
Learn English with this computers English lesson
Date: Jun 19 2013
Grammar: Gerunds vs. Infinitives
Intro
1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.
2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.
It happens to everyone: You write a great letter, application, or paper for school. You’re really proud because you invested time, thought, and effort into your work. You’ve read, edited, and proofread it. It might be the best writing of your life. You’re anxious to share it with your co-worker or professor.
But then, your computer crashes! All of your hard work is down the drain. You can rewrite, but it will never be as good as the original. You want to scream or throw something. You’re kicking yourself for not backing up your document.
Find out what Marni wishes she’d done before her computer died in this English lesson about backing up.
Dialog
1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.
2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.
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Marni: Oh, my god. I think my computer is dead!
Mason: What? Do you have a back-up copy of stuff?
Marni: No. You do that?
Mason: I don’t do it probably as well as I should, but yeah. I’ve got like really important stuff that I burned onto a disc.
Marni: So, am I just in trouble? Is my data gone? My photos, everything… am I doomed?
Mason: I’ve been through this before. Chances are there’s a way to recover some or all of your stuff, but it’s really expensive. It’s the kind of thing that that little bit of prevention up front would help save you a lot of pain.
Marni: Gosh, I knew it. I knew it! I just kept thinking “I’ll do it down the road,” but…
Mason: Do you have Mac? Do you have Time Machine that you could use? Or do you use any online services like Dropbox where your stuff might be?
Marni: No. Should I be doing that?
Mason: It’s not a bad way to save some stuff in a place that’s maybe a little more protected. Even stuff that you emailed to maybe your mom. You could find things that way. There are all sorts of weird hacks to track down things.
Marni: Yeah, I guess. Gosh, I just hope that I haven’t lost all this data. I guess from now on, I’d better start backing up.
Grammar Point
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Discussion
Marni’s computer has crashed and she’s really upset. Mason asks if she backed up her files, but even though she knows she should, Marni never does it. She’s heartbroken to learn that even her photos are probably gone.
Mason gives Marni hope when he tells her that it’s possible to get her files back. Still, she isn’t backing up her computer every day and some things will be lost forever. Marni’s learning the hard way that she needs to take better care of her data and pictures.
There are many ways that people can back up their computers. Some save files on a hard drive, while others use online services. With so many options out there, there’s no reason not to be backing up.
Has your computer ever crashed? Did you lose everything, or could you get it back? What do you do to protect the information, photos, and movies on your computer?
Comments
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