2.1 Abort, Retry, Ignore

7/29/2019 2.1 Abort, Retry, Ignore

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2.1 Abort, Retry, Ignore

A1. Working in pairs/groups discuss the answers to the following

questions:1.Did your computer over hang?2.What were your feelings at that time?3.Have you ever had a surprising experience while working on PC?4. Imagine how life would be without computer.

A2. Here is a picture of a computer and various parts related to it. Label

the parts and suggest at least one use of that part.

Picture of computer with various parts.

A3. Functions of keys.

Discuss with your partner what will happen if you press thefollowing keys:

DEL ESC Enter Shift Alt Fn

A4. Short forms and long forms:

DEL is the short form for delete. Give the full forms of the following:

www ESC; Alt; Ctrl; html; CPU; UPS

Make a small dictionary of your own containing short forms and the full

forms of the words related to the world of computer.

A5. Listen

Listen to the poem and list down all the words related to the field of

computer.


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A6. Listen again

Your teacher will ask one of you to read the poem aloud. Listen to the

poem again and list down the problems that the poet has faced while

working on a PC.

While reading aloud consider:

Sound, speed, tone, pronunciation, stress, intonation, pauses, rhyming

words, ..

Abort, Retry, Ignore

Poem

Once upon a midnight dreary,Fingers cramped and vision bleary,

System manuals piled high

And wasted paper on the floor,Longing for the warmth of bedsheets,

Still I sat here doing spreadsheets:Having reached the bottom line,

I took a floppy from the drawer.

Typing with a steady hand,I then invoked the save command

But got instead a reprimand:It read, Abort, Retry, Ignore?

Was this some occult illusion?

Some maniacal type intrusion?

These were choices Solomon himself,Had never faced before.

Carefully I weighed my options

These three seemed to be the top ones.Clearly I must now adopt one;

Choose: Abort, Retry, Ignore?With my fingers pale and trembling

Slowly toward the keyboard bending,Longing for a happy ending,


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Hoping all would be restored

Praying for some guarantee,

Finally I pressed a key.

But what on the screen did I see?

Again Abort, Retry, Ignore?

I tried to catch the chips off guardI pressed again, but twice as hard,

But luck was just not on the cards,I saw what I had seen before.

Now I typed in desperationTrying random combinations.

Still there came the incantation

Abort, Retry, Ignore.There I sat, distraught, exhausted,

By my own machine accosted

Getting up, I turned away

And paced across the office floor.

And then I saw an awful sight

A hold and blinding flash of lightA lightening bolt that cut the night,

And shook me to my very core.

The PC screen collapsed and died.OH NO! MY DATABASE! I cried.

I heard a distant voice reply,Youll see your spreadsheets nevermore!

To this day I do not know

The place to which our data goes.Perhaps it goes to heaven,

Where the angels have it stored.

But as for Productivity, well,I fear this has gone straight to Hell.

And thats the tale I have to tell

Your choice: Abort, Retry, Ignore.

GlossaryBleary: dim or blurred


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Reprimand: rebuke severely

Intrusion: something that affects a situation in a way that they do not wantDesperation: state of being desperate

Accosted: encountered face to face

A7. Read the poem and after discussing with your partner answer the following

questions;

1. What was the poet doing on a dreary night?2. What was the poet longing for?3. Why did she try all random combinations?4. What did a distant voice reply?5. What were the efforts taken by the poet to get the expected response?6. What does the poet want to convey to the readers through the last stanza of

the poem?7. How would you feel if a wrong key is pressed and your hours of typing work

is deleted?

8. How will you react to the situation?9. Why do you think the poet was unsuccessful in getting the desired

responses?

A8. Rhyming wordsPick out words from the poem that rhyme with the following words:

A B

DrearyBedsheets

HandIllusion

Options

Bending

KeySee

A9. TitleThe title of the poem Abort, Retry, Ignore itself suggest that there is some

problem with the computer and the poet is feeling disturbed. Find words from the

poem that describe the condition of the poet.

A10. Comparison


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Glance through the poem and you will find that the poet is comparing a computer

with human life. Discuss with your partner and fill in the table:

Computer Human Life

_________________________ _____________________

_________________________ _____________________

A11. Complete

Glance through the poem again and complete the following sentences. You maydiscuss with your partner.

1. The poet was wishing for ______________2. The poet was busy watching on _________3. The poet was trying all ______________4. The poet was tired because ____________5. The PC screen stunned the poet because __6. The poet was unsuccessful in getting _____7. The poet concludes by saying that ______

A12. Debate.

Your teacher will form two groups. One in favour of the statement given below

and the other will have to think of presenting points against the motion.

We should ban computers for two days:

Preparation:

Discuss within your group using the

following points

Presentation:

Discuss and agree with the groups on

the following points:

Problems that might arise Benefits of banning Difficulties in banning Days when computers were not

invented

Time limit for each argument Short argument with example Rounds of arguments Final voting in a democratic way

Arguments for

_____________________________

Arguments against

________________________________


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2.1 Abort, Retry, Ignore