Having Technical Problems at University
It’s Adam’s first day at university. His lecturer gave the class instructions on how to access
and navigate the student portal. Later that day, he is having problems and contacts the IT
student support team for assistance…
IT Technician: Hello, IT student support. How can I help?
Adam: Hi, my name’s Adam Baker. I’m a first-year pharmacy student. We were given
instructions today on how to access the student portal, but it doesn’t seem to be working on
my laptop… what should I do?
IT Technician: OK, let’s see… Are you in student halls? Are you connected to the university
wi-fi?
Adam: Yes, I’m in halls. I’m connected to the wi-fi and I’m on the university webpage, but I
can’t find the student portal…
IT Technician: You might be using the wrong URL. Can you please make sure you are
using this address? It’s www.manchester.ac.uk/studentportal.
Adam: OK, I’m on there now but my login details won’t work... What should I do?
IT Technician: Click the ‘forgot password’ link at the bottom of the screen. Enter your
student ID. Click ‘reset password’. Enter a new password which has a minimum of 8
characters with one upper case letter, a number, and a special character too. Let me know
when you’ve done this…
Adam: OK, done! It worked! Now, I’m in… but where can I find my lecture notes?
IT Technician: Click on the Blackboard app. On the left-hand side, you will see all your
modules. You can click on any module and you’ll be able to access the lecture notes, module
handbook, presentations, journal articles and assignment instructions. Your course director
will fill you in on everything you need to know!
Adam: Fantastic! Thank you very much for your help…
PHRASAL VERBS
Phrasal verb | Meaning | Example sentence | Categories |
---|---|---|---|
To run up against | To experience something difficult and unexpected. | The politicians ran up against strong opposition from the people. | Problem |
To wrestle with | To try very hard to deal with a problem or a difficult situation. | I wrestled with the decision for a few months before deciding to quit. | Problem |
To think through | To carefully consider the possible results of doing something. | I need some time think this through before making a decision. | Problem |
To knuckle down | To start working or studying harder. | He’s going to have to knuckle down if he wants to pass the course. | Problem |
To talk over | To discuss a problem or situation with someone. | We talked over the issues in the meeting before making a decision. | Problem |