Big Brother is Watching You

Big Brother could soon be keeping an eye on the staff. Several international companies are consulting scientists on ways of developing microchip implants for their workers in order to measure their timekeeping and whereabouts.

The technology which has already been successfully tested on pets and human volunteers would make it possible for firms to track staff around a building. The data could enable them to draw up estimates of workers’ efficiency and productivity.

British scientist Kevin Warwick hit the headlines recently when he had a silicon chip implanted in his forearm. He was subsequently able to show how a computer could monitor his every move, using detectors that were located around the building where he worked. In his experiment Warwick showed how the system could also be of benefit to workers by programming it to switch on lights, computers and heating systems when he entered a room.

It seems highly likely that the technology will have an appeal to companies with high labour costs, and for which small increases in productivity can have an immediate impact on profits. At just a few pounds per employee, it is also relatively cheap.

Vocabulary Exercises

Ex. 1.

A. Match each word in the left column with its definition in the right column.

1) technology a) meaningful to persons of specialized knowledge

2) technological b) a person who is trained in the methods of a practical field

3) technical c) the means (tools and machines) by which a social group obtains and produces the material objects of its civilization

4) technician d) relating to science and industry

5) technique e) a method for fulfilling the requirements of a particular task

B. Fill each gap with the appropriate word from the list above.

1. The article is a survey of jobs, new … and the world economy of the future.

2. Workers will need an understanding of sophisticated … information and communications systems.

3. The farm will be a place for people with training as electronic … .

4. The … revolution will create new jobs and professions.

5. Even workers in unskilled jobs generally develop their own … for doing their jobs more easily and quickly.

Ex. 2.

A. Use the word from the list to form a word that fits the space in the sentences below.

1. Advances in computer technology have (1) … tremendous changes both in office work and in the (2) … of consumer and industrial goods.

2. The article predicts a need for teleconferencing (3) … in the future to help business and government administrators in (4) … with one another.

3. Many workers are not happy about the (5) … of their workplaces because they fear that their jobs will be replaced by machines. Managers, on the other hand, often want to (6) … production quickly in order to increase their company’s efficiency and to reduce production costs.

4. Many (7) … can process all kind of (8) … depending on the type of program used to (9) … the machine. In business, computers are used to do both mathematical (10) … and word processing.

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 1962