2. Find adequate English translation of the following words and phrases:

Надежность; отслеживать, следить; через; предположение; загромождать, перегружать; холод, прохлада; превышать, превосходить; иметь в наличии, в запасе; камера видеонаблюдения; вращаться, обращаться; количественный анализ, количественные показатели; распознавание образа; увеличивать; ввод данных.

3. Insert the prepositions (into, on, to, without, past, from, with, for, past, in):

Imagine being able to open doors and switch ______ computers as you approach them. Professor Warwick can because he had an electronic chip fitted into his arm _____ a month. He could demonstrate to the press how computers would greet him ______, 'Good morning, Professor Warwick' as he walked _____. Next he wants to record the signals from his brain to his arm to see if he can program a computer to operate his arm. _____ the long term, this may help people who can’t use their limbs. His wife too will have a chip implanted. They hope to be able to feed messages into each other's brains. According ___ the Professor, one day we will be able to communicate directly with machines. If he is right, we will be able to drive a car _____ the passenger seat and we will be able to operate a computer ________ using a mouse or keyboard. However, there is also the alarming prospect that someone will be able to hack _____ your brain.

4. Translate the following sentences from Russian into English using the words and expressions from ex. 1 and 2:

1) Вам не нужно больше ходить за покупками в продовольственный магазин, так как вы можете заказывать товары через интернет при помощи холодильников Screenfridge. 2) Электронный нос может распознавать любые запахи без участия обоняния человека. 3) Некоторые операции хирургии минимального вмешательства считаются более безопасными и менее травматичными, чем общепринятая хирургия. 4) Пользуясь камерой наблюдения, встроенной в холодильник, вы сможете увидеть, что происходит у вас на кухне в ваше отсутствие. 5) Маршрутизация вызова является одной из главных функций устройств распознавания голоса. 6) Надежность перевода некоторых программ распознавания речи не очень высока, но с годами она улучшается. 7) Посмотрев на экран холодильника, вы сможете узнать, какие продукты у вас имеются в наличии.

5. Work in pairs. Look at these predictions and say which of them are likely to come true and when. Add some of your own and compare them with other students.

1) ATM machines will use iris recognition rather than PIN numbers. You will get access to your account by looking at the machine.

2) People will vote in elections online.

3) Taxis will be robot-controlled.

4) TV journalists will be able to transmit what they see by using sensors in their optic nerves.

5) There will be more robots than people in developed countries.

6) Most computers will be voice-controlled.

7) Mobile phones will replace computers as the commonest way to access the Internet.

8) English will no longer be the commonest language for websites.

9) Email will be replaced by a voice-based system.

10) Computers will become more powerful.

SPEAKING

1. Work in groups. Choose a domestic appliance and decide what functions an in-built computer would allow it to perform in addition to its basic function. Make a presentation to the rest of the class. Don’t forget to mention:

• The purpose of its usage.

• The functions it would perform.

• The core audience.

• The way it could be marketed.

READING COMPREHENSION

Text 1

THE DIRTY AND DANGEROUS SIDE OF TECH

1. Read the text. Refer to the list below and complete the sentences with the best word.

Your gadgets are full of stuff that __________ (1) hurt the environment, other people and you may have a laptop, a desktop computer, a tablet, and/or a smartphone. If I __________ (2) to ask you what was inside your chosen device, you would likely mention a hard drive, flash storage, RAM, or a processor. Some people might say, “I have no idea. I think it operates by magic.” Very few would mention arsenic, lead, and mercury. Yet most of our gadgets __________ (3) these or other elements and chemical compounds that are dangerous to us and our environment.

I’m not trying to be an alarmist. I love tech, and I always will. I want the lightest yet fastest laptop, the coolest smartphone, the biggest HDTV, and a professional-quality sound system. But I can’t remain blind to the inconvenient fact that our tech contains poisons. Our electronics use thousands of raw elements and mixed compounds – most of which remain inert while we operate our gadgets, but which can do considerable harm before we buy our devices and after we discard them. We take our smartphones, computers, and HDTVs for__________ (4), assuming that their only price is what we paid at the__________ (5). But our gadgets are filled with substances that damage the air and water where they’re mined, manufactured, and disposed of. And some poisons make their way back to us, the users.

Usually, but not always, the __________ (6) are workers who live in distant countries. Some toxic substances leach out of hardware in the course of regular use, or when the device gets damaged. A broken monitor or LCD HDTV, for instance, could expose you to mercury. And every contaminated river in the world empties its toxins into the oceans that we all depend on. The European Union bans or tightly controls many of the materials involved. Such __________ (7) can eliminate or significantly reduce their use elsewhere, since companies would rather not deal with two separate manufacturing processes.

But Barbara Kyle of the Electronics TakeBack Coalition doesn’t find the news all that good. “They’ve stopped using certain chemicals, but what we don’t know is what they’ve been using instead,” she told me in a phone interview. “The __________ (8) aren’t necessarily better.”

What can you do about this problem – aside from selling your car, growing your own food, and swearing off electricity? First, take into account more than your finances when you consider buying a new gadget. Ask yourself if you could hold off making a purchase. If you buy a new phone every three years instead of every two, you reduce the impact by a third. Second, when __________ (9) what to buy, check the manufacturer’s environmental standing. The Ecology Center has a useful listing of smartphones ranked to their toxicity. For a general view of companies’ environmental practices, check out the Greenpeace Guide. Third, get rid of your dead and obsolete tech conscientiously. __________ (10) having the manufacturer recycle it for you, find an e-waste centre near you on e-cycle.co.nz to see where you can responsibly recycle and how. If your tech item is still in good working order, consider reselling or donating it. Finally, know what you’re dealing with: what are the more dangerous substances used in your tech?

1. A. must B. could C. should D. have to

2. A. am B. have been C. will D. were

3. A. maintain B. consist C. contain D. support

4. A. granted B. given C. presented D. done

5. A. check-in B. reception C. register D. magazine

6. A. victims B. suspects C. presenters D. sacrifices

7. A. regulations B. revisions C. reclamations D. restrictions

8. A. changes B. replacements C. substitutes D. backups

9. A. researching B. looking C. learning D. organizing

10. A. Instead of B. In spite of C. In contrast D. Though