WiFi

Intro

Can you imagine life without WiFi? It wasn’t that long ago that the world didn’t have the internet. To get information back then, people used dictionaries, encyclopedias, movies, and the telephone, among other things. The word WiFi itself meant nothing to us, so it didn’t matter if your phone or laptop could get it.

It wasn’t as easy to get information back then, but maybe being without internet has its advantages. If you don’t have a smartphone, you don’t have to rely on getting access to a good signal. Without WiFi, it’s not important to live somewhere that gets a strong connection. Some people might even prefer what life was like before the digital age, as hard as that is for many of us to believe.

Do Jessica and Gary depend on WiFi in their homes and for their phones? Find out by reading today’s English lesson about technology.

Dialogue

Jessica: I do a lot of work from home, Gary.

Gary: Yeah.

Jessica: And today my internet connection went out…

Gary: Oh, no.

Jessica: …and I lost signal. My signal was coming in and out, and it stressed me out so much.

Gary: I bet you rely on that signal to be able to keep you connected to the internet, because your business…

Jessica: Exactly.

Gary: Yeah.

Jessica: I find it so funny, though. I left the house yesterday, and I didn’t have my smartphone on me. And the panic that I felt was absolutely ridiculous. Because I feel like, in this digital age, we have to have access to the internet at all times.

Gary: And what’s really funny is that WiFi is so important at home, but what’s actually interesting is that with smartphones, WiFi isn’t that important because they’re connected by another type of technology. So we’ve got this double back-up thing happening…

Jessica: Yeah.

Gary: …which is really neat.

Jessica: Very cool.

Gary: Yeah.

Discussion

Jessica lost access to WiFi today. It was challenging for her because she works from her home, and she uses the internet for her job. Yesterday she left her cell phone at home, so again, she wasn’t able to connect to the internet. She was surprised at how worried and anxious it made her feel to be without a way to get online.

Gary obviously understands how Jessica feels. He knows that she needs to be able to use the internet for her work. He points out that smartphones have a back-up system when they can’t connect to WiFi, which demonstrates how important it is for people to know that they can use the internet. It’s just what life is like in this digital age.

How do you feel when you can’t use WiFi? Is life simpler without the internet?

Grammar Point

Be Able to

Gary says that Jessica needs her internet signal “to be able to keep you connected to the internet.” He uses the phrasal verb be able to.

To be able to do something means to have the ability to do it. Be able to is sometimes used in place of can or could. Instead of, “I can’t go,” you might say, “I am not able to go.”

You can use be able to in any tense. Just change the tense of the verb be. For example, you can say, “I was able to see a movie last night,” or, “He will be able to visit me tomorrow.”

Which is correct, “Are you able to stop by after work?” or, “Are you able stop by after work?”?

                                                                

Vocab

digital age n.

Definition

time of great progress with technology

Example

My kids grew up in the digital age, so they don’t know what phones looked like before cell phones!

find v.

Definition

feel

Example

Do you find that most people just want to help each other? I think so!

panic n.

Definition

feelings of anxiety and worry

Example

You can see the panic in my dog’s eyes when we go to the veterinarian’s office.

double adj.

Definition

two times (twice) as heavy, large, strong, etc.

Example

Our new house is double the size of our old house.

smartphone n.

Definition

cell phone that is able to perform many of the functions of a computer

Example

Let’s use my smartphone to look up the restaurant’s address.

rely on v.

Definition

know that one can trust someone or something

Example

Dennis is a nice guy but you can’t rely on him. He’s not very responsible.

access n.

Definition

ability to have or reach something

Example

There is no access to the freeway near our home because we live far out in the country.

signal n.

Definition

wave of light or sound that carries a message, sound, or picture

Example

It’s hard to get a signal for my phone in the mountains.

back-up n.

Definition

person or thing that can help or be used if necessary

Example

If I’m sick, Sarah can be my back-up at work. She understands my responsibilities.

connection n.

Definition

something that joins or connects two or more things

Example

Our connection to the internet is broken today, so I’m going to a coffee shop to read my email.