A secret message
READING
1 Read the article. Which paragraph tells you about …
How to send a secret message!
These days, we’re all connected to the Internet and messaging our friends is easy – maybe too easy. How do you know your messages are really private? Would you like other people to read or hear them? Many people don’t understand how easy it is for someone with good technical skills to do just that.
But don’t worry – if you really want to keep your messages private, there are lots of methods you can use!
Letter codes
Perhaps the most obvious one is a code, where you replace the normal letters with other letters or symbols. A cipher wheel can help you. It has the alphabet on an outside and an inside wheel. You choose a ‘key’ letter and match it to the letter ‘A’. Then you can see what all the other letters in your code should be.
Book codes
These can work well too. Choose a book, then for each word of your message, give the page number, line number and word number. For instance, if you want the word ‘meet’ and you find it at the beginning of line 2 on page 59, your code is ’59.2.1’. But of course, you both need a copy of the exact same book for it to work!
Invisible ink
How do you write a message that looks like a blank sheet of paper? With invisible ink, of course! You can buy it on the Internet, or make your own with lemon juice. The person who gets your message irons it or puts it next to a light bulb to make it hot, then the juice turns brown and they can read it. Just be careful not to cause a fire!
But don’t try this!
The first recorded secret message was from a Greek ruler called Histiaeus in the 5th century BC. He wanted to tell his son-in-law about his military plans but it was very important that his enemies didn’t find out. So he cut off his servant’s hair, tattooed a message on his head, waited for the hair to grow again, then sent him off to his son-in-law. It was a great idea but probably rather painful for the servant!
2 Choose the best ending for each sentence.
GRAMMAR
State verbs
1 Complete these sentences from the article. Are the verbs in simple or continuous forms? Complete the rule.
2 Look at these pairs of sentences. Are the underlined words state or action verbs?
3 Find and correct the mistake in each sentence.
VOCABULARY
Adjectives to describe communication
1 Match the words on the left and the words on the right with the information in the middle.
2 SPEAKING Work in pairs. Which adjectives could you use to describe these communications?
1 a text to your friend
2 a president announcing an important new law
3 a two-hour talk about keeping bees
3 Think of situations when people might communicate in these ways. Share your ideas with the class.
public and general
e.g. a government announcing new ideas or policies
private and detailed
e.g. a letter to a family member or old friend describing recent events in your life
formal and lengthy
e.g. a talk about an artist or author’s life and works
brief and informal
e.g. a postcard to a friend
WRITING
Text messages
1 Look at the text messages and find abbreviations that mean the following:
2 Work in pairs. Continue this text conversation between Dan and his mum. Do you know any more text abbreviations?