The Digital Age
Lesson 2.1 opens Unit 2 with the language of the digital age — core vocabulary, the present perfect, and your first Speaking Part 1 on technology.
- Use 10 collocations about technology
- Form present perfect for life experiences and recent change
- Answer Speaking Part 1 tech questions naturally
Get Ready · Your digital day
- Which app did you open first this morning?
- How many hours a day do you spend online?
- What was life like before smartphones?
Vocabulary · Tech & digital life
Grammar · Present perfect
✓ I've had my phone for two years. ✗ I have my phone since two years.
Listening Skills — Lecture on the History of the Internet
You will hear part of a lecture about the development of the internet. Read the questions first and predict what type of word is missing in each gap.
- Scan the questions for keywords such as dates, names and places before listening.
- Numbers and dates are often paraphrased, e.g. 'in the late sixties' instead of '1969'.
- Listen for signpost words like 'firstly', 'however' and 'in addition' to track the structure.
- Do not leave a gap blank — write your best guess even if you are unsure.
Listen first — the transcript stays hidden so this works like the real exam.
Listening audio
Tap play to generate and listen.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
- ARPANET was approved in ____.
- The first message was sent between UCLA and ____.
- The system crashed after only ____ letters were sent.
- ARPANET fully adopted ____ by 1983.
- The World Wide Web was introduced in ____.
- Tim Berners-Lee worked at a research laboratory in ____.
- The first web browser was later renamed ____.
- Today more than ____ people use the internet.
Answer key
Speaking · Part 1 — Tech in your life
- How often do you use social media?
- Has technology changed how you study?
- What do you use your phone for the most?
- 'Yes, I use Instagram every day to see my friends.'
- 'I'd say I'm a fairly heavy Instagram user — it's become my go-to for staying in touch with friends spread across three different time zones.'
Pathway focus · Academic angle on technology
Technology readings (academic) often discuss workplace automation, productivity research and digital learning studies.
Exam Strategy
- Exam Tip
Always extend Part 1 answers with a reason or example.
- Exam Tip
Pair every new tech word with a real verb collocation.
Independent Practice
Write 5 sentences about your week using the new tech collocations.
Record yourself answering the three Part 1 questions — aim for 3 sentences each.
Key Takeaways
- Present perfect = experience or unfinished change.
- Collocations beat single words for Band 7.
- Paraphrase gymRewrite exam sentences without repeating the key words.
- Matching headings sprintMatch six headings to six paragraph summaries — fast.
- Band 7 upgrades — Task 1 languageOverview quality, comparison language and precise data description.
Optional — this doesn't affect your lesson or course progress.