding the text. Then get them to answer the questions.

Key

table 2 Tuesday 4 7 Friday 3 8 questions 1 Friday 2 3 Thursday 5 Month 2

Speaking

Task 11

Prepare students for this exercise by revising large numbers. A good way of doing this is a simple number dictation round the class. Each student thinks of a number and says it aloud in turn whilst the other members of the class write it down. Read the preparatory text together as a class, and make sure students know how to pronounce the units of capacity before you let them begin the pair work.

Task 9

This exercise is similar to the suggested practice exercise above. Remind students to look at the relationship between the ideas in the two halves of sentences that need to be linked, e.g. the relationship between cheap and slow in the first sentence is one of contrast, so the appropriate link word is but.

Key (other answers are possible)

1 but 2 but 3 so

4 but 5 however 6 so 7 but 8 but 9 Forthis reason

10 but 11 therefore

9

Graphical User Interface

An operating system is a group of programs that tell a computer how to perform basic functions, e.g. how to respond when a key on the keyboard is pressed, how to display a character on the monitor screen, or how to read and write to a disk. The operating system is started automatically when a computer is switched on. It is then used to start up and control other programs. The operating system determines how the user interacts with the computer. Some operating systems require the user to type commands, but an operating system with a graphical user interface (GUI) makes it easier for the user to control the computer. The most common type of graphical user interface is a WIMP (windows, icons, menus, pointer) system, such as Microsoft Windows or the Apple Mac operating system. It should be noted that the recycle bin icon used in the Microsoft Windows system has the same function as the trashcan icon used in the Apple Mac system, i.e. to access the program that stores deleted files, and allow them to be recovered.

When information has to be given to the user or information has to be input by the user, a window known as a dialog box is often used. Notice that the American spelling of dialog is commonly used in this context, although the British spelling dialogue is also found. Other American spellings such as disk and program are also commonly used in computing. Dialog boxes can contain a variety of elements to gather information from the user including: text boxes, drop-down list boxes, checkboxes, and command buttons. A Find dialog box is used to gather information from the user about the files they wish to find. Note that you can search for a piece of text in a file, or search for a file in a folder, but you search for a file on a disk.

Objectives

By the end of this unit, students should be better at: listening for specific detail identifying definitions in a text.

They should be able to:

make definitions using defining relative clauses use simple phrases to discuss possibilities.

date and time recycle bin mouse volume folder

They should know and be able to use these words and abbreviations: GUI, window, icon, pointer, menu, interface, dialog box, text box, checkbox, title bar, tab, recycle bin, arrow pointer, drag and drop.

Tuning-in

Task 1

Before students begin this unit, draw or project an image of a standard computer screen onto the board. This could be your own computer screen or that of one of your students. Explain what a GUI, or graphical user interface, means. Elicit or teach the following basic vocabulary for what they see in front of them screen, window, and icons. Also establish that the bar at the top of the screen is the title bar and the buttons on it are tabs. Although they are dealt with in greater detail further on in the unit, if these five basic terms are clear in the students' heads from the beginning, they will find the tasks much easier. They can then go on to try and identify the icons in Tasks 1 and 2. Remind students that most icons have some resemblance to the things they represent.

Task 2

Students may already have identified some or all of these icons in Task 1. If so, try and give them clues to help them classify any remaining unidentified

icons. Key

Basic English [ for Computing 1

OXFORD 1

for Computing 2

OXFORD 106

k network

Listening

Task 3

As always, the purpose of a preliminary pre- listening task like this one is to create expectations for the students to 'check' when they do the listening task. With less able groups, revise title bar and tab (which you taught them at the beginning of the unit) before beginning the exercise. This will make it easier for them to identify the remaining features.

Task 4

Teach or revise the prepositions and prepositional expressions - at the top, near the top, at the bottom, between -before you play the recording. Pause in the appropriate places to give the students time to write their answers. Play the text a second time to allow for corrections.

Key

1d 2b 3f 4a 5e 6c

Task 5

Give the students some time to attempt the next two tasks from memory and from their own understanding before playing the recording again for them to check and complete their answers.

Key

Id 2a 3b 4c

Task 8

With more able groups, or as a revision or follow-up exercise, you could give the students a certain amount of time to read the text, then ask them to produce the definitions themselves from memory, with their books closed. To make this easier, you could provide key words for each item, and ask the students to form sentences, e.g. menu - list, choices.

Key

1. Menus give the user a list of choices.

2. The interface is the connection between the user and the computer.

3. A window is an area of the computer screen where you can see the contents of a folder, a file, or a program.

4. An active window is the one in use.

5. 1

   i

   The pointer is the arrow you use to select icons or to choose options from a menu.

6. Icons are small pictures on the screen.They represent progams, folders, or files.

Language work

Before students look at the text, put the two sentences about icons on the board. An icon is a small picture on a computer screen. An icon represents items such as floppy disks.

Ask students how you could express these two ideas in one sentence, without repeating the word icon. When you have elicited or taught the use of which - i.e. An icon is a small picture on a computer screen which represents items such as floppy disks - go through the other examples together as a class. Get the students to read them aloud and write them down.

Task 6

Key

1d 2c 3a 4b

Reading

Task 9

This exercise gives students the opportunity to practise the use of which, and also recycles vocabulary from earlier units.

Task 7

This is a pre-reading task, which is intended to help make the following reading text more easily accessible. Give students a short time to study the diagram. Then ask for volunteers to show where each of the items is on the diagram.

Key

1d 2f 3h 4g 5i 6e 7b 8j 9c 10a

Task 10

Students may prefer to do this activity individually, but encourage them to compare their answers in pairs. Remind them that they can refer back to earlier tasks in the unit, and even earlier units to help them with vocabulary for their definitions. When they have finished, get them to compare their own definitions for these terms, with those provided in the Glossary.

Problem-solving

Task 11

Teach the Aids to Communication phrases in the box at the top of page 41 before beginning this pair- work exercise. This gives students some useful phrases for offering their ideas in English, whilst working in pairs. A good way to do this might be to part draw the objects on the board, and ask students to guess what they are. Add features gradually so that they can refine their guesses. This will create the need for language with which to make guesses or tentative suggestions. Emphasize that they should try to use this language when they are working together!

Key

1f 2g 3e 4b 5a 6d 7c

Writing

Task 12

The text revises important characteristics and features of a dialog box, and could either be done in class or set for homework. It is the first time that the students have been asked to write a piece of sustained prose, so make sure that they are quite clear about the facts. If necessary, go through the questions orally before they start writing. They should first write answers separately for each question, then think about ways in which they could be linked together to make a paragraph.

Key (other answers are possible)

The screen shows the Exit Windows dialog box. You use this box to close down and exit the Windows program.The dialog box contains two command buttons: OK and Cancel.You close down by clicking on the OK button. You return to the Windows program by clicking on the Cancel button.

Organizations that have a large number of computers normally have a technical support department of some kind. The computing support staff in these departments have a range of responsibilities, including the purchase and installation of computer hardware and software, setting up, managing and maintaining network systems, troubleshooting computing problems, and designing and adapting software. They also train users in the use of both equipment and software.

The person being interviewed in this unit is a Computing Support Assistant and is likely to be involved with basic troubleshooting problems. Problems can occur in any area but printing problems are very common. This is probably because printers are partly mechanical and the moving parts are more likely to give problems. The alignment and condition of the paper is important, and it is not uncommon for the paper to get stuck in the mechanism causing what is known as a paper jam.

General purpose office programs, such as word processors, spreadsheets, and databases usually have a large number of features, many of which are rarely used. Users often need help to find out how to operate these features. In PC systems it is also not uncommon for memory problems to occur, particularly if the user is using a large number of programs at the same time. Memory problems often cause the computer to stop functioning. When this happens, the computer is said to have hung or frozen, although the term frozen usually refers to the display screen.

It is important for the computing support staff to be able to communicate with users as well as keep up to date with current technical knowledge about hardware and software. Computing is changing at an accelerating pace and it is difficult for support staff to keep up with all the changes. Ways that this computing support assistant uses to keep in touch with developments include attending courses, using the Internet, and reading current magazines.

Objectives

By the end of this unit, students should be better at listening to an interview for specific detail.

They should be able to use adverbs of frequency.

They should know and be able to use the following words and expressions: freeze, crash, jam, paper jamming, virus, toner, support, support assistant, course.

Tuning-in

Task 1

Ask students what are the most common problems they experience working with their own computers, and what they do about them. In a monolingual group, this discussion could take place in the mother tongue, with the teacher supplying a list of key phrases in English. Alternatively, ask the students to brainstorm in groups, all the words they know for describing computer problems. After you have got feedback from the original discussion, ask the students to list what kind of problems Anne, who works with non-computer specialists, might have to deal with.

Listening

Task 2

Get the students to look through the list of problems 1 to 9 and check these with the list you have established on the board. Explain any new vocabulary before doing the exercise.

Key

I \J Computing Support Assistant

1/ 2/ 3/ W 5X 6/ 7/ 8X 9X

Task 3

Before starting the exercise, get students to close their books and brainstorm ways of how to keep up with new developments in computing. Put their ideas on the board, then get them to compare with the list in the Student's Book. Explain any new vocabulary before doing the exercise.

Key

1/ 2/ 3X 4/ 5/ 6/ 7/

Computing words and abbreviations

Task 5

This revision exercise is a chance to recycle vocabulary from earlier chapters. Students should try to do the classification exercise without looking back in their books, and compare answers in pairs before correcting.

Language work

A good way to introduce adverbs of frequency is to write them down the side of the board next to a scale, where, for example, always is 100%, sometimes 50%, and never 0%. This allows students to see clearly the place of the adverbs whose meanings are less absolute, and avoids confusion. Usually, for example, will go in on the scale at about 90%, above often, which should be at about 75%. Present the adverbs by giving lots of examples from everyday life, and eliciting similar ones from the students. Write their examples on the board. Elicit the rule for the position of the adverb of frequency in a sentence. Tell students to look carefully at the sentences on the board. They should notice that adverbs of frequency come directly in front of the verb in most sentences, but they come directly after the verb to be.

Output Storage

laser printer floppy disk

dot-matrix fixed hard disk

printer removable hard disk

digital camera inkjet printer CD-ROM disk

keyboard monitor magneto-optical disk

microphone magnetic tape

Task 6

This is another useful revision exercise. When the students have completed the original matching activity, you could exploit this language in other ways. For example, tell students to close their books, and put the definitions up on the board, with the verbs missing. Get the students to copy them down, supplying the appropriate verbs themselves.

Key

Key

Input joystick lightpen scanner

1c 2a 3b 4f 5e 6h 7g 8d

Task 4

Less able students should do the exercise using the example sentence as a transferable model, and simply change the adverb of frequency in each case, e.g. There were usually problems with the printers. There were never problems with the monitors, etc. With more able students, try to elicit some alternative constructions, e.g. She sometimes had problems with the network.The network was sometimes a problem. Encourage students to use a variety of structures.

Key (other answers are possible)

There were always problems with printers. There were never problems with monitors. Occasionally cabling was a problem. Scanners were almost never a problem. She sometimes had problems with the network. Spreadsheets occasionally were a problem. There were sometimes problems with databases. Usually there were problems with word processing.

Writing

Task 7

Weaker students may need additional support for this exercise. Let them have access to the tapescript of the interview at the beginning of the unit, and provide help in structuring their answers.

Key (other answers are possible)

Anne is a Computing Support Assistant She helps with any problems people have with their computers. She likes all aspects of her job because it's varied. People have problems with the hardware, often with printers.They have problems finding options. Occasionally a computer freezes because of a memory problem. She keeps up with new developments by reading magazines, using the Internet, and going on/taking courses. She goes on courses on the operating system and on software.

It is common to connect computers together to form a network. This is usually done by connecting cables to an electronic board called a network interface card (NIC) in each computer. Networks make communication between users possible and allow software and hardware to be shared. They also make it easier to maintain and control a large number of computers. A network that is connected over a small area - e.g. one building - is called a local area network (LAN), and a network connected over a large area, e.g. different buildings, different cities, or even different countries, is known as a wide area network (WAN). The most common network arrangement is known as a client/server system. The main computers that provide a service on the network are called servers, and the other computers that use the services are called clients.

The physical arrangement of the network is known as the network topology. Three common topologies are known as star, ring, and bus. A star topology has each computer individually connected to a central hub. The hub may be the main server computer, but is more often an electronic device that is used for connecting all the computers together. A ring topology has all the computers connected in a closed loop, and a bus topology has all the computers connected to a main cable that is terminated at each end. A mesh topology, where every computer is connected to every other computer, is not commonly used. Most networks use a mixture of topologies since each arrangement has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Networks

Passwords are commonly used to restrict access to a network and keep the system secure. Each user of a network is given an account name and password, which determine what services are made available to them. Passwords are supposed to prevent unauthorized users, or hackers, from breaking into the system, so they must not be easy for outsiders to guess. At the same time, they should not be too difficult for the user to remember. Ideally, they should have a minimum of six characters, and be composed of a mixture of capital and small letters, numbers, and symbols. Certain symbols have to be avoided because they have special meaning in computer systems. It is better not to use words in the dictionary or proper names, since some hackers use special computer programs which automatically try all the words and combinations of words in a computerized dictionary to try to discover or crack other users' passwords. It is also useful to change passwords frequently.

Objectives

By the end of this unit, students should be better at: scanning a text for information matching diagrams with a spoken description linking information in text and diagrams to infer new information.

They should be able to make simple predictions using the structure If X happens, Y will happen.

They should know and be able to use these words and abbreviations: LAN, WAN, ring/bus/star topologies, hub, server, password, network.

Tuning-in

Task 1

The diagram shows a typical LAN in a small health centre. Ask students to do this exercise individually, and compare their answers in pairs or groups. With a more advanced class, you could treat the exercise as a problem-solving activity. Put a simplified version of the diagram up on the board. Draw boxes to represent the five rooms, but do not show any hardware or connections. Ask the students to work in groups and to decide what the doctors, receptionists, and practice manager would need in terms of hardware and connections. Get the groups to feedback their ideas to the class, before allowing them to compare their solutions with the diagram.

1. staff of a health centre: doctors, receptionists, and practice manager

2. five PCs, a server, a laser printer, and a dot-matrix printer (for prescriptions, which require special paper)

3. checking patients' records, checking drug information and appointments, emailing other practices, hospitals, and the local health board

4. making appointments, updating patient records, emailing

5. finance - practice accounts, salaries, etc.

Task 2

Give the students a short time to discuss this in pairs and then take some suggestions from around the class.

Key

LANs are found in schools, colleges, hotels, department stores, businesses, etc. Some people even have their homes networked.

Reading

Task 3

Questions I and 2 can be answered from the diagram. Students can make a guess at 3 and 4. Get some feedback from the class on their ideas before letting them read the text in Task 4 to check their answers. See Task 4 for key.

Task 4

The texts here in 4 and in 5 are extracts from a guide to networks written for business people.

Key

1. two or more computers linked togetherto allow users to share files, software, and hardware.

2. server, clients, hub.

3. LANs operate in limited areas. WANs operate across countries and continents.

4. easy communication and information sharing; allow expensive software and hardware to be shared.

Task 5

This activity aims to develop inference skills. It requires students to combine text and visual information.

Key

1 server 2 client 3 peripherals 4 hub

Listening

Task 6

Pre-teach mesh and bus by drawing the shapes on the board. Once students have realized that the name of each different type of topology is determined by its shape, they should find the matching task easier. Do not correct until students have done Task 7.

Task 7

Tell the students that they are now going to hear a description of three of the four topologies. Note that, as mentioned in the introduction to this unit, the mesh topology is not commonly used. It is therefore not described here.

Key

1d 2c 3a 4b

Task 8

Before you play the recording for a second time give the students some time to read through the six statements. Ask them to work in pairs and see how many statements they can match to a topology from memory, and by process of deduction. Then play the recording for students to complete their answers and check them.

Key

1 ring 2 bus 3 bus 4 star 5 ring 6 bus

Language work

Write three actions and three consequences on the board like this:

Consequences

You won't get access to the

network.

You will lose the

Actions

The cable fails.

You don't use the right

password.

You don't save your

document.

information.

The whole network will fail.

Ask the students to link each action with its consequence. Mark the correct links on the board and demonstrate how we link an action and a consequence using if... Then ask the students to link the other two examples in the same way. Underline, or get one of the students to underline, the verb forms, and elicit the rule about sequence of tenses - the action clause is in the present tense, the consequence clause in the future tense. Teach or revise the formation of the future tense, particularly the use of the short form of will-'U (which is used more in spoken than in written English), and of wiZZ not-won't. As a preliminary practice exercise, ask students to complete these predictions: If you don't study hard ... If you spill coffee on the keyboard... If you touch a live wire ...

Problem-solving

Task 11

Before the students start the task, pre-teach or revise character mixture, capital letter, small letter, space, hyphen, dot, symbol.

This activity is best done in groups; then compare answers with the whole class. Disagreement will provide good opportunity for language use and acquisition. As a follow-up, ask students to devise a new password for themselves, and explain their choice.

Key

1. no numbers

2. common name and too short

3. too short

4. dictionary word

5. not easy to remember

6. includes a dot

7. no capitals

8. good: correct length, mixture of numbers, capital and small letters, fairly easy to remember.

Writing

Task 9

This task not only practises the language function that the students have just learnt (predicting consequences), but it also revises some of the topics from previous units in the book. Tell students to refer back to the relevant unit if they are not sure of the facts for any of the answers.

Key

1g 2e 3f 4h 5a 6c 7i 8b 9j 10d

Task 10

As in the previous exercise, the students may have to look back in the book to find information or the vocabulary they need.

Key

1. ... the dialog box will close

2. If you don't select cancel...

3. ... you will not/won't get access to the network

4. If there is a printer fault...

5. ... it will damage your eyesight.

Task 12

Weaker students may need help with this activity. If you think your class will find it difficult, give them the beginning of each of the remaining sentences in the description.

1. The hardware 4 The receptionists use it consists of... for...

2. There is a PC in each... 5 The doctors....

3. The printers and 6 The practice manager... the server...

More advanced students could be asked to find out about and write a description of the LAN in your college or university.

Users often want to send messages from one network to another or to computers at the other side of the world. This can be done using a variety of communications links. Normal copper telephone wires can be used over short distances but shielded cable called coaxial cable or coax can be used for longer distances. However,- coax has largely been replaced by even faster cable known as fibre optics or fibre optic cable. (Note that the American spelling of fibre is fiber.) Fibre optic cable uses glass fibres to conduct a beam of laser light. To transmit signals long distances around the world satellites are often used. The signal is transmitted and received by earth-satellite stations positioned at suitable locations over the earth's surface. Microwave transmissions are another means of transmitting signals from one microwave station to another.

An increasingly popular way of communicating using computers is voicemail. In this system, spoken messages are sent to a server computer where they are stored in areas called voice mailboxes. When the user connects to their mailbox they can listen to the stored messages.

Video conferencing is a more advanced form of communication by computer, which enables meetings to take place over long distances. Video cameras are used at each end of the communications link so that the participants can see and hear each other. The end of the link nearest a user is called Near End and the end of the link furthest from the user is called Far End. Each user has a keypad that enables them to control features of the system, for example to make or end a call, adjust the sound volume, and zoom the camera in to get close-up views, or zoom it back for a broader perspective. An additional display feature, called picture-in-picture, allows one image to be displayed inside another image.

12

When a piece of text is scanned using a scanner input device, an image of the text is input to the computer and displayed on the screen. It is not possible to change or edit the displayed text using a word processor, however, because the image is graphical, not digital. An optical character recognition (OCR) program must be used to convert the text image into digital text characters that can be edited. To identify a scanned text character, the software compares the character image to stored data about the shape of standard characters. It is easier for the OCR software to recognize the scanned characters if they are printed using block capitals and are not too small. If a text is written in 'joined-up' writing, it is more difficult for the OCR to identify because there are extra lines and loops between the letters.

Objectives

By the end of this unit, students should be better at: listening and reading for detailed information explaining rules orally.

They should be able to describe procedures using the present passive.

They should know and be able to use these words: voicemail, video conferencing, telephone lines, fibre optic cable, microwave station, earth satellite, relay, send, transmit.

Tuning in

Task 1

Before students look at the task, very briefly elicit some ideas from the class about the ways in which the San Francisco and Georgia departments could communicate and share information. Then ask them to work individually or in pairs to match the list of items a-e with the diagram.

Key

Communications

1a,h 2b,g 3c,f 4d 5e

Task 2

Set a time limit and ask the students to work in pairs. They should try and write down as many organizations which use long-distance computer communications to exchange information as they can.

Key

Examples: airlines, news agencies, weather forecasting, shipping lines.

Listening

Task 3

Elicit from the class what voicemail is. Find out if anyone knows what analogue and digital signals are before you let students look them up in the Glossary. You may also need to pre-teach caller and recipient. Note that on the diagram, analogue signals are shown by sine waves, and digital signals by square waves. When they have completed the matching task, ask the students to write a simple description of how a voicemail system works using only the diagram.

Key

1b 2d 3a 4c

Task 4

This provides practice in listening for detailed information. Start by quickly revising telling the time, and give students some practice in reading times outloud, e.g. 8.15-eight-fifteen or a quarter past eight, 8.30-eight-thirty or half-past eight, 8.45 - eight-forty-five or a quarter to nine.

Make sure they have enough time to read the questions and that they understand the situation, e.g who is London and who is in Brussels, etc. before you play the recording.

Note that the message contains an email address. This topic is addressed in more detail in Unit 13, Task 9, but you might want to explain to your students, that the letters 'b,e' at the end of the address indicate Belgium.

1. One (for sales-)

2. 10.15 a.m.

3. there are no seats on the 8.30 flight so he won't be on time

4. by plane

5. 9.45 a.m.

6. 10.30 a.m.

7. 11.15 a.m. is possible if the traffic isn't bad but he makes the appointment for 11.30 a.m. to be safe

8. because after 8.30 a.m. he will be on his way to the airport (students will have to inferthis from the information they are given)

Task 5

The diagram shows a page from Lenny's organizer on his PC - appointments are made by clicking on the 'pages' with the mouse and adding the details and times. Students will probably be able to identify the problem of the meeting time immediately. Let them listen to the recording again to work out the details.

Key

The 'problem' is that Lenny can't meet with John Bailes at 11.30 because he has another appointment at that time. In his message, John asks Lenny to email him by 8.30 if there is any problem. However, Lenny does not check his voicemail until 9.00.This is too late to contact John, who will already be on his way to the airport.

Reading

Task 6

Check how much the students know about video conferencing. Your college or university may have this facility. Explain that the diagram shows the control pad for a video conferencing system. Ask the class to predict what sort of controls such a system would need, and write their predictions on the board. Pre-teach Near End (the caller), Far End (the recipient), mute (silent, the microphone is switched off), and banner (screen message). Students can then read the text for the first time to check which of the controls they predicted are mentioned. On the second reading, they can scan the text to find the answers to questions 2 and 2.

1. a puts Near End, Far End, or both on mute

b controls the zoom in and out of the Far End camera

c selects numbers from the speed dial list d ends the call

2. aA bF cG dJ

Language work

Refer the students to the diagram of the police network in Task 1. Elicit the first few steps in sending a request for a suspect's record from San Francisco to Savannah. Write these on the board in as simple terms as possible.

1. A police officer requests a record.

2. His or her computer sends the message to a microwave station.

3. The station transmits the request to the nearest satellite.

Ask the class to identify the action (the verb) in each step. Underline this. Explain that often when we are describing a process the action is more important than the person or thing doing the action. Rub out the agent in each step, and convert actions 2 and 2 into the Present passive.

1. A record is requested.

2. The message is sent to a microwave station.

Ask a student to change action 3 in the same way.

Elicit the formation of the structure: the verb to he in the present tense (is, are), plus the past participle of the main verb. Point out that the past participle is normally formed by adding the suffix ed to the infinitive, but that there are many irregular verbs which do not take this form, e.g. send/sent, and they should make an effort to learn common irregular past forms.

Task 7

This is probably best done as an individual written task.

Key

(send, relay, and transmit are almost interchangeable in many contexts in this exercise) 1 are requested 2 is sent

3. is relayed 4 is transmitted 5 is transmitted 6 is relayed

7 is sent

Task 8

Using the information about San Francisco/Savannah communications at the beginning of this unit, the students should now be able to work together and discuss how records are sent. Do the activity orally first, eliciting the steps from the class. Then ask students to rate their own descriptions of the process.

Problem-solving

Task 9

Set a short time limit for the students to write down, in pairs, as many links as they can think of.

Key (other answers are possible)

WoridWideWeb -to display texts, diagrams, and tasks

email -for student and teachers to communicate with each other

video conferencing -for live lectures, tutorials, and discussions

FTP (file transfer protocol) - for transferring or downloading files

Ask some pairs to talk through their descriptions and invite comment from the class.

Speaking

Task 10

This task focuses on some of the problems of optical character recognition, for example when computers are used to process handwritten cheques. Students can revise ways of giving advice (See Unit 7). For example: You should make the letters big. They're too smaE. You should use simple shapes. You shouldn't link characters.

When different networks are connected together, the combined network is called an internetwork or internet. The connection of networks throughout the world forms what is known as the Internet. Networks all over the world are connected to the Internet using electronic devices known as routers. The routers decide which route on the Internet a particular signal should take to get to its destination. Users often pay a monthly fee to a type of company known as an Internet service provider (ISP), to provide them with an Internet connection. A variety of services such as email and file transfer are made available to users on the Internet. These services are controlled using a system of server computers at various locations throughout the world.

Electronic mail, which has come to be known as email, is one of the most popular services on the Internet. Email allows users to send electronic messages to storage areas known as mailboxes on server computers where they can be read by other users. Each user has their own email address which determines where their email messages are stored. Every email address has two main parts separated by an ampersand symbol, i.e. username@domain name. The domain name maybe subdivided using dots. A typical email address might have the following components:

Username @ server . type of . country or identifier name organization

Standard codes are used for the types of organization, although they may vary slightly from country to country. Not all email addresses use all the possible parts of the domain name. An email message has two main parts known as the header and the body of the message. The body contains the message itself, whilst the header reveals the identity of the recipient and of the sender, the date it was sent, and the subject title of the message. Email consists of plain text but other types of computer files, such as formatted text, spreadsheets, sound files, or video files can be attached to email messages. These email attachments can then be opened and read using an appropriate program on the recipient's computer.

Groups of users that share a special interest can subscribe to free newsgroups on the Internet. Users subscribe by registering their email address. Subscribers can send plain text messages to a common area on a server computer where all the newsgroup members can read them. In this way, conversations about the special interest can taie place between all the members of the group. The name of the newsgroup is made up of different parts separated by dots and indicates the specialist area the subscribers are interested in. For example, newsgroup names that begin with alt indicate that they deal with alternative types of subjects, e.g. alt.tasteless-jokes. Newsgroup names beginning with rec deal with recreational subjects, e.g. rec.chess. When you are replying to a message, itis common to include the original message with each line marked with a chevron (>), and if you are replying to a reply, each line of the original text is marked with double chevrons (»). In this way the correspondents can keep track of the conversation.

Objectives

By the end of this unit, students should be better at: listening and reading for detail making inferences.

They should understand the difference between the Past simple and Past continuous.

They should understand email addresses.

The Internet 1: I O email and newsgroups

They should know and be able to use these words and abbreviations: router, server, hub, email, newsgroup, Internet service provider (ISP), attachment, UFO (unidentifiedflying object).

Task 1

A warm-up discussion is unnecessary here, since Task 2 is a discussion task. Give the students a short length of time to do the matching, either individually or in pairs.

Key

1 router 2 server

Task 4

Tuning in

3 Internet Service Provider (ISP) 4 mainframe 5 network

Make sure you give students enough time to read through the questions and answer any queries about vocabulary before playing the recording. The language in the recording is colloquial and informal, that of a student talking to other students. Note kicking a ball about = playing football, get a team going = start a football team, and nothing fancy = informal. In addition to the questions set, ask your students what sort of course John is taking. They might be able to deduce that he is on an electronics course at a technical college.

Task 2

In addition to the uses mentioned in this unit, email and newsgroups (Usenet), students are likely to mention the World Wide Web which is covered in Unit 14. They may also mention uses not covered in these units, such as taking part in computer simulations (MUDS and MOOS), transferring files (FTP), and searching for files (gopher).

Note: Usenet is the main Internet newsgroup service. FTP is for transferring files. Gopher is a search engine for finding files.

Key

1

last Monday

'Design and Make'

he has no sense of humour

he's having a party Sandra

Reading 2 on Fridays, classes finish

at 2.30 instead of 4.15 4 designing a security

alarm for his bike 6 football

8 at his flat

Task 5

Listening

Task 3

Point out some of the conventions of an email. They are less formal than many letters and resemble memos more than letters. Often there is no greeting (Dear...), although this example has one. Emails may include all sorts of attachments - audio, video, graphics. Point out that in this example the paperclip shows that there is an attachment.

Make sure that students are familiar with the oral expression of email addresses: gpark, at ed, dot, ac, dot, uk, and so on.

Key

6. John Eastleigh

7. j.eastleigh@gltech.ac.uk

8. people - G. Park, L. Price, and A. Perez

9. a party

10. 15.35

11. a recording (sent as an attachment)

Elicit from the students or explain what Internet newsgroups are. Those given here are authentic groups which you and your students can sample if you have access to the Internet. Note that alt = alternative, rec = recreational.

Do the first one as an example. Students can do the others individually and compare in pairs or groups. When you have finished, ask students to suggest who would be interested in newsgroups d, g, i, and;.

Key

1f 2a 3h 4c 5b 6e

Task 6

Pre-teach UFO (unidentifiedflying object), alien, and coastguard. In most newsgroup exchanges, respondents quote the section of the message they wish to comment on, marking the quote with chevron (>) signs. Space has not permitted this here, but in all other respects these messages are typical of this newsgroup. Get the students to do this exercise individually, and then compare answers in pairs.

Key

1. alt.alien.visitors

2. Ron Sony

3. 6th March 1998 at 05.39

4. Fargo (North Dakota)

5. a UFO

6. Ben andThelma

7. an experimental military plane

8. the object was notthe usual shape of alien ships

9. three winged craft

10 looking for a missing fishing boat

Language work

Draw a horizontal line on the board to represent the time taken to fly from Dallas to Fargo. Write Dallas at one end and Fargo at the other. You can invent a takeoff time (e.g. 09.00) and landing time (11.30) and add these.

Using this simple diagram, you can show how the past continuous is used to provide a context for another action in the past. Point to one end and say, He took off at nine o'clock. Point to the other and say, He landed at eleven-thirty. Then point to the whole line, saying, From nine to eleven-thirty, he was flying from Dallas to Fargo. Mark a cross on the line to represent the UFO sighting: He saw a UFO.

Then put it all together, When he was flying from Dallas to Fargo, he saw a UFO. Once the students have got the general idea, get them to give you examples, based on real-life scenarios, e.g. When I was coming to class this morning ...

(Note that the choice of structure depends on the

information focus you choose.)

1. When/As/While he was flying from London to Edinburgh, he saw a UFO.

or He was flying from London to Edinburgh when he saw a UFO.

2. Her computer crashed when/as/while she was searching the Internet.

or When her computer crashed, she was searching the Internet.

3. When/As/While they were studying, a fire started in the Computer Lab.

4. When/As/While she was printing out her email, the printer developed a fault.

or When the printer developed a fault, she was printing out her email.

5. When/AsAWhile they were working on the computer, someone switched on the power.

or They were working on the computer, when someone switched on the power.

Problem-solving

Task 9

Read through the explanation of locka@pesto.co.uk with the students before they attempt the matching task. Point out that email addresses in the United States do not have a country name.

When you are going through the answers, get students to read the email addresses out loud.

Key

1c 2a 3e 4b 5f 6h

7g (note absence of country name) 8d

Task 7

Writing

Task 10

This is best done as an individual written task. Remind students that see has the irregular past form saw.

Key

2 was flying 4 reported 6 saw 8 saw

1 was going 3 noticed 5 described 7 was heading

9 was searching 10 crashed

Task 8

Teach as and while. Then ask the students to do this as an individual written task.

Ask your students to complete the from, date, to, and subject elements of their email. They can use real or imagined email addresses, provided they follow the conventions described in Task 9. If they have access to email, encourage them to send messages to each other in English.

Ask them first to write six sentences in answer to the questions in the task. Remind the students about linking ideas, so that they can transform the six sentences they write into two or three more complex sentences in their emails.

The connection of networks throughout the world forms the Internet which provides a range of different services, such as email, newsgroups, and file transfer. One of the newest and most popular services on the Internet is the World Wide Web which is commonly referred to as the Web, or simply as WWW.

A web browser program provides a graphical user interface for the Internet allowing users to view linked documents called webpages. When a user clicks on a webpage link, or hyperlink, the browser fetches and displays the linked webpage. Linked webpages may be stored on different servers in different parts of the world. A set of hyperlinked webpages is known as a website. Websites are available for an enormous range of topics, including news, sports, entertainment, education, and sale of goods.

Because there are so many websites on the Web, it is often difficult to find the information you are looking for. Special websites have been set up that use programs called search engines to search the Web for the information you need. Normally, you fill in a form on a search webpage to indicate what you are looking for and then click a search button to start the search engine. After searching the Web, it displays a webpage with hyperlinks to the websites that contain the information you are looking for. One of the most popular search engine websites is called Yahoo. When you find a webpage that you want to return to, you can store a hyperlink to the webpage in a bookmark or favorites area of the browser. (Note US spelling of favorites.)When you want to return to the webpage, you only need to click on the appropriate bookmark.

Each webpage has a unique web address sometimes known as a uniform resource locator (UKL). Web addresses often start with http://www, and each part of the web address is separated by a dot (.) or a slash (/). Http stands for hypertext transfer protocol, which is the standard way of communicating on the World Wide Web. A typical browser program has the following components:

Component	Function
title bar	displays the title of the current
	webpage
menu bar	provides access to drop-down menus
	of program features
toolbar	provides button icons for using the
	most common browser features
status bar	gives information about the current
	status of the program
address box	displays the current webpage address
A typical browser toolbar has a variety of buttons
including the following:
Button Icon Function
back	displays the previous webpage
forward	displays the next webpage
refresh	refreshes the current webpage display
home	goes to the first page set on the browser
search	goes to a web search engine

Objectives

By the end of this unit, students should be better at: understanding search skills for locating information in English on the World Wide Web linking text and diagram using inferences locating information on a web page.

They should be able to use the -ing form accurately.