Part III . Listening , Speaking and Writing

12. Add the missing letters to the adjectives below. Which ones would you use to describe the job in IT and Telecommunications?

1. r_w_rd_ng 2. ch_ll_ng_ng 3. str_ssf_l 4. b_r_ng 5. r_p_t_t_v_

6. s_t_sf_ _ng 7. _xc_t_ng   8. fl_x_bl_ 9. cr_ _t_v_ 10. h_ghl­_- p_ _d

11. c_mp_t_t_v_ 12. pr_st_g_ _ _s 13. h_ghl_- d_m_nd_d 14. pr_m_ss_ng

13. Which of the following statements are true to you? Ask your group-mate(s) about his/her preferences.

1. After graduation from the University, I’m going to join a telecom company. I’m willing to improve the way people communicate and share information.

2. I’m interested in different spheres of computer engineering. I hope some internship will help me to figure out what to major in.

3. I am concerned about sustainable and renewable energy sources, so I do hope to contribute into their development.

4. I’m fond of artificial intelligence, robotics, everything about adaptable robots.

5. I’m really good at math, physics, and electronics but it’s really difficult to figure out what to major in.

6. I dream of helping people by developing advanced medical equipment.

7. I am keen on space technologies. Perhaps, I’ll develop some space stations or satellite equipment.

 

14. Role play ‘‘Job Interview’’. Act any of three situations: Role A - an applicant, Role B – an interviewer.

1 Role A You apply for a position of a help desk technician in SPbSUT. You want to get this job as it’s convenient for you to study and to work in the same building. You don’t have any work experience, but you’re good at electronics. You have been taking apart and fixing devices since your childhood. You have very good communicative skills. You’re stress-resistant and ready to deal with any problem. You speak fluent English and have basic knowledge in French.	1 Role B You’re the head of the IT department in SPbSUT. You’re looking for a new help desk technician as the previous one wasn’t responsible enough. You’re looking for a person: 1) who is always on duty; 2) who can troubleshoot any technical problem; 3) who can get on well with different people; 4) who speaks English (some employees of the University don’t speak Russian). Interview a candidate. Ask him/her about work experience and skills you’re interested in, announce your decision about him/her employment.
2 Role A You apply for a position of a web designer of a big international company. You’ve designed lots of websites. All of your projects were pretty creative and successful. You’ve worked for Kaspersky company and a few small organizations. You’re already familiar with HTML and are learning XML. Now you prefer teleworking as you have to study at the University.	2 Role B You’re the head of the HR department of a big international company. You’re looking for a part time web designer (teleworking is possible). Candidate responsibility: 1) to maintain and update the website of the company, including English version; 2) to create unique websites for your company VIP clients; 3) must be well-versed in languages like PHP and Java and have the ability to create scripts or web pages. Interview a candidate. Ask him/her about work experience and skills you’re interested in announce your decision about him/her employment.
3 Role A You apply for a position of a network designer of a multinational organization. You’ve got the university degree (Engineering) with honors not long ago. You’ve had some experience in switching and transmission while being a graduate trainee. You’re looking for a challenging position with a fast-expanding company in telecommunication, which will appreciate your leadership qualities and strong communication skills. You speak fluent English, German and have basic knowledge in Chinese.	3 Role B You’re the head of the R&D of a multinational organization ‘Anglo Telecom’. Due to company expansion you now need a Network Designer to work on your 21st century development project and be involved in all areas of the project. Requirements for a network designer: 1) to know and work on a wide range of networking technologies; 2) to work effectively in a team; 3) to have a university qualification in Telecommunication Engineering or a related subject; 4) to have an experience of working with different cultures. Interview a candidate. Ask him/her about work experience and skills you’re interested in announce your decision about him/her employment.

• Work in pairs and prepare for some common and killer questions that are often asked during the interview:

1) What are your strengths and weaknesses? 2) Why do you want to work for us? 3) What did you like most in your last job? 4) How do you get on with other people? 5) Do you work best on your own or in a team? 6) How do you manage multitasking? 7) How do you deal with stress?

15. Write a report about your future major/ profession.Make up your own oral presentation according to some hints (see Appendix III).

1. Choose one job and explain the reason of your choice. Talk about responsibilities, knowledge and skills. What education should you complete? What job experience is required? Explain why you would (not) like to choose this job in the future? What is needed to be a perfect candidate for this job?

2. Use phrases: e.g. to be interested in/keen on/good at/deeply attracted to/fond of…..

3. Describe duties/ tasks/ responsibilities/ spheres of employments/ companies and places;

4. Give some details: e.g. a set of hard and soft skills/ personal characteristics and qualification required for this job …

5. Praise and conclude about this job: promising/ creative; challenging/complicated; prestigious/ sophisticated; well/highly paid …

6. Praise and conclude about these specialists/ the spheres of employment and career promotion: e.g. to be in demand/ to be sought after / to be not afraid of../ to be popular/ to stay current …

 

Part IV. Business Correspondence: MEMO

 

16. There’s a lot of specialized vocabulary that’s used in the office. If you work in an office and want to present yourself professionally, it’s especially important that you are able to understand and use these terms. A memorandum (or “memo”) is a short piece of writing designed for communication within an organization. It is a piece of business communication, typically aimed at a specific audience (like members of a company or team). It is typically either a reminder of the importance of some particular thing or a request to take specific action. Examples of reasons to send out a memo could be: (An IT guy sending a reminder that all passwords need to be updated every 60 days or to be at a team meeting Monday at 2pm to discuss something specific). Formal memorandum template usually includes the following:

 

To: [Audience] From: [Person and/or Department issuing the memo] Date: [Date Sent] Subject: [Subject of the Memo]

[Opening – Get to the point in the opening paragraph. Keep things simple and short. Make it easy and fast to read.] [Summary – Provide enough background so all readers understand the history, but again, keep it simple.] [Conclusion – End with a call to action.] CC: [Send copies to anyone affected by the memo.] Attachments: [List any attachments to the memo. Only list items referred to in the body of the memo.]

 

Common types of memos include:

· Directive memos, where instructions are given.

· Status or progress report memos, where you report on the status or progress of some project or event.

· Field or trip report memos, where you document key information about events that occurred in the field or during a trip.

 Most memos today take the form of emails.

16.1. Read and translate the Internal Office Memo:

To: All Staff From: The Manager Date: May 27, 202_ Subject: Inappropriate use of time on Google Doodle games

Dear coworkers,   It has come to my attention that many in the office have been spending time on the Google home page microgames. This memo is a reminder to use your work hours for work. According to a recent article, the estimated daily cost of people collectively playing these games instead of working is over $120 million - which is calculated based on the daily average increased time spent on the Google home page (36 seconds). If these estimates are applied to our 600 office employees, this results in a nearly $700 weekly loss. This is a conservative estimate considering the extensive discussions that occur about beating the office's current high score. The extra cost quickly adds up. Of course, we don't want you to view our organization as a place of drudgery and draconian rules. I encourage a fun and competitive environment, and I recognize that we certainly won't be profitable if you are unhappy or dissatisfied with your jobs. This is just a reminder to be careful with your use of company time.   Thank you, The Senior Manager

 

16.2. Fill in the gaps to make a general office memo:

a) Clancy Brytle

b) 10 April

c) Subject

d) From

e) [email protected]

f) April 17

g) Dear collegues

To: R&D Department (1) ___: Clancy Brytle, Personal Director Date: (2) _____ (3) _____: Conference Participation

(4) _______,   I want to inform you that on (5)______ your department will be audited. Your questions and comments can be sent to (6) _____.   Best regards, (7) _______

16.3. Work with a group-mate to discuss the following:

1. What is a memo and types of it?

2. What is a purpose of a memo?

3. Is there a standard format for a memo?

4. What are the five sections to a memo?

5. How do you end a memorandum?

6. How long should a memo be?

 

16.4. Imagine you work in the Project Planning Department at Bauer AG, Switzerland. You’ve just received this memo from the General Manager:

To: Project Planning Dept From: GM Date: Jan. 4 Subject: Aqua Warm BV

I am sure that you have read about the recent explosion at Perfect a Ltd. We have decided not to install any more Aqua Warm central – heating systems until we can be sure that they are absolutely safe. Please write and inform Aqua Warm of this. Their address is Beulingstraat 23, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.   Bauer Ag

 

Write a memo to your company staff about a regular meeting giving the bad news mentioned above:

1.  Set a date, time, purpose and brief agenda discussed,

2. Say what you are writing about

3. Give the bad news.

UNIT 8

COMPUTERS & TECHNOLOGY

1. Work with a group-mate to discuss the following:

1. What does the word “computer” mean?

2. When do you think the word «computer» was coined out? What did the term refer to?

3. What does the word “to compute” mean?

4. How many generations of computers are there?

5. Computers have become an essential part of our lives and are used in different areas of our lives. What do we use them for?

6. Think about functions a modern computer can perform.

7. There’re lots of abbreviations and acronyms in the computer sphere, e.g. PC, RAM, ROM, I/O, CPU, SW, HW, ATM, VR, PDA, HMD, AI etc. Do you know their explanation?

8. What do you look at when buying a computer?

2. Look at the following international words and guess their meaning and check the pronunciation:

Design, arithmetic, logical, original, familiar, calculations, computations, image, interaction, virtual reality, identification, contactless, transaction, media, artificial, mathematical, mechanical, mechanism, microprocessor, data

Part I. TEXT

 

1. Here are the words and word combinations you have to learn. Rewrite them and find their meaning using online translators (www.lingvolive.com, www.multitran.ru):

To carry out, to allow, sequence, accessible, indispensable, software and hardware developers, processing, image editing, a huge impact, dispense, goods, built-in, an artificial environment, to perform operations, computer essentials, a central processing unit, peripherals, RAM, ROM, VLSI circuit, QC, to attach to, to extract, to accept, to access, random, permanently, external, internal, a socket, a circuit, a keyboard, instead of.

 

2. Read the text to learn about a brief computer history: