Writing. Summarize the information on input and output devices for your friend who are buying a computer

Summarize the information on input and output devices for your friend who are buying a computer.

UNIT 5 FACES OF THE INTERNET.

Focus: The Internet, pros and cons.

Grammar focus:Gerund with prepositions.

Skills focus: Reading for specific information to know about the use of the Internet in peoples’ life.

Before reading:

Work in pairs. a) Try to give definition to the term ‘Internet”. b) Do you use e-mail or the Internet? If you do, what do you use them for? Brainstorm as many uses as possible for both. If you don’t, why not?

Listening: Listen to four people talking about how they use e-mail and the Net. How many uses do they mention from your list? Do they mention any others?

Exercise 1. The extracts below are taken from the first speaker’s answer. Work with a partner and complete the sentences with words associated with computers and the Internet.

a) I kind of start off (1)……………, looking for something specific. I might want some information on a particular, on a particular subject, but I get carried away, I get diverted, I end up looking at something completely unrelated …

b) … there’s some really, really, really, funky shopping (2)…………..You can pick up all sorts of different things…

c) … I’ve (3)……………I think nearly all the, all the kind of sound (4)………..that you need, so I end up watching film (5)…………on different products, and getting kind of, well, getting completely carried away.

Exercise 2. Listen and check your answers.

Exercise 3. Match your answers from exercise 1 with these definitions.

a) The programmes used to operate a computer.

b) More formally known as navigating, this means to visit various sites on the Internet, usually moving from page to page using highlighted links.

c) Places on the Internet where companies or organizations display information about their products.

d) Short extracts, designed to give you a taste of a product and hopefully encourage you to buy it.

e) If you have copied pages or programs from the Internet onto your own computer you have done this.

Exercise 4. Look at the words and phrases in the box. Would you associate them with e-mail, the Internet or both.

modem IP number web browser power-line Internet mailing list newsgroups TELNET broadband connection WWW dial-up telephone connection video conference chat

Exercise 5. Work in pairs. Choose three of the words from the box and write definitions for them. Now read the texts (A-C) below and check up your definitions.

A: What the Internet is

The Internet is an International computer Network made up of thousands of networks linked together. All these computers communicate with one another; they share data, resources, transfer information, etc. To do it they need to use the same language or protocol: TCP/ IP (Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol) and every computer is given an address or IP number. This number is a way to identify the computer on the Internet.

B: Getting connected

To use the Internet you basically need a computer, the right connection software and a modem to connect your computer to a telephone line and then access your ISP (Internet Service Provider).

The modem (modulator- demodulator) converts the digital signals stored in the computer into analogue signals that can be transmitted over telephone lines. There are two basic types: external with a cable that is plugged into the computer via a USB port, and internal, an expansion card inside the computer. A PC card modem is a different, more versatile* option for laptops and mobile phones.

At first most computers used a dial-up telephone connection that worked through the standard telephone line. Now a broadband connection, a high data transmission rate Internet connection, has become more popular: either ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), which allows you to use the same telephone line for voice and fast access to the Internet, or cable, offered by most TV cable providers.

The basic equipment has changed drastically* in the last few years. You no longer need a computer to use the Internet. Web TV provides email and access to the Wed via a normal TV set plus a high-speed modem. More recently, 3Generation mobile phones and PDAs, personal digital assistants, also allow you to go online with wireless connections, without cables.

Telephone lines are not essential either. Satellites orbiting the earth enable your computer to send and receive Internet files. Finally, the power-line Internet, still under development, provides access via a power plug.

Notes:

versatile- многоцелевой, универсальный

drastically- радикально

C: Components of the Internet

The Internet consists of many systems that offer different facilities to users.

WWW, the World Wide Web, a collection of files or pages containing links to other documents

on the Net. It's by far the most popular system. Most Internet services are now integrated on the Web.

Email, or electronic mail, for the exchange of messages and attached files.

Mailing lists (or listservs) based on programs that send messages on a certain topic to all the computers whose users have subscribed to the list.

Chat and instant messaging, for real-time conversations; you type your messages on the

keyboard.

Internet telephone, a system that lets people make voice calls via the Internet.

Video conference, a system that allows the transmission of video and audio signals in real time so the participants can exchange data, talk and see one another on the screen.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP), used to transfer files between computers.

Newsgroups, where people send, read and respond to public bulletin board messages stored on central computer.

TELNET, a program that enables a computer to function as a terminal working from a remote computer and so use online databases or library catalogues.

Exercise 6. What do these acronyms stand for?