<<Unit 4: Services and systems>>

<Starting Point>


Questions

  • What is an app?
  • What is the difference between a mobile app and a desktop application?
  • How often do you use mobile apps?
  • How many apps do you have on your mobile device?
  • Which apps do you find most useful?
  • Which apps do you use daily?
  • If you could keep only one app, what would it be?
  • How do you find out about  new apps?

Definition - What does Mobile App mean?

 

A mobile application, most commonly referred to as an app, is a type of application software designed to run on a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet computer. Mobile applications frequently serve to provide users with similar services to those accessed on PCs. Apps are generally smallindividual software units with limited function. This use of app software was originally popularized by Apple Inc. and its App Store, which offers thousands of applications for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

https://www.techopedia.com/definition/2953/mobile-application-mobile-app

Download
App Categories.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Dokument 171.8 KB

28 App Categories in the App Store

  • Books
  • Business
  • Developer Tools
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Finance
  • Food & Drink
  • Games
  • Graphics & Design
  • Health & Fitness
  • Lifestyle
  • Kids
  • Magazines & Newspapers
  • Medical
  • Music
  • Navigation
  • News
  • Photo & Video
  • Photography
  • Productivity
  • Reference
  • Shopping
  • Social Networking
  • Sports
  • Travel
  • Utilities
  • Video
  • Weather

<Working with words>


Download
Describing App Categories.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Dokument 79.4 KB

<Language at work>


Degrees of Adjectives

 

Comparison of Adjectives - Steigerung der Adjektive 

 

 

 

one-syllable adjectives: ‘Germanic’ comparison with er and -est
                  clean, cleaner, the cleanest

 

      Exceptions to the rule

 

  1. final y after a consonant becomes i:
    dry, drier, the driest;
    Exceptions: shy, shyer, the shyest und sly, slyer, slyest.
  2. silent e is dropped:
    large, larger,
    the largest.
  3. final consonant after short, stressed vowel is doubled
    hot, hotter, the hottest
    slim, slimmer, the slimmest

 

two-syllable adjectives: “French” comparison with more and most
                 
skillfull, more skillfull, the most skillfull               

 

            Exceptions to the rule

 

1.     two-syllabic adjectives ending in -y:
busy, busier, the busiest
happy, happier, the happiest
ugly, uglier, the ugliest

 

2.     two-syllabic adjectives ending in –er:
clever, cleverer,
the cleverest.
Exceptions: eager, proper

 

3.     two-syllabic adjectives ending in –le:
gentle, gentler, the gentlest
simple, simpler,
the simplest

 

4.     two-syllabic adjectives ending in –ow:
narrow, narrower,
the narrowest
shallow, shallower,
the shallowest.

 

 

6.     two-syllabic adjectives with a stress on the second syllable:
polite, politer, the politest
severe, severer,the severest

 

 adjectives of three or more syllables  with more and most.
expensive, more expensive, the most expensive (three syllables)
convenient, more convenient, the most convenient (four syllables)

 

 

Irregular Adjectives

 

positive form

comparative form

superlative form

good

better

the best

bad / ill

worse

the worst

little (amount)

less

the least

little (size)

smaller

the smallest

much / many

more

the most

far (place + time)

further

the furthest

far (place)

farther

the farthest

 

Download
Comparison of Adjectives Rules.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Dokument 102.3 KB

Theory

http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/adjectives.htm

http://www.grammar.cl/Intermediate/Comparatives_Superlatives.htm 

http://www.learnenglish.be/gr2_degrees_study.htm

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/adjectives-adverbs/adjectives

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/adjectives-adverbs/adverbs

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/regcom.htm

 

Great Website

https://agendaweb.org/grammar/comparative-superlative-exercises.html

 

Comparative

http://www.english-4u.de/comparison_ex1.htm

http://www.english-4u.de/comparison_ex2.htm 

http://www.english-4u.de/comparison_ex3.htm

http://www.english-4u.de/comparison_ex4.htm

http://www.english-4u.de/comparison_ex5.htm

http://www.english-4u.de/comparison_ex6.htm

http://www.better-english.com/grammar/comp2.htm

http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~adelegc/grammar/comparatives/comparatives1.html

http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~adelegc/grammar/comparatives/comparatives2.html

http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~adelegc/grammar/comparatives/comparatives3.html

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/uebungen/adjektive_adverbien/adjektiv_steigerung3.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/uebungen/adjektive_adverbien/adjektive_steigerung_saetze.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/uebungen/adjektive_adverbien/adjektive_steigerung_saetze2.htm

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/adjectives-adverbs/adjectives/exercises

 

Superlative

http://www.english-4u.de/comparison_ex5.htm

http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~adelegc/grammar/comparatives/superlatives.html

http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~adelegc/grammar/comparatives/superlatives2.html

 

All three forms

http://www.english-4u.de/comparison_ex4.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/uebungen/adjektive_adverbien/adjektiv_steigerung.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/uebungen/adjektive_adverbien/adjektiv_steigerung2.htm

http://www.english-4u.de/comparison_ex6.htm

http://www.kico4u.de/english/uebungen/adverbundadjective/tabelle.htm

http://www.kico4u.de/english/uebungen/adverbundadjective/steigerung.htm

http://www.stclaresenglish.net/langprac/adcomsup.htm

http://www.kico4u.de/english/uebungen/adverbundadjective/comparing1.htm

https://www.focus.olsztyn.pl/en-comparative-adjectives-exercise.html

 

Level 1 (renew to get new adjectives)

https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/adjectives-adverbs/adjectives/compare-exercises?1

Level 2 (renew to get new adjectives)

https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/adjectives-adverbs/adjectives/compare-exercises?2

Level 3 (renew to get new adjectives)

https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/adjectives-adverbs/adjectives/compare-exercises?3

Level 4 (renew to get new adjectives)

https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/adjectives-adverbs/adjectives/compare-exercises?4

 

Tests

http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/45.html

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/uebungen/adjektive1/index.php

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/uebungen/adjektive2/index.php

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/uebungen/adjektive3/index.php

 

Modifiers or Adverbs of Degree

This is an alphabetical list of common single-word degree adverbs. Adverbs of degree can modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs, and tell us the extent to which something happens.

  • about
  • almost
  • absolutely
  • awfully*
  • badly*
  • barely
  • completely
  • decidedly
  • deeply
  • enough
  • enormously
  • entirely
  • extremely
  • fairly
  • far
  • fully
  • greatly
  • hardly
  • highly
  • how
  • incredibly
  • indeed
  • intensely
  • just
  • least
  • less
  • little
  • lots
  • most
  • much
  • nearly
  • perfectly
  • positively
  • practically
  • pretty*
  • purely
  • quite
  • rather
  • really
  • scarcely
  • simply
  • so
  • somewhat
  • strongly
  • terribly*
  • thoroughly
  • too
  • totally
  • utterly
  • very
  • virtually
  • well

Subtypes

Minimizers Diminishers Approximates Boosters Maximizers

 hardly

the least

less

a bit

little

partly

quite

pretty

rather

equally

nearly

almost

awfully

extremly

highly

very

greatly

so

a lot

 absolutely

completely

perfectly

thoroughly

fully

utterly

Sample Chart

<Practically Speaking>


The language of approximation

In report writing it is good style to use 'approximation' in the Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations. Approximation means describing numbers or statistics by using a fraction that is similar to the exact number; e.g. using 'about one-third' instead of 34.76%, or an easy-to-remember number such as 'just under one million' instead of '997,652'.

There are a number of reasons for doing this. Firstly, it is easier for people to understand and remember. Secondly, the numbers or statistics may be more detailed than necessary.

Download
The Language of Approximation.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Dokument 107.1 KB

<Business Communication>


Download
Key expressions Explaining features and
Adobe Acrobat Dokument 92.4 KB

<Quizlet>


Download
Business Result Unit 4quizlet.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Dokument 59.1 KB
Download
Business Result Unit 4_AK.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Dokument 39.2 KB

<Writing>


Describe an app you use in your mobile phone

 

You should say:

·                what operating system it runs on

·                what app category it belongs to

·                how and when you use it

·                what benefits do you get from the app

·                why this mobile app is important to you

 

Sample Answer (362 words):

I use a Sony Xperia series smartphone which has Android operating system. The Gmail Android application is one of the applications I use very frequently.

As it is an email application I mostly use it to check my emails and to send emails to others. On an average, I check my emails three to four times and send around 5-7 emails per day.

As a senior employee in a multinational company, I have to track the project status I work on and thus communicating with my team members and Chief Operating Officer is essential for me. The nature of projects I work on demands me to keep in touch virtually every hour – be it at office or home. Thus this application has immense importance for me. Our office rule makes it mandatory to use the Gmail as our primary official email address. Hence I am kind of obliged to use this application. Personally, I prefer Gmail over the Yahoo and Hotmail. Gmail is owned by the Google Incorporation and in my opinion, this is the best email client application for email users. The simple and user-friendly design, the ease of access and the convenience of receiving and sending attachments with this email client make it stand out from the crowd.

I use Gmail application for my personal communication with my friends and family members as well. The advanced spam filter of this application filters the spam and junk emails and thus I feel quite comfortable using this email application. The convenient notification system of this application alerts me whenever I get a new message and I can flag them or forward them very quickly. The tab-based email categorising of this application, which was very recently introduced, makes it easier to find out the important emails whereas it is quite hard for other email applications.

In fact, Gmail mobile application has an immense importance to me. Each morning I check my emails and can plan my day ahead. I can update my team members about any important change from anywhere and can keep in touch with my family members and friends. Thus this is an application I cannot do without personally and professionally.

 

https://www.ieltscuecard.com/2015/09/describe-an-app-you-use-in-your-mobile-phone.html

<Talking Point>


Definition

Stacked ranking or forced ranking is an employee evaluation method that slots a certain percentage of employees into each of several  levels of performance.  

Because the ranking is inherently somewhat arbitrary, the model is also sometimes referred to as a forced distribution. Such a model might assume a normal distribution, for example, in which 10% of employees are high achievers, 80% are satisfactory and valuable, and 10% are actually deleterious to the company.  When evaluating the staff, administrators assign individuals to those categories in such a way that the percentages assigned to each category remain constant.

https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/stacked-ranking

Pros Cons
 it's a clear system (high, average and low performers).  It fuels a negative and toxic workplace culture.
it motivates employees to strive for higher performance. It demoralizes on lower levels.
it increases productivity and innovation. It decreases collaboration and innovation.
it identifies high performers and talents. It relies on  subjective evalutations by managers (personal preferences, relationships).
  It promotes a high employee turnover.
  It is short-term focused.
Download
Stacked Ranking.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Dokument 291.6 KB

<Online Practise>