Unitl Livin g in a digit al a g e
The digital age
Match the captions (1-4) with the pictures (a-d).
1 In education, computers can make all the difference
2 Using a cashpoint, or ATM ...............
3 The Internet in your pocket ...............
4 Controlling air traffic....
How are computers used in the situations above? In pairs,
discuss your ideas.
Read the text and check your answers to B.
The digital age
We are now living in what some people call the I communicate with other students around the world.
digital age, meaning that computers have become Teachers use projectors and interactive whiteboards
an essential part of our lives. Young people who to giv e p rese n t a tio ns and teach sciences, history or
have grown up with PCs and mobile phones are language courses. PCs are also used for administrative
5 often called the digital generation. Computers help purposes - schools use word processors to write
I students to p erf orm mathematical o p era tio ns le t t ers, and databases to k e e p records of students
and improve their maths skills. They are used to 15 and teachers. A school website allows teachers to
access t h e In tern e t, to d o basic rese arch and to publish e x ercises for students to co m ple t e online.
2
Living in a digital age
Students can also enrol for courses via the website card to pay for goods and services. Instead of using a
and parents can download official reports. 35 signature to verify payments, customers are asked to
e n t er a four-digit p erso n al id e n tifica tio n n u m b er
M obiles let you m a k e voice calls, se n d t e x ts,
(PIN), the same number used at cashpoints; this
20 email people and download logos, ringtones or
system makes transactions more secure. With online
games. With a built-in camera you can send pictures
banking, clients can easily p a y bills and tra nsf er
and make video calls in face-to-face mode. N ew
40 m o n e y from the comfort of their homes.
smartphones combine a telephone with web access,
video, a games console, an MP3 player, a personal Airline pilots use computers to help them control
25 digital assistant (PDA) and a GPS navigation system, the plane. For example, monitors displa y d at a
all in one. about fuel consumption and weather conditions.
In airport control towers, computers are used to
In banks, computers st ore in f orm a tio n about the
45 manage radar systems and regulate air traffic. O n
money held by each customer and enable staff to
the ground, airlines are connected to travel agencies
access large d a t a b ases and to carry o u t financial
by computer.Travel agents use computers to find
30 transactio ns at high speed.They also control the
out about the availability of flights, prices, times,
cashpoints, or ATMs (automatic teller machines),
stopovers and many other details.
which d isp ense m o n e y to customers by the use
of a PIN-protected card. People use a Chip and PIN
О When you read a text, you will often see a new word that you don't recognize. If
you can identify what type of word it is (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) it can help you
guess the meaning.
Find the words (1-10) in the text above. Can you guess the meaning from context?
Are they nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs? Write n, v, a dj or a d v next to each
word.
1 perform (line 6)............... 5 digital (line 25)...
2 word processor (line 13) 7 store (line 27)......
3 online (line 16)............... 8 financial (line 29)
4 download (line 18)................ 9 monitor (line 42)...............
6 built-in (line 21)............... 10 data (line 42)...............
b Match the words in D (1 -10) with the correct meanings (a-j).
a keep, save ............... g collection of facts or figures...............
b execute, d o ............... h describes information that is recorded or
c monetary............... broadcast using computers..............
d screen ............... i program used for text manipulation
e integrated ............... j copy files from a server to your PC or mobile
f connected to the Internet ...............
1
□ In pairs, discuss these questions.
How are/were computers used in your school?
2 How do you think computers will be used in school in the future?
Language work:
Colloca tio ns 1
collocations 1
Verbs and nouns often go together
Look at the HELP box and then match the in English to make set phrases, for
verbs (1-5) with the nouns (a-e) to make example access the Internet.These word
collocations from the text on pages 2-3. combinations are called colloca tions,
and they are very common. Learning
1 give a money
collocations instead of individual words
2 keep b a PIN
can help you remember which verb to
3 access c databases use with which noun. Here are some
4 enter d presentations examples from the text on pages 2-3:
5 transfer e records perform opera tions, do rese arch, m a ke
ca lls, send texts, displ a y d a t a, write
letters, store inform a tion, co m plete
Use collocations from A and the HELP exercises, c a rry out tr a nsactions.
box to complete these sentences.
1 Thanks to Wi-Fi, it's now easy to ............................................................... from cafes, hotels, parks and many
other public places.
2 O nline banking lets you ............................................................. between your accounts easily and securely.
3 Skype is a technology that enables users to over the Internet for free.
4 In many universities, students are encouraged to using PowerPoint
in order to make their talks more visually attractive.
5 The Web has revolutionized the way people - with sites such as
Google and Wikipedia, you can find the information you need in seconds.
6 Cookies allow a website to on a user's machine and later retrieve it;
when you visit the website again, it remembers your preferences.
7 With the latest mobile phones, you can ........................................ with multimedia
attachments - pictures, audio, even video.
Computers at work
Listen to four people talking about how they use computers at work.
Write each speaker's job in the table.
electrical engineer secretary librarian composer
Sp e ak er Jo b W h a t t h e y use co m p u t ers f or
1
Listen again and write what each speaker uses their computer for.
4
Other applications
|P| In small groups, choose one of the areas in the diagram below and discuss
what you can do with computers in that area. Look at the Usef u l l a n g u a ge box
below to help you.
Useful language
F or m ula 1 cars: design and build the car, test virtual models, control electronic components,
monitor engine speed, store (vital) information, display data, analyse and communicate data
En t ert ain m e n t: download music, burn CDs, play games, take photos, edit photos, make video
clips, watch movies on a DVD player, watch TV on the computer, listen to MP3s, listen to the radio
via the Web
Fact ories a n d in d ustrial p rocesses: design products, do calculations, control industrial robots,
control assembly lines, keep record of stocks ( materials and equipment)
Sch o ol / U niv ersit y: access the Internet, enrol online, search the Web, prepare exams, write
documents, complete exercises online, do research, prepare presentations
Computers are used to...
PC can also be used for...
People use computers to ...
Write a short presentation summarizing your discussion. Then ask one
person from your group to give a summary of the group's ideas to the rest
of the class.
