Exercise 1

What does Icarus think about Quickmate, Delavigne's business software?

Choose all the TRUE statements about Quickmate from the list below.

There may be more than one correct answer! Check all that apply.

Quickmate was designed by primitive French engineers.

Quickmate's functions are difficult to use and impractical.

Quickmate is constantly being upgraded.

Quickmate does not work with some of Delavigne's current software programs.

Quickmate is outdated.

What does Icarus think about Quickmate, Delavigne's business software?

Choose all the TRUE statements about Quickmate from the list below.

There may be more than one correct answer! Check all that apply.

Quickmate was designed by primitive French engineers.

This is not one of Icarus's complaints about the software. He actually says that Quickmate's spreadsheet capabilities are "primitive" or "basic", and that the payroll program still measures French currency in Francs. Icarus is not insulting French engineers.

Quickmate's functions are difficult to use and impractical.

This is one of Quickmate's flaws according to Icarus. He says that "none of Quickmate's seven different functions are centralized or user-friendly". If a program is "user-friendly" it means that it is easy to use, or that it has a simple interface, for example.

Quickmate is constantly being upgraded.

This is not one of Icarus's complaints about the software. Icarus actually says "I don't think it's ever been upgraded", which indicates that Icarus believes the software has never been upgraded.

Quickmate does not work with some of Delavigne's current software programs.

This is one of Quickmate's flaws according to Icarus. He says that Quickmate is "not compatible" with Microtosh Word Processing programs.

Quickmate is outdated.

This is one of Quickmate's flaws according to Icarus. He says that Quickmate's payroll program still measures currency in French Francs. If something is "outdated" it means that something is out of date, obsolete or antiquated. It is a term often used to talk about software.

Exercise 2

Fill in the blanks below with the most appropriate terms from the audio! Don't forget that verbs may need to be conjugated!

Find the verb which means "to target", "to intend", or "to direct" something towards a certain goal: "Icarus to improve his productivity by 2.678% per month".

Next, let's find a term meaning "easy to work with" or "accessible": "I've invented a video player: I'm going to be rich!".

Finally, find the term verb which means "to meet" or "to come upon": "On my way to work this morning, I several men in big hats".

I don't know

Fill in the blanks below with the most appropriate terms from the audio! Don't forget that verbs may need to be conjugated!

Find the verb which means "to target", "to intend", or "to direct" something towards a certain goal: "Icarus aims 1 to improve his productivity by 2.678% per month".

Next, let's find a term meaning "easy to work with" or "accessible": "I've invented a user-friendly 2 video player: I'm going to be rich!".

Finally, find the term verb which means "to meet" or "to come upon": "On my way to work this morning, I encountered 3 several men in big hats".

1 aims: "Aims" is the right answer here. "To aim" to do something is "to intend" or "to attempt" to do it. It is always followed by a verb in the full infinitive form. Example: "I was aiming to finish this essay by today, but I think we should put the deadline back to tomorrow".

2 user-friendly: "User-friendly" is the term we are looking for here. A "user-friendly (guide)" is easy to use, and accessible for all. Example: "Do you have a more user-friendly explanation? This one is too complicated".

3 encountered: "Encountered" is the right answer for this sentence. To "encounter (a problem)" is to "meet" or "come upon" a problem. Example: "Did you encounter any difficulties with these English exercises?".

Exercise 3

Icarus tells Bob that the Miracle software ...meets Delavigne's requirements.
This means that the Miracle software:

is highly regarded.

This is not what Icarus is referring to when he says that the Miracle software "meets our requirements". Something "highly-regarded" is recommended or well thought of.

fulfills the company's needs.

This is the best choice here. The expression "to meet our requirements" shares a very similar meaning with the expression "to fulfill our needs". Both phrases indicate that "expectations", "requirements" or "objectives" are being "met", "fulfilled" or "reached".

is user-friendly.

A user-friendly program is simple or easy to use. This is not what Icarus is referring to when he says that the Miracle software "meets our requirements"

is a great bargain for Delavigne.

This expression does not indicate that the software is a great "bargain", which means that it is inexpensive.

User friendly meaning in English

Definition

Examples

What our users say: