Before you read: some questions to help you think about the topic and the words you might need.
Do you have a dog? Do you worry that your dog could get lost?
How can we stop our pets from running away or getting lost?
Last year Snaptracs released the $99.95 Tagg, a GPS-tracking enabled clip-on for a dog’s collar, which would alert owners via text message or e-mail when their pet was outside of the home area. But now the company has released an update to the digital collar, which adds an activity tracking ability.
The new change provides a 24-hour view of the dog’s fitness activity. Using an accelerometer in the collar, it tracks the intensity and duration of the activity; it will pick up everything from running to sleeping in front of the TV, says Snaptracs.
That data is then recorded and uploaded into a Tagg account, where owners can view it in charts and graphs. Similar to another similar app, it shows a pie chart of the dog’s activity during the day and you can adjust it to see activity over the long term too. You can view this all through Tagg.com or new iPhone and Android apps.
“This is a fun way to stay connected with your pet,” Dudley Fetzer, a senior director at Snaptracs, told ABC News. “This gives owners a way to engage with the product and is something you can also talk to a vet ( a vet is an animal doctor) about.” The company is working with vets as it hopes the device can help motivate owners to more closely monitor their dog’s activity and exercise, Fetzer explained.
The gadget clips to any dog collar and has a cellular chip inside to send updates to the account. A home docking station knows when the collar is in the area and also doubles (can also be used as ) as a charger. (The collar’s battery lasts up to 30 days before having to be recharged, says the company.) But there’s a price to pay on top of the $99.95 it costs to buy the high-tech collar: Because of that cellular connectivity there’s a monthly $7.95 fee.
The collar itself is available now. The fitness tracking update will be released in October for new buyers and current owners alike.
Guessing meaning from context (the words around that word or phrase).
Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. The answers are below the table.
|
enabled |
A |
1 |
To tell, to notify, make people know about something urgent or important |
|
alert |
B |
2 |
Continue to have communication with |
|
intensity |
C |
3 |
Encourage, give a desire to do something |
|
stay connected |
D |
4 |
A device, something that is often electronic that can do something and is usually small |
|
engage with |
E |
5 |
Make it possible for something to happen |
|
motivate |
F |
6 |
To watch |
|
monitor |
G |
7 |
Connection between two or more things |
|
gadget |
H |
8 |
Strong, amount of focus or concentration on something |
A=5, B-1, C=8, D=2, E-7, F=3, G=6, H=4
Some example sentences using the new words to help you to better understand their meaning.
1. Telephones have enable people to keep communication with each other over long distances.
2. CNN alerted everyone about a storm that was coming, and they said that the storms intensity would have winds of more than 160 KPH (kilometers per hour).
3. Sometimes it is hard to stay connected with someone when you can’t see them for a long time, but social networking sites like Facebook help people to do this.
4. Good teachers like to engage with their students in conversation, they find that it motivates them.
5. The police use CCTV to monitor what is happening on roads and streets.
6. One of the best gadgets of the last 5 years is definitely the smart phone.
Some discussion questions using the new words to help you better understand the word meaning and how to use them correctly. Try to use the words in your answer.
1. What has the new gadget enable dog owners to do that they could not do before?
2. What other kind of gadget would you like to have invented to alert you of something?
3. What is meant by the amount of intensity of an activity in the reading?
4. How do you stay connected with what someone you know is doing now? If you had a dog, would you want to stay connected using this dog collar? Why or why not?
5. What is meant when they say that owners can engage with the product?
6. How important do you think it is to monitor what you dog is doing all the time?
7. If you had a pet, would you feel motivated to buy this gadget?
ECK Education
