Below there are some FAQ answers. You will find the questions in the exercise. Match the questions to the answers.

1.
A project set up by Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the MIT Media Lab, in January 2005 with the aim of designing, producing and distributing $100 laptops to children in the poorest countries in the world.

2.
They are portable and so can be taken from school to home. An essential feature of the project is that the children should own the computers, and be able to do whatever they want with them. The chosen design is very robust and can be powered in a number of ways, including wind-up, so can be used even in homes without electricity.

3.
The major saving is in the dual-mode display. It uses cheaper technology than is usually used in laptops, and has an innovative black and white mode that can be used in bright sunshine. The software is cutting edge but slimmed down. Computers nowadays can typically do the same function in lots of different ways; this laptop will do everything well, but in one way only. It runs a modified version of Linux, and all the software is open source.  Not only will this cut costs, but mean that the owners will be able to modify the software to their needs.

4.
It has a 500MHz processor and 128MB of DRAM, with 500MB of Flash memory. It doesn’t have a hard disk, but it has four USB ports.  It will be able to do everything that a more expensive laptop can do except store large amounts of data. Probably the most important feature is that the machines are capable of forming a wireless peer-to-peer mesh network. Children will be able to communicate with each other via an ad hoc local area network, sharing information and collaborating on projects.

5.
They will be sold to governments, who will then give them out to schoolchildren, in the same way that they might give out textbooks. Governments in countries such as India, China, Brazil and Thailand are expected to order huge quantities of the laptops. When enough orders have been received and paid for in advance, manufacturing will begin.

Now read the answers again and check your understanding by choosing the correct answers.