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Submarine cables and the internet

📋 How to use this lesson

For the Teacher:

Guide learners through the 20-minute lesson covering vocabulary cards, 16 practice exercises, and 12 shadowing drills.

Review the automated feedback generated for all fill-in gaps and recorded speech samples.

For the Learner:

First, read the Word Table carefully and pay close attention to collocations and memory tips.

Next, complete the practice exercises and record your pronunciation in the shadowing section.

A detailed technical cross-section diagram of a deep ocean submarine fiber optic cable showing steel armour layers, prot

Word table

Theme 1: The cable

insulation

Meaning: protective coating against water or heat

Collocation: thick insulation

Example: "Outer insulation protects inner wires from seawater."

💡 Memory tip: "IN-sulation keeps water OUT."

armour

Meaning: heavy protective outer metal layer

Collocation: steel armour

Example: "Steel armour prevents sea creatures from biting cables."

💡 Memory tip: Think of a knight's steel armour for cables.

core

Meaning: the central part of a cable

Collocation: glass core

Example: "Data travels as light signals through the glass core."

💡 Memory tip: "Core" is the center of an apple or a cable.

splice

Meaning: to join two cable ends together

Collocation: splice cables

Example: "Engineers splice two broken cables together on a ship."

💡 Memory tip: "Splice" = split ends joined back together.

Theme 2: What goes wrong

fault

Meaning: a break or technical failure

Collocation: locate a fault

Example: "Repairs begin when sensors locate a technical fault."

💡 Memory tip: An electrical "fault" makes the line fail.

snag

Meaning: to catch or hook accidentally

Collocation: snag a cable

Example: "Fishing boats sometimes snag the cable with nets."

💡 Memory tip: A "snag" hooks onto a sharp tag.

sever

Meaning: to cut or slice completely

Collocation: sever a connection

Example: "Earthquake waves can sever submarine cables."

💡 Memory tip: "Sever" sounds like a severe cut.

Theme 3: The network

router

Meaning: device directing web traffic

Collocation: wireless router

Example: "A high-speed router sends signals to local devices."

💡 Memory tip: A "router" finds the best route for data.

server

Meaning: computer storing internet data

Collocation: cloud server

Example: "Huge server farms store websites safely."

💡 Memory tip: A "server" serves data to your computer.

backbone

Meaning: main supporting network line

Collocation: global backbone

Example: "Submarine cables form the backbone of the internet."

💡 Memory tip: The spine in your back holds everything up.

Practice

Complete the 16 exercises below from easy matching to sentence building.

1. Collocation matrix

Match each verb on the left to its natural noun collocation on the top.

Verb

insulation

cables

fault

connection

1. locate a

____insulation ____cables ____fault ____connection

2. sever a

____insulation ____cables ____fault ____connection

3. coat the wire with

____insulation ____cables ____fault ____connection

4. splice

____insulation ____cables ____fault ____connection

2. Gap-fills

Complete each dialogue using the correct word from the word bank below.

Word Bank: router server snag armour

Speaker A: Why is the outer steel layer of the undersea cable so thick?

Speaker B: It acts as heavy ____ to shield the cable from deep-sea pressure and shark bites.

Speaker A: Did the fishing boat damage the communication lines below?

Speaker B: Yes, its heavy net managed to ____ the cable on the ocean floor.

Speaker A: Where does our web request go first when we load a website?

Speaker B: Your wireless ____ sends signals to local devices and internet nodes.

Speaker A: Is this web page stored directly on my computer?

Speaker B: No, it is hosted on a cloud ____ located in another country.

3. Choose the word

Select the single word that fits the meaning of each sentence correctly.

9. An earthquake on the seabed can completely _____ vital communication lines across the ocean.

____ a. splice ____ b. sever ____ c. snag

10. A _____ in the cable stopped the data until the engineers found it.

____ a. splice ____ b. core ____ c. fault

11. Light signals carry millions of web pages through the inner glass _____ of the cable.

____ a. core ____ b. router ____ c. insulation

12. Deep sea fiber cables form the primary global _____ connecting modern web networks.

____ a. router ____ b. backbone ____ c. server

4. Sentence-building

Arrange the given scrambled words into a correct, natural English sentence.

Given words:

fault help a Sensors locate

Write the full sentence:

____

Given words:

underwater Steel cables armour protects

Write the full sentence:

____

Given words:

keeps out Thick insulation seawater

Write the full sentence:

____

Given words:

deep Anchors cables can snag

Write the full sentence:

____

🎙️ Shadowing

Listen to each phrase or sentence, then record your voice to practice clear pronunciation and rhythm.

Collocations (17–20)

Collocation 1

locate a fault

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Collocation 2

sever a connection

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Collocation 3

global backbone

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Collocation 4

steel armour

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Sentences (21–24)

Sentence 1

Heavy ships can snag deep ocean cables.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Sentence 2

Light signals pass through the inner glass core.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Sentence 3

Sensors help workers locate a cable fault quickly.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Sentence 4

Cloud servers store data from all over the world.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Extra Sentences (25–26)

Sentence 5

A modern router sends web traffic to local devices.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Sentence 6

Workers splice two broken cables together on a boat.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Hard Words (27–28)

Hard Word 1

insulation

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Hard Word 2

backbone

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Vocabulary: Submarine Cables and the Internet

Submarine cables and the internet

📋 How to use this lesson

Word table

Practice

1. Collocation matrix

2. Gap-fills

3. Choose the word

4. Sentence-building

🎙️ Shadowing

Collocations (17–20)

Sentences (21–24)

Extra Sentences (25–26)

Hard Words (27–28)

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