UNIT 5. COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES
LESSON 48
THE HISTORY OF MOBILE PHONES
Цілі: вдосконалювати навички читання, аудіювання й усного мовлення; розвивати мовну здогадку й мовленнєву реакцію учнів; виховувати зацікавленість у розширенні своїх знань.
Procedure
1. Warm-up
> Do the quiz.
If several answers are acceptable, choose the best one.
1) A ___ is a phone that you have to open in order to talk.
A) flip phone
B) cell phone
C) bendable phone
2) I knew it was her because her number ___ on my phone.
A) came
B) came up
C) came to
3) ____ refers to the amount of time one uses (talks on) a cell phone.
A) Texting
B) Dialing
C) Airtime
4) I was supposed to meet Bill at the library, but he
A) texted
B) text
C) text message
5) How much was your cell phone ____ this month?
A) account
B) charges
C) bill
6) Every time I write a text message, everything shows up in ____ letters.
A) capitol
B) capital
C) major
7) Using “u” instead of “you” in a text message is an example of ___.
A) an abbreviation
B) a short
C) a short word
8) Americans say “cell phone”, but people in the United Kingdom say ____.
A) mobility
B) mobile
C) handy
9) _____ hours are the times when a cell phone user pays a discounted rate for calls.
A) Off-color
B) Off-peak
C) Offset
10) Most cell phone companies limit the number of _____ you can send in a text message.
A) messages
B) words
C) characters
Key: 1 a; 2 b; 3 c; 4 a; 5 c; 6 b; 7 a; 8 b; 9 b; 10 c.
2. Speaking
Discuss the following items and express your own attitude to different modern devices.
1)
2) Are cell phones popular in your country? Do you own one? If so, what do you use it for and why?
3) Which of the following do you own: a VCR, a DVD player, a microwave oven, a computer, a cell phone, and an electronic dictionary? Which do you use most often?
3. Reading
Read the text. Match choices (A-G) to (1-6). There is one extra choice.
HISTORY OF CELLULAR PHONES
Cellular is a type of wireless communication that is most familiar to mobile phones users. It’s called ‘cellular’ (1) ____ to divide a service area into multiple ‘cells’. Cellular calls are transferred from base station to (2) ____ from cell to cell.
The basic concept of cellular phones began in 1947, (3) ____ and realized that by using small cells (range of service area) with frequency reuse they could increase the traffic capacity of mobile phones substantially. However at that time, the technology to do so was nonexistent.
Anything to do with broadcasting and sending a radio or television message out over the airwaves comes under Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation. A cell phone is (4) ____. In 1947, AT&T proposed that the FCC allocate a large number of radio-spectrum frequencies so that widespread mobile telephone service would become feasible and AT&T would have a incentive to research the new technology. We can partially blame the FCC for the gap between the initial concept of cellular service and its availability to the public. The FCC decided to limit the amount of frequencies available in 1947, the limits made (5) ____ possible simultaneously in the same service area – not a market incentive for research.
The FCC reconsidered its position in 1968, stating “if the technology to build a better mobile service works, we will increase the frequencies allocation, freeing the airwaves for more mobile phones”. AT&T and Bell Labs proposed a cellular system to the FCC of (6) ____, each covering a ‘cell’ a few miles in radius and collectively covering a larger area. Each tower would use only a few of the total frequencies allocated to the system. As the phones traveled across the area, calls would be passed from tower to tower.
A when researchers looked at crude mobile (car) phones
B only twenty-three phone conversations
C base station as a user travels
D many small, low-powered, broadcast towers
E because the system uses many base stations
F a local station travelling
G a type of two-way radio
Key: 1 E; 2 C; 3 A; 4 G; 5 B; 6 D.
4. Speaking and writing
> A class survey
1) How many text messages do you send per day?
2) What do you use your mobile phone for mainly?
A) make phone calls
B) send text messages
C) connect to the Internet
D) other
3) Do you like Facebook?
4) Where do you upload photos (ie. Facebook, email etc)
Choose questions from above or write 4 of your own survey questions below. Then talk to 5 students and write their responses.
Student 1 | Student 2 | Student 3 | Student 4 | Student 5 |
1 | ||||
2 | ||||
3 | ||||
4 |
Write a short report after you have talked to five people.
For example: Most students send about 5 text messages per day. Some students said they love Facebook and use it every day. A few students said Facebook is a waste of time. One student said.
5. Summary
What invention do you think has had the greatest impact on society? Why?
6. Homework
Write a short paragraph “If you had the possibility to only work from your house via computer, would you do it and why?”
(2 votes, average: 4,50 out of 5)