annoying emails

Listen. What are the three main ideas? Underline
 1. The history of the internet  2. Problems created by spam  3. The effects of viruses 


4. How to eliminate viruses

 5. Why we receive spam

 6. Paying internet bills



Listen again and answer the
questions in

Choose the only
one

1. What percentage of email is spam?
2. What are the signs that your
computer has a virus?

3. How can we protect our computers from
viruses?

4. How

does

spam

cost

the

consumer

money?

5. Why did it become popular to advertise
using emails?

1.
a.
b.
c.
d.

Some viruses…
aren’t very dangerous.
are sent to everyone in your address book.
are advertising.
copy everything on your computer hard
disk.

2.
a.
b.
c.
d.

Spam costs the consumer…
under five dollars a month.
more than five dollars a month.
more or less five dollars a month.
five dollars a month.

3.
a.
b.
c.

When did spam become a big problem?
when commercial emails were first sent.
in the 1970s.
when
email
became
popular
with
everybody.
d. in the 1980s.

It is believed that the real origin of the term comes
from a 1970 Monty Python’s Flying Circus skit. In
this skit, all the restaurant’s menu items devolve
into SPAM. When the waitress repeats the word
SPAM, a group of Vikings in the corner sing “SPAM,
SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM,
lovely SPAM! Wonderful SPAM!”, drowning out other
conversation, until they are finally told to shut it.

Audio file link:
/>
GLOSSARY
- resulting in: leading to, causing
- to take up: occupy, collapse
- major: main, important
- providers: suppliers, dealers
- sometime: eventually, at
some point

Presente
r:

Everybody knows that spam is really annoying and it takes up too much space in our in-boxes, but
how much do we know about its history and the problems it causes? Tonight, we’ve got Denise
Woods with us in the studio to tell us more about this issue. Welcome to the show, Denise.

Denise:

Thanks, Philip. It’s great to be here. Well, spam is definitely one of the most annoying problems we
have when we open our email accounts, but it can also be dangerous. It can install viruses on our
computer hard disks. Did you know that about forty per cent of all emails sent are spam?

Presente
r:
Denise:

No, I didn’t. That’s unbelievable.

Presente
r:
Denise:

Really?

Presente
r:
Denise:

How can you tell if your computer has a virus?

Presente
r:
Denise:

I’ll do that from now on. Does spam create any other problems?

Presente
r:
Denise:

That’s expensive. Why do we receive so much spam?

Presente
r:
Denise:

Presente

r:
Denise:

As I already said, spam can be very dangerous. Most people think that spam is just advertising, but
in a lot of cases these emails actually carry viruses.

Yes, and some of these viruses have the ability to read all of the names in your address book and
resend the virus to all of your friends and family.

Sometimes it’s quite easy: your computer switches off or some of the programs don’t work properly.
One of the simplest signs – and one that we often ignore – is that our computer starts to run more
slowly. That’s why it’s important to have a good anti-virus program installed and scan for viruses
regularly.

Yes, it does, and it’s one that affects us all. Spam costs all a lot of money. This is because internet
providers have to spend lots of money developing programs to combat spam. This cost is actually
paid by the consumer, resulting in the customers paying about $5 extra per month.

In the past, companies sent out letters in the post, but they have discovered that it is much
cheaper to send emails – they don’t have to pay for stamps, paper or envelopes. The first
commercial email was sent out in the 1970s, but these messages didn’t get the name spam until
much later.
How did spam get its name?
In the 1980s computer users sent really long, repetitive messages, often using the word spam. This
is where the name comes from. At this time, spam wasn’t a major concern. However, when the
general public started to send huge numbers of emails, sometime in the mid-1990s, spam really
became a big problem.
Wow. That is interesting. We don’t have much time left. Hopefully, you’ll be able to come back in
the future and tell us more.
I’d love to.

2, 3, 5

1. Approximately 40% of all emails.
2. Programs
stop
working.
The
computer works more slowly.
3. Install an anti-virus program and
use it regularly.
4. It’s expensive for internet providers
to deal with spam and this cost is
passed on to consumers.
5. It’s much cheaper to send emails
than to use paper, envelopes and
stamps.
1. d

2. c

3. c

Monty Python:
tube.c
om/watch?
v=anwy2MPT5RE