Tag Archive: science & technology – beginner

Pre-reading questions: Is internet connection important? Please explain your answer. How often do you use the internet? The US House of Representatives voted to replace some internet privacy rules. The old rules started when Obama was the president of the United States. The new rules will allow internet companies to sell their customers’ browsing history without their approval. Browsing history shows the websites an internet user visits, and his other personal data. If President Trump approves the rules, it will become a law. Vocabulary: vote [verb] – choose; decide allow [verb] – to give permission approval [noun] – to agree law [noun] – rules in a certain country website [noun]…
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Pre-reading questions: Do you have social media accounts? How often do you use them? Why? Facebook is still in hot seat because of the fake news issue. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, is not happy about it. They do not want fake news to be on the site. It is not easy to know which is fake and which is not. Mark said that they are also victims of the issue. Users who post and share these kinds of news are responsible for it. Vocabulary: hot seat – [idiom] in an uncomfortable situation fake – [adjective] not true issue – [noun] important topic or problem responsible – [adjective] having to do…
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Pre-reading questions: Do you know what skin cancer is? How do you take care of your skin? Do you wear sunblock? An image-scanning device was invented at Stanford University. It can identify skin cancers exactly like what doctors do. The team who created the software used an algorithm to train a computer to develop artificial intelligence to detect skin cancer. For the training, the team used 130,000 photos of different skin diseases. The system has a record of 2,032 different types of skin diseases. Using the pictures in the system, the device can check if a skin condition is cancerous or not. Vocabulary: invent [verb] – to make something new;…
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Pre-reading questions: Do you like using your smartphone? Why do people like smartphones a lot? A research in 2016 says that Americans keep their phones for about 22.7 months before changing it. The report was almost the same with large European users. On the other hand, the research shows that people in China change their phones faster. This is because there are a lot of budget phones available in the country. Also in China, there are many buyers and sellers of smartphones so people can buy phones easily and more frequently. Vocabulary: research [noun] – a study of a subject or topic large [adjective] – big budget [adjective] – cheap,…
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Pre-reading questions: How do you use your smartphone? Do you monitor your food? Why or why not? Lifelog is an application for health. It is from Sony and it can be used on smartphones. To use its new feature, you just take a picture of any food and the app will give you a complete information about it. The app will give you a calorie count of your food and personalized nutritional advice. The application still needs more testing for accuracy. Vocabulary: application [noun] – program designed for a purpose calorie [noun] – a unit of energy; a way of describing how much energy your body could get from eating…
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  Pre-reading questions: Have you heard of a self-driving car? Do you think robots are helpful to people? Why?   In 2017, a self-driving car called “Roboat” will be tested in public. It is a product of partnership between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS). These Roboats cost $27 million. Self-driving boats will give an eco-friendly option in transportation. If trials of Roboats are successful, there will be more Roboats used in Amsterdam.   Vocabulary: public [noun] – people in community cost [noun] – estimate price of eco-friendly [adjective] – not harmful to the environment option [noun] – a thing that…
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Pre-reading questions: At what age did you have your first mobile phone? Do you know Nokia 3310? Nokia releases a new 3310 model. It’s the updated model of the classic phone that was popular back then. It will be available globally in the second quarter of this year. Consumers have four colors to choose from – red and yellow, and blue and gray. The battery life on standby mode is 25.3 days and with up to 22.1 hours of talk time. It is a basic phone with voice and text messaging, Opera Mini browser, MP3 player, camera, 2 sim slots, and the classic Snake game. Vocabulary: updated [adjective] – improved;…
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