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Unit 16: Wish
Which tense should I use?

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  1. 1 Go beyond intermediate with our new video course
  2. 2 Reported speech in 90 seconds!
  3. 3 If or whether?
  4. 4 5 ways to use 'would'
  5. 5 Let and allow
  6. 6 Passive voice
  7. 7 Unless
  8. 8 Mixed conditionals
  9. 9 The zero article - in 90 seconds
  10. 10 The indefinite article - in 90 seconds
  11. 11 The. That's right - the! Learn all about it in 90 seconds
  12. 12 The continuous passive
  13. 13 Future perfect
  14. 14 Need + verb-ing
  15. 15 Have something done
  16. 16 Wish
  17. 17 Word stress
  18. 18 Different ways of saying 'if'
  19. 19 Passive reporting structures
  20. 20 The subjunctive
  21. 21 When and if
  22. 22 Inversion
  23. 23 Phrasal verbs
  24. 24 The future
  25. 25 Modals in the past
  26. 26 Narrative tenses
  27. 27 Phrasal verb myths
  28. 28 Conditionals review
  29. 29 Used to - review
  30. 30 Linking words of contrast

Session 2

As Apple and the FBI continue to disagree about what to do with the locked phone belonging to a gunman, Finn and Neil bring you the latest developments in the story and teach related vocabulary. Join us in News Review and keep your English up-to-date.

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    Activity 1
  1. Activity 1

Activity 1

News Review

Unlocking the Apple

Should tech giant Apple help the US government unlock a mobile phone belonging to a gunman? They have refused up to this point, but now it looks like the US government will open the device themselves.

In this video, Finn and Neil take a closer look at the story and teach you useful words and phrases used by the world's media.

Language challenge

What do you call someone who breaks into computer systems?

a) a thief

b) an unlocker

c) a hacker

Watch the video and complete the activity

The story

The US Justice Department says the FBI may have found a way to unlock the mobile phone of the San Bernardino gunman Syed Rizwan Farook, and has won a postponement of its court case against the manufacturer Apple.

The department had wanted to force Apple to unlock the phone to help the investigation.

Dave Lee – North America technology reporter

The FBI said an outside party had put forward a method that may be able to unlock the iPhone without Apple's help.

The FBI had previously insisted that the only way it could access certain data on the device was for Apple to create new software.

Apple had challenged the request, saying it weakened the security of all iPhones in use today.

The company have the backing of many in the technology industry.

Key words and phrases

unlock
(here) enter the correct password to open a mobile phone

postponement
decision to delay something

manufacturer
company that makes products in large quantities

row
an argument or disagreement, often noisy

hack
to break into a computer system illegally

back down
stop saying or threatening that you will do something, usually because people disagree with you

Unlock these answers

3 Questions

The FBI has had problems unlocking a mobile phone, but do you have the key to these questions? Test yourself with our quiz!

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Downloads

You can download the audio and a PDF document for this episode here.

Language challenge - answer

The answer is: b) a hacker.

More

Learn more about this story with BBC News.

End of Session 2

Join us in Session 3 for Lingohack - our video which teaches you words from the news using the latest BBC World News bulletins.

Session Grammar

View full grammar reference

Session Vocabulary

  • unlock
    (here) enter the correct password to open a mobile phone

    postponement
    decision to delay something

    manufacturer
    company that makes products in large quantities

    row
    an argument or disagreement, often noisy

    hack
    to break into a computer system illegally

    back down
    stop saying or threatening that you will do something, usually because people disagree with you

View full vocabulary reference

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