Before you read the passage, talk about these questions.

1) Which types of storage devices do people use?

2) What do people use USB flash drives for?

Reading

Read the suggestion form sent from an employee in the IT department to his manager. Then, choose the correct answers.

1) What is the main idea of the form?

A a request for new equipment

В suggestions on improving efficiency

С where to place new storage devices

D how to speed up file transfers

2) Which drive stores more data than magnetic tape?

A zip drive                        С SATA

В RAID                        D USB flash drive

3) It can be inferred the USB flash drives are...

A less reliable than magnetic tape.

В more efficient than floppy disks.

С more expensive than zip drives.

D less efficient than SATA drives.

Vocabulary   

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

Word bank

Array memory storage density CD-R

Zip drive data compression CD-RW

RAID

1 Set up a(n) _________ to combine drives.

2 The old drive has low _________ and holds little data.

3 A(n) _________ can only be written on once.

4 A(n) _________ uses removable disks to transfer data

5 Without __________, no more data will fit on that drive.

6 A(n) __________ can be written again and again.

7 __________ software improves hard drive performance.

4. Check (+) the sentence that uses the underlined parts correctly.

1 _ A Save the file on the USB flash drive.

_В Arrays are made from a series of floppy disks.

2  _ A SATA drives are used to increase processing speeds.

_ В A drive failure means the data disk drive is inaccessible.

3 _ A RAID arrays are made of magnetic tape.

_ В Floppy disks are an older technology.

Listen and read the suggestion form sent from an employee in the IT department to his manager again. What do GENETech Systems use to back up their main data?

Listening

Listen to a conversation between an IT employee and his manager. Mark the following statements as true (T) or false (F).

1 _ The company will purchase an array.

2 _ All of the requests were approved.

3 _ Management thinks a new main data backup device is too expensive.

Listen again and complete the conversation.

Manager: Management didn't like hearing about the 1 _______ ________, so we're getting the array.

Employee: Yes, that was pretty bad. What about some of the 2 _____ ______?

Manager: They weren't approved. It just seemed too expensive.

Employee: 3 _______ _______, but I guess you've got to save money somehow. How about the main data backup?

Manager: We're interested in the savings you mentioned. Could you 4 ______ ______ ______ a more 5 _____ ______?

Employee: Absolutely. When would you like that?

 

Manager: 6 ______ ______ ______ ______?

Speaking

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

USE LANGUAGE SUCH AS:

A few of the requests you sent in....

What about some of the...?

What about the main data backup?

Student A: You are talking to your manager. Ask Student В about:

• approved requests

• unapproved requests

• writing a proposal

Student B: You are the manager. Answer Student A's questions. Make up a name for your subordinate.

Writing

You are an employee in IT. Use the conversation from task 8 to write a memo to your co-workers telling them which types of new equipment were approved for purchase and why.

Memorandum

From: __________________________

To: ____________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Peripherals

1) automatic document feeder

2) digital camera

3) inkjet printer

4) flash memory

5) laser printer

6) transparency adapter

Compumart Blowout Sale Weekend!

This weekend Compumart is cutting prices on hardware to make room for new models.

We have digital cameras for both the casual shooter and the professional. With CCDs, our cameras take pictures up to 14 megapixels. 30x optical zoom and 5x digital zoom. All sale cameras feature flash memory -you can connect to any computer to print out your best snapshots.

We have low prices on both inkjet printers and laser printers. Our high-end models have calibration settings for professional-grade ' photo prints. Some of our models are all-in-one packages that include scanning and fax.

We're also selling stand-alone scanners. Scan photos and documents at resolutions of up to 4800 DPI. Don't forget a transparency adapter for scanning slides. Scanning multiple documents? Pick up an automatic document feeder and let the machine do the work for you.

Compumart is staying open late all weekend, just for you. Arrive early to get the hardware you need.

Get ready!