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1. SPEAKING Work in pairs. How many different things do people use mobile phones for? Think of as many as you can in two minutes.
2. Read the text. What happened in 1973, 1986, 1992 and 1997?
A brief history of mobile phones
» Nearly a billion mobile phones are sold every year worldwide.
» The first mobile phone call was made in 1973 by Martin Cooper. He was an inventor for a leading mobile phone company. The call was answered by the boss of a rival company, who was not happy to hear that he had lost the race.
» The first mobiles were powered by batteries that weighed nearly a kilo.
»Voicemail was added to phones in 1986. Internet access was not added for another ten years.
» The first text message was sent in December 1992. it was not typed on the phone itself but on a computer.
» The camera phone was invented in 1997 by Philippe Kahn. Photos of his newborn daughter were shared via his phone with 2,000 friends and family.
» In the UK, a mobile phone is stolen every three minutes.
» What are mobile phones used for the most? It isn't texting or calling – it's checking the time!
3. Study the first two sentences of the text in exercise 2. Then complete the Learn this! box.
LEARN THIS! The present and past passivea. The passive is formed with the correct form of the verb (1) _____ and the past participle. b. We use the (2) _____ simple of be for the present passive and the (3) _____ simple of be for the past passive. c. If we want to say who perforrned the action, we use (4) _____ + their name. |
4. Find twelve examples of the passive in the text. Which examples are a) plural, b) negative or c) a question?
LOOK OUT!When we use adverbs with the passive, we usually put them immediately before the past participle. Phones are sometimes used as alarm clocks. It was probably invented by accident. |
| ⇒ Grammar Builder 8B The passive (present simple and past simple): page 122 |
5. Read the Look out! box. Complete the sentences with the present simple or past simple passive of the verbs in brackets.
1. Mobile phones are owned (own) by about 43 billion people in the world today.
2. The best-selling phone ever was the Nokia T100. More than 250 milllon _____ (sell).
3. In Japan, mobiles _____ (often /us) in the shower, so most of them are waterproof.
4. The average text message _____ (usually / answer) within 90 seconds.
5. Today, the internet _____ (access) more often from a phone than from a computer.
6. More text messages _____ (send) every year in the Philippines than in any other country.
6. Complete the questions about the reading texts in Units 1–7 using the correct passive form of the verbs in brackets.
1. Why _____ Ashlyn Blocker _____ (watch) more carefully than all the other children at her school? [1F]
2. _____ Dan and Kate Suski _____ (rescue) by helicopter after their boat sank? [2F]
3. What skills _____ (improve) by playing online video games, according to a report? [3F]
4. Who _____ (nearly / kill) by a storm at a paragliding event? [4F]
5. Where _____ Andrew Johnson _____ (employ) as a Master Model Builder? [5F]
6. Where _____ meetings_____ (sometimes / hold) if Aaron Levie is choosing the venue? [6F]
7. What _____ Hillary Bradt _____ (show) to do on her holiday? [7F]
