Lesson 1

Reading

1. Read the advice about doing online research. Which of the following is not mentioned?

1 How to ask questions in online discussions.
2 How to find reliable and useful information.
3 How to save web pages so you can read them again later.

2. Find these words and phrases in the text.
In pairs, decide what the meaning is and write a definition for each. Check your answers in a dictionary.

1. consult (v) look for information

2. reliable (adj) likely to be correct

3. update (v) added to with the latest information

4. up-to-date (adj) has the latest information

3. Read the article again. Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?

1. The internet is a wonderful resource for research. T

2. A website written by a company might be trying to sell something. T

3. You only need to look at one website to do research. F, Always consult more than one website.

4. It is not important if a website has spelling and grammar mistakes. F, If it is badly designed and is full of grammar and spelling mistakes, then it is probably not very reliable.

5. You should check whether a website says where it got information. T

Vocabulary

5. We use up and down in lots of words and phrases to do with technology and the internet. Match the words and phrases in the box with their definitions.

1. download.: to move files from the internet to a phone, tablet or computer

2. upgrade .: to improve or make more efficient

3. update .: to make something more modern and relevant by adding new information

4. upload.: to move files from a computer, phone or camera to the internet

5. take down .: to take something that you have posted online off the internet

Writing

6. Discuss with a partner. How is writing an email to a friend different from writing to someone you don't know? Think about:

tone
how you start and end each email
grammar and punctuation

An email to a friend will have a more informal tone with contractions, abbreviations and maybe emojis.
There may be more exclamation marks. It can start with Dear ... or Hi/Hello/Hey and finish with Love from/See you soon/Take care, etc.
An email to someone you don’t know will be more formal with longer sentences, more complex grammar and clear punctuation.
It will start with Dear Mr/Ms/Mrs … and finish with I look forward to hearing from you, Best regards/Kind regards, etc .