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.
We live in the age of information. One hundred years ago, if you wanted information about other parts of the world, you would need to write letters or use old books. And who knows how accurate they would be? But nowadays, you can learn pretty much anything about anything on a computer. And Wikipedia is always a good place to start.
Wikipedia is a free Internet encyclopedia, written in almost 300 different languages. If you want a fast answer to a question like “How far is the moon from Earth?,” Wikipedia will quickly tell you it is 385,000 km away. Wikipedia is so amazing because it ties together the large majority of human knowledge into one place.
Sara asks Gary what he thinks about Wikipedia. Find out more in today’s English lesson about doing research online.
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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Sara_R: Gary.
Gary: Yes?
Sara_R: I’m looking for an answer on a topic and I’m thinking about using Wikipedia.
Gary: Great idea.
Sara_R: OK. I just wonder if it’s reliable and accurate. I know because it’s user-generated, anyone can write anything.
Gary: That’s absolutely true. And of course because it’s free, it seems like the information might not be very accurate. That’s not actually true. It’s a great resource that people actually provide citations for and show you where that information came from. So you can determine, “Is this accurate or inaccurate information?”
Sara_R: Hmm… it is nice to get information at the click of a button.
Gary: True.
Sara_R: Have you ever contributed to Wikipedia?
Gary: I have! I’ve contributed a few times. And it’s actually really hard. It’s not as simple as editing email, for example.
Sara_R: Good to know.
Gary: Yeah.
Sara_R: Well, I will try it. Thank you.
Grammar Point
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Discussion
Sara is doing some research, but she isn’t sure exactly where to look. She is thinking about using Wikipedia, but she is not sure if the information she would find there is accurate. She does agree, though, that getting information at the click of a button is nice.
Gary thinks using Wikipedia is a great idea. He thinks the information found there is accurate because the website uses a lot of citations. He has even contributed to Wikipedia a couple of times!
Do you use Wikipedia? Do you think it is a reliable source for information?
Comments
United States |
Iran, Islamic Republic Of |
Taiwan |
Taiwan |
Venezuela |
Turkey |
Ukraine |
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Argentina |
China |
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