Reading
1. Look at the letters the children from Viet Nam and Sweden sent to each other in a penfriend project. Why do you think they chose this way to communicate with each other?
2. Read the text.
COMMUNICATION IN THE FUTURE: WHAT IS THERE FOR US?
About fifty students in two schools in Ha Noi, Viet Nam and Umea, Sweden have been exchanging letters in a penfriend project since 2013. ‘I love to write. You can even stick something on the letter, like this tiny sweet!' said Linh, from Ha Noi about the project. From the Sweden end, Anders said, ‘It's so nice to open and read real letters!' But will this be our future communication? It's said that in a couple of decades we'll be using telepathy and holography.
Telepathy uses a tiny device placed into our head. Information will be sent and received directly to and from our brains. We'll be communicating just by thought over the network! Holography, a video-conference technology with three-dimensional images, will help us interact in real time in completely different places.
Impressed? Maybe, but not everyone thinks the cyberworld will replace the real world. Like the children in the penfriend project, I prefer to chat with my friends over a cup of tea and enjoy their company - life is more meaningful that way!
Look at the highlighted words and match them with their meanings.
1. immediately, without delay
2. to communicate with or react to
3. the opposite of a flat image
4. the digital world
5. a system of connected parts to share information
3. Answer the following questions.
1. What do the students like about the penfriend project?
2. What are the two ways of future communication mentioned in the text? Explain how they work.
3. Do you think the writer is happy with this future of communication? How do you know?
Speaking
4. In small groups, decide whether you agree with the author of this text. Why/ Why not? Share your ideas with the class.
5. Class survey. What ways of communication do you use for the following purposes now and what will they be in the year 2030?
| Purpose | At present | In the year 2030 |
| 1. working on a group project | I (use)… | I'll be (using)… |
| 2. keeping in touch with a friend who lives far away | ||
| 3. contacting friends to meet to see a film | ||
| 4. asking your teacher something that you didn't understand in the lesson | ||
| 5. letting your parents know you want to say sorry | ||
| 6. showing love to your pet |
