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#39

The ubiquitous (1) chip card

1 Today's chip cards fall into two basic categories: memory cards and smart cards. Based on electronically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), memory cards are primarily used for "stored value," which the user can "spend." Telephone cards, the largest application of chip cards worldwide, are a good example of this type of card. Almost all French pay phones are designed for memory chip cards.

2 Smart cards contain a microprocessor that stores and secures information and is capable of read/write meaning that new information can be added and processed. Incorporating a microcontroller and specialized software, moreover, allows increased processing power and more data security. This is particularly important in the banking industry where magnetic credit cards have been plagued (2) with fraud.

3 Contactless cards. Contacting chip cards must be inserted into a reader. Contactless chip cards need only be within a limited distance from the reader for activation. The technology for contactless chip cards has existed for some time, but now that the power source can be removed from the chip, applications have expanded greatly.

4 Three elements make up most chip cards: the semiconductor, the software, and the card. The software includes both the card operating system, and an application generally provided by the issuer, such as a bank.

5 Contactless chip cards also include an RF antenna, not only to send and receive information, but to receive power from the reader. Chip size is generally bigger, because of the need for a radio frequency interface and a special protocol between the chip and reader.

6 In addition to mobile phones, contactless cards are used in transportation ticketing and access control. Contactless cards used for fare collection (3) will read at 10 cm and offer high security encryption (4). Basic identification and access control cards can have up to a 1m range.

7 Cardless chips. Once the move has been made from contact to contactless cards, it is a small step to remove the card itself. Gemplus SCA reports to have sold more than 15 million contactless "smart" objects. Working with Swiss watch manufacturer Swatch, the company created Swatch Access watches, which have builtin chips and ring antenna to handle a variety of extra functions.

8 One of the most successful models of the Swatch Access watch was developed with Gemplus subsidiary Skidata. This "Snowpass" watch, now used at more than 450 ski resorts in 17 countries, can be loaded with a day, week, or season ski pass. The data passes through clothes, the chip can be reprogrammed once it expires, and other functions can be added.

1. ubiquitous : it can be seen or found everywhere
2. plague : gravely affected
3. fare collection = paiement du billet ( bus, train)
4. encryption = cryptage

1 Read the text very quickly and decide whether the following statements are right or wrong.
The text is mainly about telephone and banking cards. There exist various types of chip cards.
Memory cards can be used in telephone booths (= cabines).
“Smart card”means a card with a microprocessor.
Another category of card is the contactless one.
It is approximately the same as a contacting card….
the size is the same …
but there is an antenna.
The text says that phone cards have become indispensable in our life.
Paras 7 and 8 are not about smart cards but about smart objects;

2 Read again the text quickly and pick up the modal verbs.
Which one expresses : obligation, capability, necessity, (the) characteristic behaviour ( of the subject)?

3 Pick up linkwords used to
§2, 6: add a new piece of information -§ 4: give an example – §5: express cause –§ 8: express time.

4 Pick up the ING forms in para 2. Which one is…?
* a present participle equivalent to a relative clause;
* a gerund (i.e. a noun) used as the subject of a verb;
* a(n ordinary) noun

5 What is the tense of “ has existed” and “have expanded” ? (Last sentence of para 3.)
How can you justify it? (Look at the tense of the third verb.)

6 Vocabulary

a. Word building: contactless.

* What is the root word? Is it a noun, an adjective, a verb? What does the suffix –LESS mean? Translate contactless.
* Think of adjectives used to describe somebody who has is very poor (use: money) , who has no home, who is alone in life ( use: friend and child)

b. Word building: look at para 1 and find two words with the same –ABLE suffix. What would you call something that can easily be read, be stored, be processed, be
loaded? What would be the corresponding nouns?

c. Translate information (para 2) and data ( para 8). Note the plural in French and the …..…. in English.

7 Answer the questions
§1 Name the main kinds of cards that exist.
Which of these two cards does the rest of the paragraph discuss?
What is the basic component of such a card?
What can it be used for? Explain “stored value”.
What domain of activity specially uses these cards?

§2 What kind of card does this paragraph deal with?
What are the main differences between this card and the first one?
What industry uses it a lot ? Why?

§3 What are the two kinds of smart cards?
What is the main difference between them?
Is the contactless card a new invention?
What technological advance can explain the development of such cards?

§4,5 Name the four components of contactless cards.
Which one(s) is (are) common to all smart cards, which one(s) is (are) specific to contactless ones?
What about the size?

§6 Name various applications.
What information are we given about the utilisation range?

§7 What further development is explained here?
Give details about the example of the text: manufacturer, features.

§8 The swatch Access watch: what is its manufacturer? What is it used for? Where? What for?
Mention its main features and advantages?

8 Fill in the boxes so as to show the relationship between the various types of cards.
Use: chip card, contacting card, contactless card, contactless chip, magnetic card, memory card, smart card.

9 Categorising.

a. Pick up two phrases used to categorise (= classify) in paras 1 and 4.
b. Look at exercise 4 (groupe 8, page 000) and use all the phrases to categorise cards.

10 Express quantity.

a. Translate the French words: Magnetic cards offered (peu de) security – in particular there was (trop de) fraud- and had (trop de) other drawbacks so that (peu de) people had confidence in them and (beaucoup de ) enterprises quickly gave them up. It did not take (beaucoup de) time before smart cards took their place, although they still exhibit (trop peu de) interoperability. However experts estimate there will be over 4 billion chip cards worldwide in (quelques) years.

b. Fill in the table with the words you have just translated ( and be logical for the rest!)

	+ singular	+ plural
a small quantity
a very small (and usually insufficient) quantity
too small a quantity
a large quantity	or	or
too large a quantity

11 Turn into the passive. (Keep the same tense and add the agent only when necessary.)

* In a smart card, a microprocessor stores new information and processes it. The French banking system issued smart cards in 1992 and this has reduced fraud to nearly zero.
* With a contacting card, the user must insert his card into a reader while, with a contactless one, the system can read and exchange data within a distance from the reader.
* But you can remove the card itself and you insert the chip into an object such as a watch. Gemplus has sold over 15m such “smart objects”. In particular, they have designed a Swatch access watch which 450 ski resorts now use. A holiday-maker can load his watch with a day, week or season ski pass.

12 Translate into English

* Les cartes à mémoire peuvent se décomposer en cartes magnétiques et en cartes à puce, qui posent ( to pose) peu de problèmes de sécurité.
* Les cartes à puce existent depuis des années et maintenant on les trouve partout.
* Une carte sans contact n’a pas besoin d’être insérée dans un lecteur.
* (Le fait d’) enlever la carte elle même permet de créer des objets intelligents tels que les montres Snowpass.

13 Translate paragraph 5 into French.5 Contactless chip cards also include an RF antenna, not only to send and receive information, but to receive power from the reader. Chip size is generally bigger, because of the need for a radio frequency interface and a special protocol between the chip and reader.

a. Sentence 1: what does 'to' (in 'not only to send and receive information') mean oor express? But is part of a set phrase (expression toute faite). Pick it up -
b. Sentence2: remember that 'and' co-ordinates similar words. Which ones here? - Pick up a compound noun (3 words).
c. Now translate the paragraph.

15 Explain the ubiquity of chip cards. Can you think of other application not mentioned in the text?

16 Chip card still have two major problems: interoperability and security. Explain why these are real problems and suggest ways to solve them.
You can use linkwords to oppose the various kinds of cards and their different standards; linkwords expressing cause and consequence; modal verbs to give advice or express what industrialists have to do.
Write about 120 to 150 words.