Internet- Online

Question 1

To “lurk”

Answer 1

To “lurk” (lurk) in a
forum or a discussion group means that you go to the forum – you go to the
website and you read what other people have written but you don’t participate

Question 2

“thread”

Answer 2

(thread) in an Internet forum is a group of messages

that are responses to each other; they’re a group of related messages.

Question 3

“ergonomic,”

Answer 3

Some computer accessories are “ergonomic,” meaning that they are designed to
correct one’s “posture” (the way that one holds one’s body) to avoid “injuries”
(painful problems with one’s body). A “wrist rest,” for example, is a soft piece of
material that one puts in front of a keyboard and/or mouse for one’s “wrist” (the
part of one’s body between one’s hand and arm) to rest on in the correct position

Question 4

cramped

Answer 4

“The keyboard is a little cramped, too.”
To say something is “cramped” means it is very close
together, too close together. You might say it’s “crowded.” You might walk into a
room and say, “It’s cramped in here. It’s so small; there are too many people
here.” That is to be “cramped.” Ginger says the keyboard is cramped; it’s too
small. Kevin says you can buy a “full-sized,” a bigger, keyboard and a mouse
and attach them to your computer

Question 5

the laptop is “more versatile.”

Answer 5

(versatile) is something that has
many different uses, something that can be used in different ways. You could
say, “That person is versatile, she can do different things for her company.

Question 6

bare basics

Answer 6

the simplest version of something; only the things that one needs and nothing more * His family didn’t have very much money to buy new clothes for school, so he just got the bare basics: a few T-shirts and a pair of jeans.

Question 7

top-of-the-line

Answer 7

– the best possible or the best available; the highest quality; the fanciest and often the most expensive * Jeilan bought a top-of-the-line digital camera that cost thousands of dollars.

Question 8

flimsy

Answer 8

having poor quality so that it breaks easily; easy to damage * Yoko’s glasses were so flimsy that they broke when she accidentally put her book on top of them.

Question 9

to act up

Answer 9

to have problems; to create problems; to stop working properly * Their car is acting up again, so they’re going to ask the mechanic to look at it.

Question 10

top dollar

Answer 10

a very high price; very expensive; the most expensive kind of something * Evy and Valdo paid top dollar for their big home that has a beautiful view of the mountains.

Question 11

bells and whistles

Answer 11

the fancy things that a piece of technology or electronics can do, in addition to the basic things that it should do * This cell phone has lots of bells and whistles that a regular phone doesn’t have, like an Internet browser, a nice camera, and more.
“The bells and whistles (the fancy stuff) are the best part!”

Question 12

sturdy

Answer 12

strong and reliable; not likely to break; well-built * Jimena bought a chair that wasn’t very sturdy, and it broke the first time she sat in it!
“I like this one. It seems sturdy and it should last me for years.”

Question 13

that is one (something)

Answer 13

– an expression that gives emphasis, used to show that the words that follow it are very true * That is one expensive hamburger! I’ve never heard of a hamburger that costs more than $25.

“That is one ugly phone!”
This is a common informal expression: “that is one (something).” It’s an expression we use to give emphasis; it’s used to show that the following statement or the following expression is true. For example, you go to a restaurant and you buy a hamburger, and the hamburger costs you 25 dollars. Your friend might say, “That’s one expensive hamburger!” You’re saying it’s definitely true it’s an expensive hamburger.

Question 14

functional

Answer 14

working; able to work; able to do what something is supposed to do * They built a beautiful website, but it isn’t very functional, so visitors can’t find what they’re looking for.

Question 15

to fall apart

Answer 15

to break; to break into many smaller pieces; to stop working properly * The children built a small house out of sticks, but it fell apart when the wind blew too hard.

Question 16

style over substance

Answer 16

something that is very beautiful, but doesn’t work well; something that was made by people who paid more attention to its appearance than to whether it would do what is was supposed to do * This new stove is an example of style over substance, because even though it looks great, it doesn’t cook reliably.

Question 17

hideous

Answer 17

very ugly; extremely unattractive * There is a hideous witch in that movie, with a green face and a huge nose. very ugly; extremely unattractive * There is a hideous witch in that movie, with a green face and a huge nose.

Question 18

to get over (something)

Answer 18

to be able to accept that something bad has happened and continue on with one’s normal life, not worrying about it * I don’t know how long it will be before she gets over the death of her father. They were very close.

Question 19

failure testing

Answer 19

” which is when they use the product as much as possible to see how long it will “last” (continue to work) before breaking
“resists” (doesn’t let something happen) breaking

Question 20

“six sigma” quality

Answer 20

which refers to “statistics” (the science that studies how likely things are to happen) and the idea that the “probability” (or likelihood) of having a problem with the product should be less than four in one million. A six-sigma company has very high quality, but it is difficult to “achieve” (be able to get or do something) that level.

Question 21

It’s fun shopping for a new cell phone,
“Sure, but I just need one with the bare basics”
“Not me. I want one that’s top-of-the-line.”
“My old phone was cheap and flimsy.”
“I want something that’s good quality (meaning I want something that is well made), but I don’t think I should have to pay top dollar for it.”
“I just want something functional and that won’t fall apart.”

Answer 21

“I don’t need the bells and whistles”

The expression “bells and whistles” can be used for any product, anything you buy, usually a piece of technology or electronics that has many different features, many complicated, perhaps, or fancy things. It does a lot of things besides the bare basic functions. The cell phone, for example, that has a camera, an MP3 player, where you can surf the Internet – this would be a cell phone with a lot of bells and whistles.

Question 22

Brenda says her phone started acting up after only a few months.

Answer 22

To “act up,” is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to have problems or to create problems. Here, it means really to stop functioning properly, to stop working the way it should. If you have a watch and the watch stops because it’s broken, you might say that it is acting up – it stopped working.

Question 23

“I’m not arguing for style over substance, but that phone is hideous.”

Answer 23

“style over substance” refers to something that is very beautiful but it doesn’t work well, something that was made by people who are more interested in the appearance (in the way it looks) than what it can actually do. So, you could have a beautiful watch for example, but if you can’t read it (if you can’t see what time it is) that’s not very useful, not very functional. Brenda is saying she doesn’t want something just because it looks good; it also has to work. “But,” she says, “that phone (the one Yoji wants) is hideous.” “Hideous” (hideous) means very ugly, extremely unattractive. It’s a very negative way to describe something or, certainly, someone. Sometimes informally it also is used just to mean terrible or very bad, but usually it means very ugly.