PRONUNCIATION 2 LISTENING EXERCISES SERIES

Tech Talk at the NY Times

You will listen to a segment of a Tech Talk report by New York Times reporters J. D. Biersdorfer and Pedro Rafael Rosado. Below you are provided with a set of questions, so please give a brief but direct answer to each of them. Dont forget to print a copy of this exercise and bring it to class to be checked. 1 2 3 4 Whats the main objective of the social media available? A/ To connect people Why is it that Google + is not as popular as Facebook? A/ Because it is not getting the traffic as Facebook gets. Was Google + open to anyone that wanted to join at the beginning? A/ No, it was not open to everyone. What seems to be the reason that Google + traffic dropped by 60% according to advertising networks and research firms? A/ Because after people felt no curious about it, they didnt feel
attracted to it.

Why was the metaphor better than sliced bread used when describing Google +? What does it mean? A/ After people knew it, they were not attracted to Google Plus
anymore.

Whats the explanation regarding Google +s sudden increase and rapid decrease in popularity? A/ Curiosity seems to be the answer. Once they knew the new
house, they were no longer interested. PODCAST LISTENING EXERCISE DESIGNED BY PROF. JONATHAN ACUA

PRONUNCIATION 2 LISTENING EXERCISES SERIES What are the two theories about why Google + is lagging in the social media? A/ a) supply of media users is limited b) provide a service others dont provide 8 Whats the male reporters bottom line about Google + and the lack of the fun factor or sticky quality? A/ If it is not fun, it is not really appealing to the user. 9 Compared to Facebook, how user-friendly is Google +? A/ Google Plus is complicated rather than simple. 10 Whats the new relationship between Facebook and iPad? A/ Facebook released an iPad app. 11 What are the most important features of the new Facebook app? A/ The user can handle multiple accounts. 12 TRANSCRIPTIONS: a) connected /knktd/ b) Google Plus /guwgl pls/ c) apparently /prntl/ d) increase /kriys/ e) temporary /tmprr/ f) theories /iyrz/ g) supply /splay/ h) stand out /stnd awt/ i) features /fiytrz/ j) sticky quality /stk kwalt/ k) the bottom line / bam layn/ l) complicated /kamplkeyd/ 7

Taken and adapted for educational purposes only, from NYTimes.com Podcasts at http://www.nytimes.com/pages/podcasts/index.html

PODCAST LISTENING EXERCISE DESIGNED BY PROF. JONATHAN ACUA