Find the sentences with adjectives that describe netbooks and translate them
6. Decide if the following statements are true or false. Correct the false ones:
1. Netbook is for everyone and for everything.
2. If you're looking to do a little bit of word processing, maybe edit a few simple spreadsheets, and want to surf the Web, a netbook will suffice.
3. Netbooks are constantly evolving, and we're now on the cusp of next-generation models.
4. You can play modern PC games, editing huge pictures, or creating videos on these machines.
5. Even the smallest machines these days offer about 16 inches of viewable display area, with at least 800 pixels across.
6. Netbooks are known for long battery life.
7. Many netbooks come with serviceable, comfortable keyboards, despite their smaller size.
8. Windows Vista is the best operating system to work with a netbook's powerful processor.
7. Work in groups:
Group Afinds the information about processors and defines the key features one needs to know when buying a netbook.
Group Bfinds the information about displays and defines the key features one needs to know when buying a netbook.
Group Cfinds the information about battery life and defines the key features one needs to know when buying a netbook.
Group Dfinds the information about keyboards and defines the key features one needs to know when buying a netbook.
Group Efinds the information about software and defines the key features one needs to know when buying a netbook.
Text 4. GREEN PC
1. Discuss the following questions in pairs:
1. Does the computer industry affect the ecological situation in the world? Can you give any examples of such effects?
2. The title of the text is “Green PC”. What do these words refer to?
3.Is it possible to make computers less harmful to the environment? In what way?
2. Match the following words and word combinations with their Russian equivalents:
| 1. consumption 2. pollution 3. emission 4. considerable 5. to power down 6. a suspend mode 7. compliant 8. to recycle 9. to dispose of smth 10. to be faced with smth | a) совместимый b) выброс c) повторно перерабатывать d) быть поставленным перед чем-либо e) загрязнение f) избавляться от чего-либо, выбрасывать g) значительное количество h) режим временного прекращения работы i) отключить питание j)потребление |
В) Replace the words in italic with their synonyms from part A). Translate the word combinations into Russian:
1. to work in the sleep mode
2. to throw away old computers
3. power use
4. Energy Star compatible PCs
5. to have the need to reduce the greenhouse effect
6. release of gas
7. to turn off the monitor
8. water poisoning
9. to reuse electronics components
10.great amount of energy
3. Read the text and choose the most suitable heading from the list (1-8) for each paragraph. There is one extra heading which you don’t need to use:
1. Ways of reducing resources consumption
2. Development of less toxic materials
3. Energy Star compliant PCs
4. Environmental impact of computers
5. Climate Savers Computing Initiative
6. Strategies to reduce toxic emissions
7. Computer system’s energy consumption
8. Effects of old PCs disposal
A) The “Green PC” is a general term for features that reduce the growing environmental impact of the manufacture or use of computers. This impact has several aspects: energy consumption, resource consumption, e-waste, and pollution and greenhouse emissions.
B) The greatest part of a typical computer system’s power consumption is from the monitor, the hard drive and CPU. Considerable energy can be saved if these components are powered down when they are not used. On the other hand, most users do not want to go through the whole computer startup process several times a day. One solution is to design a computer system so that it turns off many components when not in use but is still able to restore full function in a few seconds.
C) When applied to a personal computer, the federally adopted Energy Star indicates a computer system that includes an energy saving mode that can power down the monitor, hard drive, or CPU after a specified period of time, so the inactive system consumes no more than 30 watts. A suspend mode saves the current state of the computer’s memory to a disk file. When the user presses a key (or moves the mouse), the computer “wakes up” and reloads its memory contents from the disk. By 2000, virtually all new PCs were Energy Star compliant. In July 2007 stricter Energy Star specifications for desktop PCs were adopted. The efficiency of power supplies must now be at least 80 percent. Moreover, the International Energy Agency suggested an initiative to reduce power consumption of inactive PCs to 1 watt or less.
D) Computers also consume many resources during their manufacturing and packaging. Resource consumption can be reduced by building more compact units and by designing components that can be more easily recycled or reused.
E) In recent years the disposal of old computers and other electronic equipment (“e-waste”) has attracted much attention. There are many toxic substances in electronics components, including lead, mercury, and cadmium. As a result, many communities have banned disposing of e-waste in regular trash. States such as California have also introduced a recycling fee that is included in the price of such devices as CRT monitors and televisions.
F) Fabrication of computer chips in more than 200 large plants around the world involves a great number of toxic chemicals and waste products. Companies that want to reduce future emissions can use several strategies. Manufacturing equipment and processes can be modified so that they create fewer toxic substances or at least keep them from getting into the environment. Nontoxic (or less toxic) materials can be substituted where possible. Finally, waste can be sorted and disposed of, and recycled when it is possible.
G) Computer industry is also faced with the need to reduce the amount of the greenhouse gases (particularly CO2) which cause global warming. This means further reducing the energy consumption of new PCs. In June 2007 a number of corporations (Google, Intel, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and Sun) established the Climate Savers Computing Initiative. The program should help to reduce power consumption equivalent to 54 million tons of greenhouse gases annually.
4. Find sentences with the following expressions in the text:
1. предотвращать попадание отравляющих веществ в окружающую среду
2. привлекать много внимания
3. значительная часть энергии
4. вызывать глобальное потепление
5. процесс запуска компьютера
6. растущее воздействие на окружающую среду
7. отключать отдельные компоненты
8.запрещать выброс отходов электроники на обычные свалки
5. Answer the questions to the text:
1. What does the term “Green PC” mean?
2. What computer parts consume considerable energy?
3. How is the problem of great energy consumption solved?
4. What can be done to consume fewer resources in the production of computers?
5. Can you give any examples of the toxic substances found in electronic components of computers?
6. How does a state of California struggle against e-waste?
7. What is the Climate Savers Computing Initiative? Who established it?
6. Decide if the following statements are true or false. Correct the false ones:
1. The environmental impact of the manufacture of computers has two major aspects: energy consumption and e-waste.
2. If the PC monitor is powered down when not in use, considerable amount of energy can be saved.
3. Nowadays all PCs are Energy Star compliant.
4. Although there are many toxic substances in electronics components of computers, it is still allowed to dispose of them in regular trash in all countries.
5. Fabrication of computer chips in large plants is harmful for the planet.
6. A number of corporations are going to further develop the computer industry, which will lead to the increased power consumption.
7. Fill in the gaps using the actual information from the text:
The term “_____” means all the features that help reduce the environmental _____ of the computer manufacture and use and, as a result, to solve such ecological problems as energy consumption, _____, _____, _____ and _____.
It is possible to lessen energy consumption by using _____, a computer system including an _____ mode and a _____ mode.
As to resources consumption, fewer of them can be used for computer manufacturing and _____ by designing components that are easy to _____ or _____.
The disposal of old computers and other electronic equipment known as _____ have been banned by many _____ recently.
Companies around the world can use several strategies to reduce _____, for example, they can modify _____ and _____ in order to create fewer _____. Many large corporations in the computer industry established _____ to reduce _____ equivalent to _____ of greenhouse gases annually.
Text 5. WEBCAMS
1. Discuss the following questions in pairs:
1. What is a Webcam?
2. Do you have a Webcam at home?
3. How often do you use it?
4. What is the main advantage of having a Webcam at home?
5. Can you give any disadvantages of having a Webcam?
6. Read the headline of the text and give your opinion if the situation is possible or not.
2. Match the following words and word combinations with their definitions and translate them into Russian:
| 1. legal proceedings | a. controlled from a distance |
| 2. invasive | b. a proceeding in a court of law brought by one party against another |
| 3. superintendent | c. systematic investigation to collect information on a subject |
| 4. FBI | d. a group of people employed by a company |
| 5. staff | e. the head of a police department |
| 6. lawsuit | f. involving aggressive attack |
| 7. remote | g. event in which parties come together to a dispute presenting information (in the form of evidence) in order to achieve a resolution to their dispute. |
| 8. in question | h. Federal Bureau of Investigation |
| 9. research | i. the feeling of mistrust of a person |
| 10.suspicion | j. under consideration or discussion |
3. Using the synonyms, try to guess the meaning of the following words and word combinations:
fall – autumn; to allege – to report; minor – junior; embarrassing – unpleasant; to monitor – to control; misleading – false; to conduct – to carry out; to violate – to break; to cloak – to cover with; agreement – contract
4. Read the text and give the main idea of each part:
1. Don't look now, but your laptop may be watching you. A Pennsylvania school district is accused of using a school-issued laptop to spy on a student in his home. A lawsuit filed by the student's family claims the school remotely activated the computer's Webcam and observed the boy without his knowledge. Right now, the case presents more questions than answers. One thing, though, is perfectly clear: Someone here isn't telling the full truth.
2. The school in question - Harriton High School, near Philly - provides laptops to all of its students as part of an initiative started last fall. According to a memo posted on the district's Web site, the laptops are offered in order to let students "work on projects and research both at school and at home" with "24/7 access to the software that they use in school". The laptops also, however, have Webcams - and, as information released in light of this week's lawsuit confirms, those Webcams can be remotely activated by school staff. A letter from the district superintendent posted online states the following: "District laptops do contain a security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops. The security feature, which was disabled today, was installed to help locate a laptop in the event it was reported lost, missing or stolen so that the laptop could be returned to the student." Upon a report of a suspected lost, stolen or missing laptop, the feature would be activated by the District's security and technology departments. The security feature's capabilities were limited to taking a still image of the operator and the operator's screen. This feature was only used for the narrow purpose of locating a lost, stolen or missing laptop. The District never activated the security feature for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever."
3.Compare that explanation with the student's story: An assistant principal, the lawsuit alleges, approached the boy at school and told him he'd been caught engaging in some kind of "improper behavior" in his home. The suit claims the administrator went on to say that the laptop's Webcam had captured an image of the activity in action. Specifically what kind of activity that was hasn't been disclosed. Regardless, the boy's parents say they never knew his computer's Webcam could be accessed remotely and used in such a seemingly invasive manner. And their lawsuit, according to The Telegraph, goes as far as to suggest the images captured by the school could "consist of minors and their parents or friends in compromising or embarrassing positions," including "various stages of undress."
4.It's worth noting that families did apparently have to sign an agreement prior to receiving a laptop from the school. A district spokesperson tells CNN that agreement explained the school's ability to remotely "monitor hardware" but did not go into any detail about the Webcam or how it might play into that process. Something in this case obviously doesn't add up. Either someone's presenting misleading information -intentionally or not - or we're stuck in a game of semantics as to what exactly went down. Legal proceedings aside, the FBI is now said to be conducting a full criminal investigation to figure out what really happened. If the boy's side of the story proves to be true, there's a good chance federal privacy laws could have been violated. Regardless of the end result, I have a sneaking suspicion a whole lot of Harriton High students are going to be carefully cloaking their laptops before getting in bed this evening.
5. Answer the questions using the information in the text:
1. What is a Pennsylvanian school district accused of?
2. Why does Harriton High School provide laptops to all of its students?
3. Can the Webcams be activated remotely?
4. Do district laptops contain a security feature?
5. Were the security features capabilities limited?
6. What did the assistant principal tell the boy at school?
7. The boy’s parents knew the webcam could be accessed remotely, didn’t they?
8. Did the agreement explain the school’s ability to control webcams remotely?
9. What is the role of FBI?
10.Do you still want to have a webcam at home?
6. Work in groups and retell the text from the point of view of: A. the student; B. the school administration; C. the judge:
You can use the information from the table below to prove your point of view.
| Student | · bring a laptop at home · work on projects and research · have an access to the software I use at school · laptops are provided with webcams · be caught in some kind of "improper behavior" in my home · activate the computer's Webcam and observe me without my knowledge · not to know the computer’s webcam can be accessed remotely and used in such a seemingly invasive manner · violate privacy laws · sign an agreement · the agreement doesn’t go into any detail about the webcam |
| School | · be accused of using a school-issued laptop to spy on a student in his home · provide laptops to all of the students as part of an initiative that started last fall · let the students work on projects and research both at school and at home with 24/7 access to the software that they use in school · have the ability to remotely monitor hardware · contain a security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops · be limited to taking a still image of the operator and the operator's screen · never activate the security feature for any other purpose · not to tell the student about any kind of "improper behavior" in his home |
| Judge | · not to add up · present misleading information · violate privacy laws · conduct a full criminal investigation to figure out what really happened |
Text 6. INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARD (IWB)
1. Discuss the following questions:
1. Have you ever had lessons with the usage of IWB? Share your impressions.
2. What is the difference between IWB and ordinary chalkboard?
3. Do you think that IWB is suitable for all the disciplines?
4.Will IWB replace chalkboard in the classrooms?
2. Read the following words and their definitions and translate them into Russian:
a chief executive - the person with overall responsibility for the efficient running of a company, organization; to be tech-savvy - to be able to handle with modern technical devices; multi-tasking - the ability of a person to perform more than one task at the same time; to desperate - having lost all hope; to shut off - to stop operating; to raise - to move to a higher position; to dim - make dark or darker; evident - easily seen or understood; to reinforce - to give more force or effectiveness.
3. Study the following list of synonyms and match them with the underlined words in the text:
conference hall; investigation; accomplishment; to involve; to mark; to play; decision.
4. Read and translate the following text:
An interactive whiteboard (IWB) is a large interactive display that connects to a computer and projector. A projector projects the computer's desktop onto the board's surface where users control the computer using a pen, finger or other device. The board is typically mounted to a wall or floor stand.
They are used in a variety of settings, including classrooms at all levels of education, in corporate board rooms and work groups, in training rooms for professional sports coaching, in broadcasting studios and more.
Some teachers say that interactive whiteboards are phenomenal tools. Interactive whiteboards are used in many schools as replacements for traditional whiteboards or flipcharts. They provide ways to show students anything which can be presented on a computer's desktop (educational software, web sites, and others). In addition, interactive whiteboards allow teachers to record their instruction and post the material for review by students at a later time. This can be a very effective strategy for students who need to see the material presented again, for students who are absent from school, for learners who are below the class, and for review for examinations.
Nancy Knowlton, the chief executive of SMART Technologies (one of the world’s largest manufacturers of whiteboards), said that schools are desperate to find ways to engage multi-tasking, tech-savvy kids, who often play video games before they can read. She also said that strictly gathered research data show that the company's products work.
"Students are engaged when they're in class, they are motivated, they are attending school, they are behaving and this is translating to student performance in the classroom," she said. "Kids want an energized, multimedia learning experience. . . . When you ask them to shut off when they enter the classroom, that doesn't really work for them."
But some educators question if whiteboards or other high-tech tools raise achievement.
Under pressure to reform, the public schools in the USA are spending millions of dollars each year on gadgets from text-messaging devices to interactive whiteboards that technology as companies promise can raise the students’ performance. Fairfax County public schools began installing interactive whiteboards several years ago, one of which landed in Sam Gee's classroom at W.T. Woodson High School. On a recent morning, the popular history teacher dimmed the lights, and his students looked at the screen.
As he lectured, Gee hyperlinked to an NBC news clip, clicked to an animated Russian flag, a list of Russian leaders and a short film on the Mongol invasions. Here and there, he starred items on the board using his finger. "Let's say this is Russia," he said at one point, drawing a little red circle. "Okay -- who invaded Russia?"
One student was fiddling with an iPhone. Another slept. A few answered the question... And as the lesson carried on, this irony became evident: although the device allowed Gee to show films and images with relative ease, the whiteboard was also reinforcing an age-old teaching method – the teacher speaks, students listen. Or, as 18-year-old Benjamin Marple put it: "I feel they are as useful as a chalkboard."
After using an interactive whiteboard for a year, William Ferriter, a sixth-grade teacher in North Carolina, came to a similar conclusion, deciding the whiteboard was little more than "a badge saying 'We're a 21st-century school. Well, it just allows you to create digitized versions of old lessons," he said.
5. Complete the statements using the information from the text:
1. An interactive whiteboard is a large interactive…
2. They are used in a variety of settings, including…
3. They provide ways to show students anything which…
4. "Students are engaged when they're in class, they are…
5. Under pressure to reform, the public schools in the USA…
6. As he lectured, Gee hyperlinked to an NBC news clip, clicked to…
7. And as the lesson carried on, this irony…
8. After using an interactive whiteboard for a year…
6. Answer the questions to the text:
1. How does the interactive whiteboard work?
2. Are interactive whiteboards used only in classrooms?
3. Why do some teachers say that interactive whiteboards are phenomenal tools?
4. What is SMART Technologies chief executive’s opinion about interactive whiteboards? Why?
5. Are public schools in the USA spending millions of dollars each year on gadgets? Can we say the same about our country?
6. What happened at Sam Gee’s lecture? Were students active and involved?
7. What is the age-old teaching method? Do you like this method?
8. Do you agree that the whiteboard is little more than a badge saying “We're a 21st-century school”?
9. Are interactive whiteboards really necessary at schools and universities? Can we study without them?
10. Can we call interactive whiteboards the future of the process of education?
7. Work in groups:
Group A.You work in SMART Technologies. Use the information in the text and prove that interactive whiteboard is really necessary in the process of education.
Group B.You work at school with Sam Gee and William Ferriter. Use the information in the text and prove that interactive whiteboard is nothing more than a fashionable gadget.