4. Match the highlighted words from Text 2 with the definitions and synonyms below.

1) at the minimum; 2) benefit; 3) general; 4) an outstanding part; 5) a specified period of time; 6) speed; 7) to grade; 8) ordering; 9) between 10 and 99; 10) a research; 11) an aspect or feature of a situation; 12) the lowest position.

5. Make up 5 sentences with the highlighted words in Text 2. Ask your partner to translate them into Russian.

SPEAKING

1. What can you say about the situation in Russia? Make your own list of the most reliable IT trademarks and explain your choice. Compare your ideas with the groupmates’ ones. Discuss the weak and strong sides of all the named marks according to the three dimensions mentioned in the text.

2. Have a look at the title of the article. What do you think it is about? Work in pairs and share your ideas with each other.

3. Now look at the top 5 places to work in IT 2013 in the USA. Work in groups of two or three, develop the given reasons and explain why your company deserves the first place. Try to persuade your competitors that you are the best one.

The top 5

1. Quicken Loans Offers more than 200 hours of training each year

2. USAA Grassroots employee communities foster connections

3. CareerBuilder A casual dress code and half-day summer Fridays

4. Commonwealth Financial Network Strong support for work/life balance

5. World Wide Technology Subsidizes up to 90% of health insurance premiums

4. Role-play “Vacancy fair”.

Your company is going to participate in the “Vacancy fair”. You need a very talented highly-qualified employee. Divide yourselves into two groups: Student A is an employee who is looking for a well-paid job and Student B is a manager who is responsible for personnel selection and placement. Work in pairs. Make up your own list of demands to the future employee/employer. Act out the conversation in front of the class.

UNIT 10. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

COMPUTER TALKING

1. Work in groups. Study these predictions of developments in Information Technology from 1997. Which, if any, have come true? Are the others likely to come true? Give reasons for your decisions and report to the class:

2000 – Electronic newspaper;

2002 – Multiple channels of more than 100 Gigabits per second on single fibre;

2003 – Hydraulic chair for VR;

2005 – Personal wearable health monitor;

2005 – Intranets dominate over Internet;

2006 – Fire fighting robots that can find and rescue people;

2007 – Terabits per second on optical fibres over distance;

2010 – Robotic pets;

2010 – Robotic devices within blood vessels;

2017 – Inward parts of the body created with 3D printers;

2025 – Artificial brain implants;

2030 – Quantum networks usage.

Give each of these inventions a number from 0 to 5 depending on whether it isn’t important for people at all (0) or it is really important for our society (5). Work in pairs and share your opinions with each other. Mention the differences and be ready to report them back.

READING