16.

Computers and the Internet

1.Do you have a computer? What kind of
computer do you have?
a) In our family there are three computers. I have
my own computer in my bedroom and both my
mother and father have their own laptop
computers, because they work on them. My
computer is a desktop computer with a scanner
and a printer. Its configuration consists of 128
MB RAM main memory, a 20 GB hard disk, a
CD-ROM drive, a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse
and the Windows operating system. My computer
screen is a 19” flat panel LCD monitor.
b) Since we don't have any computers at home I
always use one at school. I would really like to
have one, but at the moment we can't afford it.
c) We have a computer at home: it's a desktop
computer. The problem with it is that we always
want to use it at the same time. There are four of
us in my family. You can imagine the situation...
Another problem is that it's not the latest
configuration and it's quite slow. As I'm not very
good at IT, I don't know its exact configuration,
but my brother says it's very old-fashioned and
out-of-date, and that's why our PC is very slow.
2.What are some good things about having a
computer?
Having a computer has a lot of advantages: first
of all, we can use the Internet on a computer and
it opens the whole world for us. Besides using the
Internet, you can use your computer for word
processing, playing computer games, watching
films, listening to music, looking at your photos,
printing your documents and photos or saving
very important documents or data. If you are a
computer expert, you can even write programmes
on the computer and earn money with it.
3.What are some bad things about having a
computer?
Having a computer has some disadvantages as
well. A lot of young people spend too much time
in front of their computers and as a result they
don't take enough exercise: they don't spend
much time in the fresh air, they don't want to read
books and some of them don't study or do their
homework. It can be very dangerous and
unhealthy at the same time. The Internet can
cause other problems as well: teenagers can
download films or music without a license, and
they can give their personal information to
unknown people who may misuse it. Last but not
least, downloading computer viruses can damage
the whole computer sysrem.
4.When did you first get a computer? Do you
still have it?
a) I got my first computer when I was 8 years old.
My parents bought a new and up-to-date laptop
for themselves, so I got their very old and worn-
out PC, but I was very happy with it, because I
could play my favourite PC games on it whenever
I wanted. I don't have it now, because I got a new
one three years ago, as I wanted to use the
Internet and this old PC was too slow for it.
b) I got my own computer last year, when I
started secondary school. My parents thought it
was necessary for my studies and I'm grateful to
them. It really helps a lot. It's very easy to do my
homework on it and I can also play on it in my
free time.
5.When did you first start using a computer?
a) I was about 4 years old when I first played on
my father's PC. If I'm not mistaken, it was a kind
of matching game that I used to play with.
b) As we don't have a computer at home, the first
time I used a computer was at school, when we
first had a Computer Studies lesson. I was 8 years
old at that time.
6.How often and where do you use your
computer?
a) I use my computer every day. As it's my own
PC, it's in my bedroom, so I can use it anytime
when I'm at home. I usually spend about 2 hours
a day using it, I check my emails, visit my
favourite sites on the Internet and I use the word
processor for writing essays. Sometimes I watch a
film with my friends.
b) I'm a PC-addict, so I use my computer a lot. To
tell the truth, I switch it on immediately when I
get home after school, and I spend most of my
time in front of the screen. All in all I spend about
4-5 hours a day using it.
c) As I'm not very keen on computers, I don't use
ours very often. When I have to do some
homework on it, I usually use the word processor
and sometimes I use the Internet. Taking
everything into account, I use our PC only twice
or three times a week.
7.What do you use a computer for?
a) I use my computer for various purposes. Some
of them are really practical, like listening to
music, watching films, playing computer games,
printing my photos, surfing the Internet and
chatting with my friends. On the other hand, I
also write my essays on it, I use the word
processor for writing letters and it's very useful
that I can save my documents on it. I also use the
Internet for my homework, because I can find
everything very quickly with the help of search
engines and so I don't have to go to the library to
find the necessary information.
b) Most of the time I use it only for playing
games. Sometimes I download some music with
it and I also print some documents. Needless to
say, I chat on it with my friends, browse my
favourite soap opera's website and I check my
emails every day.
8.Have you ever studied English using your
computer?
a) Yes, I have. In the English lesson at school our
teacher often gives us the names of different
websites that we have to use for finding different
things and our course book goes with a CD-
ROM, which contains further practice for the
vocabulary and grammar points we learn. We
usually use that at home.
b) Yes, I have. Sometimes I do some online tests
in English and there are some websites with
funny games and puzzles for English learners; I
visit them occasionally.
9.Are you learning to use a computer at
school?
a) Yes, I am. Information Technology is one of
our subjects and we have one 45-minute lesson
every week. The main aim of this subject is to
prepare us for the different modules of the ECDL
exam. (ECDL stands for European Computer
Driving Licence.)
b) I have been learning to use a computer for 6
years now. We started it at school when I was 9
years old and we have had one lesson a week ever
since. I know it's very useful, but I don't really
like this subject, because the lessons are very
boring, especially the ones with a lot of theory.
However, I like the lessons which deal with the
Internet.
10.What is the difference between hardware
and software?
A computer system is made up of hardware and
software. Hardware means the machinery and
electronic parts of a personal computer, for
example the monitor, the CD-ROM drive, the
hard disk, the keyboard, the mouse, the processor
or the printer. On the other hand, software means
the programmes, procedures and documentation
used to operate a computer. Software includes for
example word processors, operating systems,
websites and video games.
11.Do you have a digital camera? Do you send
photos by e-mail? What kind of pictures do
you take with your digital camera?
a) I have had a digital camera for a year now. I
usually take photos of my friends and when we
go on holiday I take photos of my family and the
famous sights we visit. I often send my photos by
email, because we share our photos with my
friends, so we have hundreds of them saved on
our computers.
b) Unfortunately, I don't have a digital camera, so
I can't take any photos, but some of my friends
send me photos by email, so I have quite a lot of
digital photos on my computer.
12.Do you have a scanner?/ What kind of
scanner do you have?
a) As my father used to be tired of doing
everything for me in his office, last Christmas I
got a multifunction printer, which is a
combination of the following devices: a printer, a
scanner, a fax and a photocopier. I really like this
machine, because I can do several things with it.
b) I don't have a scanner, but whenever I need to
have something scanned I can ask my mother to
do it for me in her office.
13.Do you have a web page? What's the URL?
When did you start it? How much time did it
take to make? How much time do you spend
keeping it updated?
a) Yes, I do.As I'm mad about the Internet, I
created my own web page about six months ago
and I always change its contents. It contains
numerous types of information about me, my
class and about the topics I'm really interested in,
like rock music, windsurfing, skiing, PC games
and the latest innovations in computer
technology. It has some photos to look at, some
animated images and also some videos, usually
the ones taken at different school events. It gives
the end-users some hyperlinks as well. I spend
about one hour a week keeping it updated, and
my classmates and friends who visit it regularly
like it very much. The URL (or Uniform
Resource Locator) of my web page is http://
teenagerfriend.hu/.
b) No, I don't have one. I'm not a computer expert
at all; I would not be able to create a web page on
my own. Moreover, I'm not really interested in
Information Technology, so it seems to me rather
dull to sit in front of the computer for hours
creating a web page.
14.Do you know any computer programming
languages? How many computer
programming languages do you know? Which
languages do you know? Which language do
you use the most often?
a) My brother goes to university and he has
taught me two computer programming languages,
C++ and Java. I sometimes write some simple
programmes with them.
b) At primary school we learnt Comenius Logo
and now at secondary school we are learning
Turbo Pascal. At the moment I'm using this
language, but only for school purposes, because
I'm not very keen on computers.
15.Do you read computer magazines? / Which
computer magazines do you read?
a) Yes, I do. I buy PC World every month. Ilike it
because you get some free software with the
magazine and it gives you very up-to-date
information from the world of computers.
Sometimes I also buy Gamestar magazine,
because I'm mad about computer games.
b) No, never. I'm not interested in these kinds of
magazines at all.
16.Do you play computer games? What are
some of your favourite computer games?
a) Yes, I do. In fact, I'm addicted to computer
games; I play about 2-3 hours every day, and at
weekends I play even more. My favourite ones
are Battlefield 2 and Call of Duty. They are
multiplayer games and I play them online with
my friends.
b) I'm not very fond of them, I never play these
types of games; I prefer playing cards or board
games.
17.Do you think that it is a good or bad habit
for young people to play computer games?
a) A lot of psychologists claim that computer
games can have very harmful effects. They can
lead to addiction, which means that young people
can't stop playing them and they can become
aggressive or violent if they can't play. In my
opinion, there are some games that teach several
useful things to young people and if there is an
adult around them who tells them when to stop
playing, it is not a bad habit at all.
b) I think it's not a bad habit at all. I play a lot of
computer games in my free time and it is the best
leisure activity in the world. I'm crazy about my
favourite games and I would be very sad if I
couldn't play them. My parents say that as long as
I'm a good student at school and I don't get any
bad marks, it's not a problem.
18.What does www. stand for?
www is an acronym; it stands for World Wide
Web. It is a computer network, which consists of
a collection of Internet sites.
19.Do you access the Internet with your
computer?
a) Unfortunately, I don't, so I can use the Internet
only at the school library, at my friends, or at an
Internet café.
b) Yes, I do. Luckily, we have Internet access at
home; the service is quite fast and reliable.
20.Is it expensive to access the Internet in your
country?
a) Compared to the amount of money people earn
in Hungary, accessing the Internet is really
expensive. There are several companies now
offering their services, but if you want a very fast
and reliable service, you have to pay quite a lot of
money for it.
b) Although I know that a lot of families can't
afford to have it, I don't think it is very expensive
to access the Internet in Hungary. There are some
simple and cheap services that don't cost too
much, so in my opinion those people who need it
can pay for it.
21.Does your family have wireless Intenet
access?
a) As both my mother and father have a laptop
computer and they travel a lot because of their
work, they have wireless Internet access on their
PCs. At home we have cable access only, and we
don't have a wireless network.
b) No, we don't have it; a lot of people say it is
not reliable and anyway we have got only one
desktop computer at home, so we are OK without
a wireless network.
22.What is the best thing about the Internet?
a) As I see it, the best thing about the Internet is
that you can find any kind of information you
need on the spot. You can look it up immediately
and you don't have to open hundreds of books or
maps; you don't have to spend hours at the
libraries. For me, this is the greatest advantage of
the Net.
b) In my opinion, the best thing about it is that
you can download anything you want. Films,
videos, music, games, anything. For young
people it is great, because we can't spend a lot of
money on cinema tickets or DVDs and CDs, so it
is a great opportunity to be up-to-date in films
and music.
23.How can the Internet be used for
education?
Using the Internet has created great opportunities
in education. First of all, people who live in
underdeveloped or sparsely populated areas can
now study using distance education. The main
advantage of these virtual schools is that the
students don't have to travel long distances to a
real classroom to study. Another way of using the
Internet for education is that you can find a lot of
books online; you don't have to go to the library
when you need to collect information for your
project or essay. Nowadays more and more
schools use interactive learning technologies and
the Internet is used in the lessons. The Internet
also provides a rich source of materials when you
want to practice the foreign language you learn at
school, either for a test at school or for a language
exam you want to take. There are several projects
nowadays in which teams from different
countries work together using the Internet on a
special topic in different fields such as
environmental problems or design and
technology. These programmes, like e-Twinning
in Europe, are becoming more and more popular.
24.How can the Internet be used for
entertainment?
The Internet can be used for several types of
entertainment. You can download and watch all
kinds of films or videos; you don't have to go to
the cinema or a video shop any more. You can
also listen to music on the Internet; there are
several websites that offer free music you can
download and listen to. Another kind of
entertainment is playing online games; more and
more people join game-sites and play on a regular
basis. You can also find public libraries online, so
if you want to read a good book, you just have to
download its online version and you can read it
on your computer at once.
25.Do you think our lives have been improved
by computer technology and the Internet?
In my opinion, computer technology and the
Internet mean a great revolution in our lives. With
the help of these things we can easily get any
kind of information in no time. Everybody and
everything can be reached very quickly and our
lives have become quicker. A lot of people use
these things for shopping, banking, doing
business, communication, booking holidays or
tickets, listening to music, watching films,
learning several things, or even for work:
teleworking is getting more and more popular. So
they have made it less complicated for us to do
almost everything from our homes.
26.Do you think that it is important for scools
to have Internet access? Why?
Yes, it is very important. As Computer Studies is
part of the Hungarian National Curriculum, every
student in Hungary studies information
technology. Using the Internet is an essential
element of this subject. Another reason is that
there are a lot of students, especially in little
villages and small country towns, who don't have
computers and Internet access at home, so they
can use the Internet only at school.
27.Do you often use the Internet? About how
many hours a day do you use the Internet?
a) Yes, I do. I use it every day. First of all, I check
my emails twice a day, then I chat with my
friends and quite regularly I also search for some
information that I need for my homework.
Sometimes I play online games and I read
interesting things about my favourite rock
musicians. All in all I use the Internet for about 2
hours every evening.
b) No, I don't. More precisely, I can't, because we
don't have Internet access at home, so I can use it
only at school or at my friends'.
28.When did you first use the Internet?
a) If I remember well, I first used it when I was
10 years old and my father showed me an
interesting website about my favourite football
team. Since then I have used it every week.
b) I was in the 5th form at primary school and we
learnt about it in the computer studies lesson.
That was the first time, I think.
29.What is your favourite website?
a) I'm really into basketball, so the one I like the
most is my favourite team's website.
b) I can't mention only one website, because I
have got a lot of favourite ones. For example I
browse my favourite actor's website every day, I
also like social networking websites where I can
find and get in touch with my former schoolmates
and friends and I can send messages to them. I
really like playing online games, so my favourite
websites include some games sites as well.
30.What Internet sites do you visit regularly?
a) I visit the sites of my email services every day
and I use some chat-rooms regularly.
b) As I play my favourite game every afternoon, I
visit its website the most often. I also check my
emails every day.
31.Do you ever visit English websites while
web-surfing?
a) Yes, I do. As my favourite football team is an
English one, I often visit their website.
Sometimes I can find the information I need only
in English, so I have to visit English websites.
b) Not very often: only when our English teacher
gives us some homework that we need English
websites for. I prefer Hungarian websites.
32.How can the Internet help you learn
English? Do you take advantage of this?
Firs of all, our course book has some online
student sites, where we can find a lot of exercise
and activities for grammar, vocabulary and
pronunciation points of our book and also some
practical English exercises and games. I often use
these after our lessons. There are some websites
designed especially for language learners that can
be used for several things, like vocabulary
building, grammar practice or preparing for
different exams. I sometimes visit some of these
websites, mainly before tests at school.
33.What are chat rooms and instant
messaging? Why can these be dangerous for
you? Why should you be careful about giving
out personal information to people that you
meet in chat-rooms?
Chat rooms are websites on the Internet, where
people who are online can communicate with
each other real-time, either by sending text
messages to each other or by text messages and
voice as well. Instant messaging is also a real-
time conversation between two or more people,
but it is always based on typed texts. They can be
dangerous because there are some older people
online who join teenage chat rooms as if they
were teenagers themselves and try to get some
personal information from them, such as email
addresses, phone numbers, schools or home
addresses. There are also some adult 'predators'
who try to engage teenagers in online sex. Some
of them even invite them to a face-to-face
meeting.
34.Do you use chat-rooms? If so, what chat-
rooms do you use and who do you talk to?
a) No, never. I prefer emails and text messages.
Anyway, my parents would be very angry with
me if I used chat-rooms, as they think online
chatting is very dangerous.
b) Yes, I do, every day. My school has got its own
chat-room; I use it for chatting with my
classmates and schoolmates and I also use the
chat-room of my favourite basketball team, where
we can talk about the players and the matches.
35.Give me a reason why you think that email
is a good way for people to communicate.
First of all, you can send an email whenever you
want to; you don't have to wait for the time that is
convenient for the person you send the letter to.
On the other hand, you can read your emails
when you want to. If you write a letter, you can
send it to several addresses and you don't have to
write several copies of it: you can have a group
mail. You can also ask for a feedback that your
letter has been read. It is fast and easy to use. You
can also attach a document or some photos to
your letter. You can read your letters later and you
don't have to remember their contents for a long
time.
36.What are some security issues you must
think about when you access the Internet?
When using the Internet we must be very careful.
Security risks and dangers are changing very fast.
There are some security issues we must think
about; in my opinion the most important ones are
the following:
First of all, you must install an antivirus program
and run it as often as possible to protect your
computer. Secondly, you must also install an anti-
spyware software, run and update it regularly.
Thirdly, use a browser that is safer than others.
You must also be careful with your passwords: try
to invent ones that are hard to guess, using both
numbers and letters in them. Never tell anyone
your password. When using your email never
open an attachment in a letter from someone you
don't know: they can easily carry viruses to infect
your computer. When using any websites that
need a log-in and a password don't forget that just
closing your browser is not enough: always log
off.
37.What is a computer virus and how can we
protect our computers from being infected?
A computer virus is a computer program that can
copy itself and infect your computer. It can cause
great harm to the data stored on the computer, and
it can slow down the functions, it can even delete
or change files. These viruses work without the
permission of the user, they are usually
downloaded to your PC without you knowing
about them, and they are very difficult to get rid
of. To protect our computer from being infected,
we must install an antivirus program, run it as
often as possible and update it at least monthly.
38.Have you ever bought something using the
Internet?
a) Yes, I have. Sometimes I order some books or
CDs online, because it is easier and faster and
usually cheaper for me than going to several
different shops.
b) Our family often shops online, because my
father hates shopping very much and both my
parents work a lot, so they just order almost
everything online: for example food, clothes,
books and sports equipment. They even buy
medicine online, because there are usually long
queues at the chemist's shops.
39.What problems does the Internet create?
First and foremost, virtual addiction is the most
serious problem that teenagers can face in
connection with the Internet. I've heard of dozens
of teenagers who could not cope with this
problem. They are unable to stop visiting their
favourite websites or playing their favourite
online games and they become so interested in
them that they spend all their free time in front of
their computers. In more serious cases this
situation leads to a state that they even bunk off.
Secondly, threatening private life is another
problem the Internet can create. Teenagers who
join different chat-rooms can give their personal
information to unknown people who may misuse
it. Thirdly, the Internet creates opportunities to
cheat and a lot of young people take a chance and
copy whole text from the Net and hand them in as
their homework essays or projects. Last but not
least, there are some problems with copyright.
Many people download some music or films
without paying for them. This is illegal and they
don't care about breaking the law. This problem is
getting more and more serious nowadays, I think.