B. Use the table to talk about the pros and cons of using the Internet. You can add your own ideas

Exercise 7.Answer the questions:

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of technology?

2. What are some of the greatest technological achievements?

3. What do you think are the three most important or interesting inventions since 1850? In your opinion, what is the greatest technological invention? Explain your choice?

4. Do you think people should be allowed to clone people or organs of people? Why?

5. What do you think about GMO (genetically modified organisms) vegetables? Is it better to use natural food although it might not produce as much or should we use GMO crops?

6. Do you think robots will cause unemployment (loss of jobs) in the future or make more work? Why? What do you think robots should be used for?

7. Do you think using cell phones too much is bad for our physical or mental health? Why? What social changes have cell phones made?

8. How do you think face to face communication differs from communication using computers? How have technological advances affected communication/ how we receive news/ the medical field/ education?

9. Do you think modern technology reduces or increases stress? Why?

10. What do you think should be done to people who spread viruses, start hoaxes or create spam on the Internet?

11. Do you worry about identity theft or credit card number theft when buying things on the Internet or do you avoid buying things online because of this concern?

12. Have you heard of the Large Hadron Collider? If so, what do you know about it?

13. Do you have a smart phone? Can you access the internet on your telephone? If so, how often do you use it?

14. What do you know about software? What can software be used for? What do you think open source software means?

15. Do you think that one day science will find a way to make people live forever? If so, do you think that that would be a good or a bad thing?

Exercise 8.

A. Read and translate the text:

A great many achievements have been accomplished in recent decades in almost every area of technology, such as in computer science, manufacture, and medicine. Technology developments have greatly improved people's living conditions, making our life more convenient and efficient. We have the whole set of time-saving electrical appliances and tools such as elevators taking us to the top of a skyscraper in just a few seconds, air conditioners to keep the indoor temperature comfortable, and even household robots to help to take care of the trivial housework. Also, technology developments have made communications much easier, and thus helped to enhance relationships among people. The wide use of mobile phones, wireless Internet has greatly facilitated the way of daily communication; people are brought so close even though they may actually be thousands of miles apart.

1. Internet for All – Ten years ago broadband Internet was not widely available and was often quite restricted by Internet service providers (or ISPs). After a couple of years, however, broadband technology rapidly began to replace dial-up connections in the home and office. Most employees now have access to the Internet and email at their desks.

2. Free Phone Calls – Over the past 10 years, these same cheap and fast Internet connections, along with a technology called VOIP (voice over Internet protocol), have emerged to all but destroy the old way in which telephone calls are placed. Using the Internet to make phone calls has become by far the cheapest way to talk to others around the world.

3. Free Software – The past decade has seen the rise of the free software movement, with software made absolutely for free and in the name of freedom. From Web servers running Linux and Apache to free office software such as Open Office and Star Office, there is no doubt that the free software movement has helped to change the world and the way we do business.

4. From Geocities to WordPress – Some of you may remember the time when everybody who had a modem and an Internet connection also had a website devoted to themselves and their opinion, on a free hosting site such as Geocities or Tripod. Over time these free websites gave way to the phenomenon known as “blogging”. The more people posted their opinions, musings, diaries, art and photography, the more Web applications appeared to support this new brand of social journalism. WordPress is now the most popular of these platforms, and it is even used by major news outlets as a platform for publishing blogs and news. Blogging is now as important to the culture of the Internet and disseminating news and opinions as newspapers were to us in the last century.

5. Sharing Media – There are generally two ways of transferring information between users: either over a network of some kind or on some sort of physical, portable media such as a disk. Ten years ago, CDs and floppy disks were the most readily available types of removable media. Transferring very large files over the Internet was something only done by those with expensive, high-speed Internet c onnections. Things have changed a lot. Writeable DVDs became just as cheap as CDs, floppy disks have become almost extinct and everybody has a large-capacity USB thumb drive kicking around.

6. Apple and the Rebirth of Cool – In 1999 Apple was struggling to turn a profit and find mainstream acceptance. Its user group was mostly a section of specialist graphics workers who favoured Apple hardware because of its ease of use in the world of media. All that changed this decade as Apple worked hard to provide not only easy-to-use computers but also hardware that looks good and appeals to those who see technology as a fashion accessory. The company’s most notable successes in recent years have been the iPod and iPhone, two stylish multimedia devices that everybody seems to want. Apple’s design chic has pushed up its profit margins and has given the company a rapidly expanding market share.

7. From Mobile Phone to Mini Computer – Mobile phones have evolved rapidly from clunky bricks with bad and simplistic LCD screens and ’70s sci-fi bleeps to high-powered multimedia computers that fit in your pocket. Gone are the days of a phone that only makes phone calls; these days most mobiles are capable of high-speed Internet connections, taking decent photos and videos, playing back movies and music, and sending email. Even newer mobiles, such as the iPhone and devices running Google’s Android operating system, are capable of even more high-performance tasks: GPS navigation, translation of speech, word processing and even navigating the stars with Google’s Sky Map application.