6 Network systems

Talking about the past

Briefing
In contrast to the technical nature of the previous
This unit focuses on network systems for different
two sections, here the focus is on presenting the past
work situations, the hardware associated with those
simple with regular and irregular verbs and on
systems and network range and speed. The unit also
giving students the opportunity to talk about their
looks at talking about the past in relation to career
education or careers to date (for example, I got a job
development and work routines.
in 2006.).
Types of network Twitter and MySpace are also mentioned. Twitter is
a micro-blogging service that sends short written
Here the focus is on network solutions: LANs (Local
messages to people who follow you, while MySpace
Area Networks), WANs (Wide Area Networks) and
is a social networking site.
VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) for different types
of situation: the home, small businesses and large Network range and speed
corporations. LANs operate over a limited
geographical area whereas WANs operate over a This section focuses on how to talk about speeds and
broad area (for example, a region). VPNs use the ranges (for example, twelve kilobits a second and 7,000
internet to provide remote office connections. metres). A bit is the basic binary digit. A kilobit is a
thousand bits. A megabit is a million bits or a
Reference is also made to internet routers and
thousand kilobits. A gigabit is a thousand million
modems, which allow a computer to connect to the
bits or a thousand megabits. Dial-up connections
internet and share this connection; POP (Post Office
use phone networks to connect to the internet. DSL
Protocol), which allows users to access their emails
stands for Digital Subscriber Line and is a way of
from the email server; network switches, which
transmitting data using phone networks. WLAN
connect different parts of a network; CCTV, closed
stands for Wireless Local Area Network. Reference
circuit television.
is also made to latency, which is the time delay in
There is also a focus on giving reasons for moving data across a network.
recommendations (for example, I’d recommend a Dell
because it is cheaper.). Business matters

Networking hardware This section focuses on using the past simple tense
to talk about past activities at work (for example, On
This section develops students’ vocabulary to talk Wednesday, I attended a training session.). Reference is
about hardware used in networks. A repeater also made to TESCO, a UK-based supermarket
receives a signal and then resends it at a higher chain, audio/video servers, which are servers that
power. A bridge connects networks and sends data can handle audio and video, and Cat6 cables, which
between them. A router connects networks that use are a type of network cable.
the same protocol. A gateway is an entrance to a
network. A hub channels incoming data but shares Further reading
the bandwidth with other devices present on a Use the following keywords to search the internet
network. A wireless access point allows wireless for websites which give more in-depth information
devices to connect to a network. A computer about the topics covered in this unit: bits and bites,
protocol is the system of regulations that describe gigabit, social networking sites.
how something is done. Bandwidth speed refers to
the speed at which information can be transmitted
through a network.
There is also a focus on making suggestions (for
example, What/How about buying a new router?).

Network systems 6 40
Teacher’s notes Reading
3 Tell students that in the email, Katharina makes
Before you start the unit a series of recommendations to Agatha on how
she should set up her online flower shop. Ask
Review the content of Unit 5. Elicit the four types of
students to read the email, do the activity and
e-commerce mentioned in the unit (B2C, B2B, C2C
then compare their answers in pairs.
and m-commerce) and write them on the board.
Then put students in pairs to think of examples of 1 should 2 LAN 3 equipment 4 WAN
these four types and review their answers. Finally, 5 recommend 6 remote 7 VPN
ask students to tell you the kind of information 8 internet
about a product or service you can find on a
commercial website (for example, price, availability,
information about the product and other related Language
products, and method of payment). Make sure students understand the meaning of
the word because by giving examples (for
Types of network example, I had a glass of water because I was thirsty.
Because I have a headache, I’m going to stop work.).
Speaking Ask students to make sentences using because to
show they understand its meaning. Write some
1 Ask students to discuss the questions in pairs or
cues on the board to give them some ideas (for
small groups. Students are likely to use their
example, buy a new computer/mobile phone, move
organisation’s intranet to get information and
apartment, sell my old car, go to Australia for a
communicate with colleagues. They are also
holiday). You may also want to remind students
likely to use social networks such as Facebook.
of the use of so to talk about results, which was
And of course, they use the internet, the biggest
introduced in Unit 5.
network of all. They are most likely to access
their networks from their PCs and mobile
devices such as phones and iPads.
Speaking
4 Point out to students that there are three
Listening network solutions illustrated on the page.
2 ► 34 Ask students to read the situation and the Illustration 1 shows the kind of network you
four questions. Ask them what sort of network find in a family home, where both the parents
they think Katharina will suggest to Agatha. Ask and children use the computers and the games
them to cover the questions and play the console. The network connects two desktop
recording once so they get a general computers, one printer and one game console.
understanding. Play the recording again so The devices are connected to the internet via a
students can answer the questions. hub or switch. It is a very simple network and it
is efficient only for a few users.
1 Agatha thinks she should offer her products
and services online. Illustration 2 shows a network for a large
2 Katharina recommends that Agatha sets up company. There are servers that transfer data
an e-commerce flower shop. over the network. Users can access the network
3 Katharina says she will send Agatha an from home or from anywhere. This kind of
email with some recommendations. network can transfer a lot of data.
4 Agatha wants the network to be ready for
Mother’s Day. Illustration 3 shows a network set up in a small
company. The network devices are a switch, a
Ask students to turn to the audio script on page router, a wireless access point, laptops, printers,
75. Play the recording again to focus on how the scanners, PCs, PDAs and CCTV cameras. The
two women greet each other (for example, It’s devices are connected via a wireless connection.
good to see you again. How are you?) and how they 5 Make sure that students understand the features
get down to business (for example, So how can I of and differences between the three networks
help you?). before they do the activity. Ask them to carry
out the activity in groups of three so each person

Network systems 6 41
 has the opportunity to present one solution to
the group.

Extra activity
With a stronger class, ask students to tell you
how they would improve the three networks.
They could research this at home or in groups
and prepare short presentations.

Writing
6 Ask students to write three to five sentences
describing their network solution. If time is
short, they can do this activity for homework.

Suggested answer
At home, we have three computers. Our
network is similar to Solution 1. We connect the
desktop computer to the internet via a modem.
The two laptops have a wireless connection to
the internet via a router. We only connect the
printer to the desktop computer. We also use
other devices such as cameras and mobile
phones to download pictures and music.

Network systems 6 42
 Networking hardware Listening
6 ► 36 Play the recording so students can check
Speaking their answers.
1 Ask students to answer the questions in pairs or
small groups.
Language
Tell students that this section introduces two
The photographs show (clockwise, from top new ways to make a recommendation (Why don’t
right) a modem, an expansion card, a router you …? and How / What about …?). You could
(with an antenna) and a network server.
also review You should …, which was presented
2 Do this activity with books closed or Exercise 3 in Unit 4. Point out the possible responses to
covered so that students cannot read the words these three suggestions. You could add some
presented there. This exercise contains all the more positive and negative responses (for
network hardware vocabulary they are likely example, Great idea! or I don’t think that’s a very
to suggest. good idea.).
7 ► 37 Play the recording once and ask students
Vocabulary to just listen. You could ask them to identify the
stressed words in the questions. Then play the
3 As a class, ask students to look at the list of
recording again and ask them to repeat the
words and try to describe what each item does
questions.
in their own words. Then ask them to match the
words with the descriptions in pairs.
Vocabulary
2f 3g 4h 5a 6b 7e 8c 8 Point out to students that they have seen these
prepositions in the unit already. Ask them to do
Listening the exercise individually or in pairs.

4 ► 35 Play the recording and ask students just 1 with 2 over 3 to 4 between 5 on
to listen. Point out the stressed syllables in the
words of more than one syllable: modem,
repeater, router, gateway, wireless, access point,
Speaking
network connectors, network interface card. Then 9 Remind students to cover speed, compatibility,
play the recording again and ask students to hardware and software in their discussion.
repeat the words. Students may suggest some of the following
problems:
Reading
Speed problems can be caused by the types of
5 Tell students that they are going to read a network devices, computer hardware, software
dialogue in which Boris asks Ahsan, an IT and especially the protocols used. The devices
expert, for help with his computer set-up. must support the network specifications or the
Remind students that they should read the network speed will be impacted negatively.
dialogue first and then complete the sentences
Compatibility problems can be related to both
with the words in the box.
the hardware and the software used in the
As an alternative for weaker students, play network set-up.
Track 36 with books closed first and ask
Software problems may relate to a network not
questions to check general understanding. For
supporting particular software, too much or too
example, you could ask: What is Boris’s problem?
little protection on the firewall settings, software
(He has a problem with the network download speed.)
with missing data or errors in software
How many recommendations do you hear? (five).
interaction with other software in the system.
Then ask students to open their books and
complete the dialogue with the words in the box. 10 Tell students that they now have to discuss
solutions to the problems they just discussed.
1 speed 2 change 3 about 4 problem Elicit some example solutions to help students.
5 devices 6 What 7 necessary 8 should Ask them to use the question from the dialogue
9 user

Network systems 6 43
in Exercise 5 (What can you suggest?) to ask for
suggestions.

Suggested answers
Speed problems: Why don’t you buy a better
modem? You shouldn’t connect so many
devices to the network.
Compatibility problems: How about checking
that the capacities of the router and the
network adapter are compatible?
Hardware problems: How about resetting the
router? How about upgrading the modem? You
should update the drivers.
Software problems: Why don’t you reinstall
the software? How about closing some other
applications? Why don’t you change the firewall
settings?

Network systems 6 44
 Talking about the past Speaking
5 Tell students that this is a short activity to
Reading practise asking and answering questions about
the past. Ask a stronger student the question in
1 Write some years on the board and ask students
the example to demonstrate the activity.
to say them (for example, 2006: two thousand
and six; 2012: twenty twelve; 1955: nineteen 6 Before students do the activity, you may want to
fifty-five). Then ask students to do the exercise put up a list of typical leisure activities
in pairs. appropriate for students (for example, go/went to
the beach, meet/met friends, do/did nothing, visit/
You may also want to point out the use of
visited my family.
different nouns to talk about the start of
something (for example, launch and creation).
Language
1b 2d 3a 4c Point out the difference between regular past
tense endings (-ed) and irregular verbs (for
Speaking example (see – saw). Ask students if they can
suggest any further irregular verbs to be added
2 Ask students to work in pairs or small groups to the list. Encourage them to start making their
for this activity. They are likely to use general own lists of irregular verbs.
social networking sites like Facebook and
Twitter but may also use more specialist and Writing
regional sites. Point out how we use the verb
spend to talk about time (for example, I spend 7 Ask students to read the text in Exercise 3 on
about an hour a day talking to friends on the phone.). page 48 again and use it to help them make
similar sentences about themselves. Go round
Extra activity the class and monitor how they are doing. Ask
Ask students to do a short survey on each students whose sentences you have seen and
other’s use of social networks. They can report which are good to read them out to the class.
their results to the whole class (for example, We
use Facebook but Jose doesn’t. Ken spends two hours Speaking
a week on Twitter.).
8 Write the following question cues on the board
to help students get started. You may need to
Reading modify the cues based on where your students
are in their careers or studies:
3 Tell students that they are going to read a short
when / go / university or college?
biographical text about someone’s IT career. what / study / at school?
Read the text aloud and then ask students to when / start / work?
answer the five questions. where / start / work?
1 in 2000 2 in 2004 3 He travelled around
the world for a year. 4 to Cambridge
5 two years later (in 2008)

Language
Read through the Language box with the
students, pointing out the use of did in questions.

Listening
4 ► 38 Play the recording once and ask students
to just listen. Point out the stressed words in the
sentences. Then play the recording again and
ask students to repeat the sentences.

Network systems 6 45
 Network range and speed Reading
5 Pre-teach the words limited (as in limited range),
Listening strength (as in strength of signal), architecture (in
this case, meaning the physical surroundings
1 ► 39 Tell students that they are going to listen
and not network architecture) and bandwidth. Tell
to a dialogue in which Sam gives Karoline
students that this is a technical text and that they
information about network speeds and range.
should read it for general understanding and not
Before you play the recording, pre-teach the
worry about the meaning of every word they do
word range. Play the recording and ask students
not understand. Give them some time to read
to first listen to the dialogue without trying to
the text. After they have answered the questions,
write in the missing words (or with books
deal with any outstanding vocabulary queries.
closed). Then play the recording again, pausing
to allow students to write in their answers. 1 three things: type of 802.11 protocol, strength
of the device transmitter and architecture of the
1 56 2 512 33 4 150 5 46 6 300 surrounding area 2 structures like walls and
7 92 metal frames 3 repeaters 4 bandwidth and
latency
2 ► 40 Play the recording and ask students just
to listen to the phrases. Point out that you can
say a or per second/minute and that both words
are usually not stressed, so they sound very
similar. Play the recording again and ask
students to repeat the phrases.

Speaking
3 Tell students that the speeds and ranges are
abbreviated but that when spoken, they should
be pronounced fully. Point out that in written
English, you can also abbreviate feet to ft and
metres to m.

1 one/a hundred (and) fifty-six feet

2 twelve kilobits a/per second
3 four gigabits a/per minute
4 seven thousand metres
5 ninety-five megabits a/per second
6 sixty-five megabits a/per second

4 Give students one minute to write down the

speeds and ranges they are going to dictate, then
ask them to dictate their figures to their partner.
Make sure the partner writes down the
information and that the person dictating it
checks it is correct.

Network systems 6 46
 Business matters

Reading
1 Ask students to read the introductory paragraph
and then go through Natasha and Karam’s notes
with the class to make sure students understand
the verbs used in the notes.
Point out that these are notes, not full sentences,
and that you often use the past simple in diary
entries or reports like the one Karam and
Natasha write for their boss.

Writing
2 Ask students to complete the table with notes
about themselves. Go round the class to check
that they are doing this correctly and make sure
they just write notes using the past simple, not
full sentences.
3 Ask students to write a report using full
sentences, based on their notes. Remind them of
the linking words they have been taught: and,
but, so and because.

Speaking
4 Tell students that they are going to roleplay a
conversation between a boss and an employee,
which will give them the opportunity to practise
questions and answers in the past simple. Elicit a
question the boss can begin with (for example,
Why didn’t you come to the office on …?) and the
answer (Because I …) and write them on the
board. Make sure students understand that both
Student A and Student B get the opportunity to
play the boss but that the information on pages
68 and 78 is just for the employee role.

Preparing for the next unit

Unit 7 is about IT support, so ask students to come
prepared by finding out what procedures their
organisation has for dealing with computer
problems that non-IT experts have.

Network systems 6 47