WARM-UPS. Scientists test WiTricity – Wireless Electricity

THE ARTICLE

Scientists test WiTricity – Wireless Electricity

Task 7

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - c

2 - a

3 - d

4 -b

5 - a

6 -d

7 - c

8 -b

9 -b

10 -d

11 -a

12 - c

A team of US researchers has come up with an electricity system that does not need wires. This is a breakthrough in what will hopefully be a wireless future. The scientists, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, lit a 60-watt light bulb using magnetic fields. In the test, the power source was just two metres away from the light, but the team hopes they will soon be able to send electricity longer distances through the air. They have dubbed their new invention “WiTricity”, or wireless electricity. Although wi-fi has been around for some years now, it has been limited to the transmission of information, especially between computers and modems, printers and scanners. This is the first time electrical appliances have been powered wirelessly.

This new development means that our houses may be free from tangled wires. Gone will be the days of having to unplug the vacuum to go from room to room, and of having countless plugs hidden behind the TV and stereo. The new source of delivering power to gadgets remotely may also reduce the number of fires caused by poor wiring and overloaded sockets. It turns out the concept is not so new. A century ago, inventor Nikola Tesla struck upon the idea of building a huge tower in New York that would wirelessly beam power to the city. Unfortunately, his idea never came to fruition, until today, that is. It will still be a while before we have wireless homes and offices. Safety experts will be checking closely to ensure the power source causes us no harm.

1. ELECTRICITY: Walk around the class and talk to other students about electricity – do you have any “electricity stories”? Change partners often. After you finish, sit with your original partner(s) and share what you found out.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

researchers / wires / breakthroughs / light bulbs / ‘wirelessness’ / appliances / developments / vacuums / plugs / wiring / inventors / safety experts / harm

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. WI-TRICITY: With your partner(s), decide which of these things you would like to have no power cords. How would ‘wirelessness’ make using these things better? Change partners and share your findings.

lamps vacuum cleaners fridges TVs

computers games consoles telephones/fax machines other ___________________

4. FUTURE HEADLINES: Talk about these future headlines with your partner(s). Talk about the stories behind the headlines. Discuss when these headlines might come true:

• Entire language downloaded into the brain in 25 seconds
• London to Sydney in a minute on new SuperJet
• Last office closes. World population now working from home
• DoctorBots arrive – heart surgery via an easy-to-swallow pill
• McDonalds opens first moon restaurant
• iPod becomes latest addition to Antique Technology Museum
• Tech whiz-kid Gill Bates invents replacement to computer

5. ELECTRICITY: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with electricity. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

6. QUICK DEBATE: Students A strongly believe WiTricity will be dangerous – too much electricity in the air; Students B think WiTricity will revolutionize our lives. Change partners often. When you have finished, share your findings.

Дата добавления: 2015-01-03