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Communication of the future may travel over an information superhighway. Computer users already communicate with one another through a huge network called the Internet. This system is made up of tens of thousands of smaller networks and millions of computers.
TS 7
Alphabet
An alphabet contains symbols for individual speech sounds. Early writers did not use the alphabet: their symbols stood for whole words or, later, syllables. An alphabet with symbols for consonants appeared in Syria or ancient Palestine in about 1600 ВС. By about 900 ВС, the Greeks had adapted this to their own language by adding vowels. This was the first alphabet that recorded speech accurately, and became the basis of several others, including the alphabet used for English.
Clay Tablet Books
The first books were not made of paper. Instead, their writers, working in Mesopotamia in about 2800 ВС, used rectangles of soft clay called tablets. One tablet could contain quite a lot of information, but not enough to be called a book. To write something longer people did exactly what we do today. They used several tablets and numbered them to keep them in the right order.
Books with Pages
The first books had no pages — they were written on a continuous scroll. Roman emperor Julius Caesar was the first to fold the scroll into pages instead of rolling it. Both the ancient Greeks and the Romans had ring-bound notebooks with wooden pages but only in AD 380 the book with pages, or codex, became standard. The oldest book with pages is a Greek Bible written between AD 300 and 400. Another Bible, Codex Alexandrinus, was written a century later. Both are kept in the British Museum.
News Bulletin
There has always been a need for news. Without printing the only way to get it to people was to write it out and pin it up where everyone could see it. Acta Diurna (Daily Acts) was started by Julius Caesar in 59 ВС as an official propaganda sheet. It quickly spread, and was soon offering the latest news on births, marriages, horoscopes and public executions.
TS 8 1.
— We went to dinner with some friends on Saturday evening. We had a lovely time but the meal was awful. We had frog's legs with potatoes and pineapple.
— Yuk! How disgusting! Did you eat any of it?
2.
— We intended to go on holiday to France next week. We were really looking forward to it but my brother's been quite ill. So we've had to give up this idea.
— Ah! What a shame! You must be so sad.
3.
— Careful with that knife. Don't cut yourself. It's very sharp.
— Ouch! I've just cut my finger. I don't think it's very deep but I'd better put a sticking plaster on it.
4.
— Be careful. That suitcase is really heavy.
— Whoops! I've dropped it.
— Don't worry. I'll help you.
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