Before you read the passage, talk about these questions.

1) How do people access the Internet?

2) What type of Internet connection is best for businesses?

Reading

Read the notification from an Internet service provider. Then, choose the correct answers.

1) What is this notice about?

A Mindeye's plan to buy WebSurf

В what WebSurf offers to new customers

С WebSpot offering free wireless routers

D troubleshooting Internet access issues

2) Which service does WebSurf NOT offer?

A tech support

В dial-up Internet

С hotspot access

D broadband Internet access

3) What can you infer from the notice?

 A Anyone can use WebSurf hotspots.

В More people use T-1 than broadband.

С WebSurf expects to retain Mindeye customers.

D Mindeye offers its customers more services.

Vocabulary

Match the words (1-5) with the definitions (A-E).

1 _T-1                      4 _modem

2 _ Wi-Fi                  5 _ broadband

3 _ dial-up

A an Internet connection using wireless signals

B an Internet connection using regular phone lines

C a device that sends information over phone lines

D lines that allow many users to connect to the Internet

E a system allowing the transfer of large amounts of data

Fill in the blanks with the correct words and phrases from the word bank.

antivirus software iotspo ISP upgrade wireless router DSL T-3

1) This coffee shop has a(n) _______ so customers can go online.

2) A _________ connection only requires a phone line to work.

3) Contact your _________to get in touch with tech support.

4) _________ my service because I need more bandwidth.

5) Using    __________ protects your computer.

6) You need a(n) _______ to get a Wi-Fi network.

7) The new _________ lines offer greater bandwidth     

Listen and read the notification from an Internet Service provider again. What service will Websurf Internet put an end to?

Listening

Listen to a conversation between a customer and a WebSurf customer representative. Mark the following statements as true (T) or false (F).

1 _The customer plans to cancel his service.

2 _The new T-3 lines will increase bandwidth.

3 _Customers must pay extra for services like tech support.

Listen again and complete the conversation.

Customer: Just 1 _________ Internet.

Representative: Oh, that's it then. We're in the process of installing new 2 ________ lines.

Customer: But how does that affect my billing?

Representative: T-3 lines are expensive, so we've increased rates. But it allows for greater 3 _________.        

Customer: I'm not sure that justifies the price hike.

Representative: Well, it also supports other WebSurf benefits. Live 4________ ________, for instance.

Customer: I guess I have used that a few times already.

Representative: You also get free 5________ _________. And you at no can log into any of our 6 _______ additional charge.

    Speaking

With a partner, act out the roles below based on Task 7. Then, switch roles.

USE LANGUAGE SUCH AS:

What service do you have?

It allows for greater bandwidth.

You can log into hotspots.

Student A; You are calling customer service. Ask Student A about:

• a bill increase

• causes

• benefits

Student B: You work in customer service. Answer Student B's questions.

Writing

Use the conversation from Task 8 to fill in the customer survey.

Websurf

Dear Customer,

Thank you for calling WebSurf customer service! In order to help improve the quality of our service, we’d like to ask you a few questions.

What was your call concerning?________________________________________

Was our Customer Rep able to help you with your problem? How?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

Storage devices

1) USB flash drive

2) CD-R

3) Magnetic tape

4) Array

5) Zip drive

6) Floppy disk

Suggestion Form

Name: Harold Gibbons

Department: IT     

Suggestion:

The IT department is in desperate need of new storage devices. To begin, we need a group of hard drives arranged in an array. That means we'll also need RAID software. Just last week, an engineer lost months of data in a drive failure. An array will help us avoid such costly losses in the future.

Furthermore, many employees are still using outdated devices like CD-Rs, CD-RW s and floppy disks to transfer files. Providing each engineer with at least a USB flash drive and a zip drive would be much more efficient. Some employees do use their own drives. But state-of-the-art storage devices should be provided by the company.

Finally, GenTech Systems would do well to upgrade the main data backup. We are still using magnetic tape. Even using data compression, the memory storage density of magnetic tape can't compare to modem technology. A 2TB SATA drive could store more data at a fraction of the cost.

Get ready!