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Unit 6-Conversation 1

Janet: What are you reading, Kate?

Kate:Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. Do you know it?

Janet: I've heard of it, yes, but I've never read it. It's a 19th century children's story, isn't it?

Kate: That's right. It's very famous. It's set in Oxford. It starts with this young girl sitting on a river bank. The interesting thing is, the author, Lewis Carroll, he was an Oxford professor and he used to have tea with the girl's family on this river bank.

Janet: Oh, that's fascinating! I'll put it into my diary. Kate: Is that what you're writing? I know you've been keeping a diary all the year.

Janet: It's been a great year. I've had such a good time — so lucky to have Mark and Kate as friends. Feel I've been doing well with work. Much happier about asking questions in tutorials.

Janet: My screen's gone dark.

Mark: You're using the battery, remember. It's run out, obviously.

Janet: It can't be the battery. It's still charged. Oh no it's still black. Oh dear, I hope it's nothing serious. I haven't backed anything up recently.

Kate: That's not like you, Janet.

Janet: I know, but I lost my memory stick. I really should have backed things up. How stupid of me not to do that! Supposing I've lost everything!

Mark: Let me take a look. The power is still on. And also the operating system still seems to be working ... I think it has to be the graphics card ... But maybe that's not the problem ... Janet: If only I'd backed things up!

Kate: Relax, Janet! We'll take it to the computer shop this afternoon. I'm sure it'll be OK. Janet: I hope so.

Janet: It was stupid of me, I know! Stupid, stupid! Janet: Oh! It was a dream! What a relief! Kate: You were talking in your sleep. Janet: What was I saying? Kate: \Stupid, stupid.\

Mark: I've sorted out your computer.

Janet: Have you? Oh, thank goodness! What was the problem?

Mark: It was the graphics card, as I predicted ...

Janet: Is that what it was! I'm so relieved! Thanks, Mark. Kate: He's great, isn't he? Janet: Yes. So are you, Kate. Kate: You're such a good friend.

Unit 6-Outside view

Computers are a very important part of our lives. They tell us about delays to transport. They drive trains, analyze evidence and control buildings. Did you know that 60 per cent of homes in Britain have got a PC (a personal computer)? For many young people, playing computer games is their favorite way of spending spare time. Computers are a very important part of most areas of life in Britain-libraries, the police and in school. But they are becoming more important in our homes as well. They’ll even control the way we live-in “smart homes” or computer-controlled houses. The smart home is now a real possibility. It will become very common. A central computer will adjust the temperature, act as a burglar alarm and switch on lights, ready for you to come back home. And of course you will be able to give new instructions to the computer from your mobile phone. So if your plans change, your home will react to match. Many homes have got lots of televisions and several computers. The smart home will provide TV and Internet sockets in every room, so you’ll be able to do what you want whenever you want. If the temperature outside changes, the smart home will adjust the temperature levels inside. The computer will also close the blinds when it gets dark or to stop so much sun from entering a room. And if you want to eat when you get home, the computer will turn the oven on for you! Are computers taking over our lives? In a survey, 44 per cent of young people between 11 and 16 said their PC was a trusted friend. Twenty per cent said they were happier at their computer than spending time with family or friends. Another survey found that people in Britain spend so much time on the phone, texting and reading emails that they no longer have time for conversation. What do you think about that?

Unit 6-Conversation 2

Janet: Tell me about Alice in Wonderland. Kate: I tell you what, I'll read it to you.

Kate: Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank and having nothing to do: Once or twice, she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, \what is the use of a book,\she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid) ...

Janet: Kate, Mark, where are you going? You've got my laptop!

Kate: It's all right, Janet, we're taking it to the computer shop. We'll be back soon.

Mark: It's not like Janet to forget to back up her work. Kate: She should have been more careful.

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Unit 6-Listening in

News Report

US Scientists have announced the discovery of gravitational waves, which are tiny waves produced by massive objects

moving very quickly. Two black holes produced the waves when they crashed into each other about 1.3 billion years ago. A black hole is a place in space where the gravity is so strong that even light cannot escape. This announcement of the discovery comes a century after Albert Einstein first predicted gravitational waves would exist.

The discovery was made possible by using a highly sensitive instrument designed to detect signals of gravitational waves and identify their sources. This discovery proves that there are gravitational waves, and strongly confirms the existence of black holes.

With this discovery, scientists are given a new tool to study and understand the universe. The waves could help scientists learn more about what happened immediately after the universe began and how the universe expanded. Scientists hope that they may be able to observe parts of the universe that were previously undetectable.

1. What discovery have US scientists made?

2. What features do black holes have according to the news

report?

3. Why is the discovery important?

with the biscuit submerged in the liquid, and the chocolate coating staying out of the liquid, the chocolate helps hold the biscuit together. Another factor influencing the equation is the temperature of the tea – the hotter the tea, the faster the sugar melts.

Researchers also found that by dunking a biscuit into tea or coffee, up to ten times more flavor is release than it the biscuit is eaten dry. So it’s worth experimenting yourself. If you are wondering how you can perfect the horizontal dunk, the researchers have come up with an idea for a biscuit-holding device to make dunking biscuits easier. They are even mow working on producing a table giving guidelines on dunking times for different types of biscuit. On that note, I think it’s time to go off to the canteen for a tea break!

Passage 2

Peter:

Hey Louise, look at this book about crop circles - some of the photos are absolutely unbelievable.

Louise: You don t believe in all that stuff, do you Peter? Peter: I'm not saying I believe in UFOs and things, but

some of the formations are fascinating. They’re made up of lots of interconnected circles and geometrical shapes. You know, in the past few years, there have been more reports of them. The circles are getting larger and the designs are getting more intricate... I'm sure that they can't all be man-made. Think about it - they're so complicated, and they appear at night in the middle of fields of wheat barley or corn. It’s definitely pretty weird!

Louise: I know, but l saw a TV documentary about it, and

they showed how a group of hoaxers made an elaborate crop circle in a field at night using wooden plank, ropes, plastic tubes and a garden roller. They even fooled some of the people who believe in the paranormal-aliens coming down in UFOs and aliens coming down in UFOs and creating them, and so on.

Peter: I'm sure lots of them are created by people just to

get publicity but look here-it says, “The first records of crop circles go back as far as the 17th century. Since the 1970s there have been over 12,000 reports from countries all around the world including Italy, America, South Africa, Australia and Brazil.” Most reports are from here in England though.

Louise: But surely that’s just because they get so much

media coverage these days, so more people are making them.

Peter: Perhaps, but how do you explain the fact that the

actual chemical composition of the grains of corps inside the circles changes? Scientific tests have found they have a higher protein level. The stems of the grains have often been exposed to high

temperatures. And they found that the soil within

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Passage 1

When you have a biscuit with your cup of tea, do you dunk it? And if so, what’s the perfect way to do it? That’s the subject of today’s Science in Action report. It may be hard to believe but scientists at the University of Bristol have been analyzing this question. And after a two-month study they devised a mathematical formula for dunking biscuits. So no more melting chocolate, or biscuit crumbs in the bottom of your cup, which is the fate of one in four biscuits that are dunked in tea, according to research by a biscuit manufacturer. Doughnut dunkers don’t face the same problems because doughnuts are held together with an elastic net of protein, gluten. This substance allows the doughnut to absorb liquid without breaking down its structure. The structure of a biscuit, however, is held together by sugar which melts when placed in hot tea or coffee.

So what is the answer? The researcher, let by Dr. Len Fisher, discovered that holding the biscuit in a horizontal position – or “flat-on” – has a significant effect on the amount of time that a biscuit can stay in hot liquid before falling apart. In fact this horizontal dunking results in a dunking time up to four times longer than traditional vertical dunking.

What’s the reason for this? It seems that the answer is related to diffusion, in other words, the length of time it takes for the liquid to penetrate the structure of the biscuit. Basically, it takes longer for the liquid to travel through the channels of a biscuit when it is laid flat on the surface of the liquid. Also the fact that when a biscuit is dunked horizontally,

the circles contains more iron than the soil outside. So far, the hoaxers haven't been able to copy all these features.

Louise: Well, I'm not a scientist but I'm pretty sceptical

about all these so-called paranormal explanations. I remember in the programme I watched, the researchers found signs of human interference, such as holes in the earth and footprints!

Peter: Come on… you must admit, that still leaves a lot

which is unexplained!

Louise: There's lots of things that are hard to explain but

this really...

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