Practice English with NewsPractice with News
Technology118 words1 min read

Verizon Wireless Suffers Outage, Affecting Thousands

the verizon logo is displayed on an iphone
Photo by Marques Thomas on Unsplash
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Listen to the story

Many people could not use their phones on Thursday.

They all use Verizon Wireless. Verizon is a big phone company in the United States.

A website called Downdetector showed the problem. Downdetector tells people when a service is down.

Thousands of people had trouble with their phones. They could not call or use the internet.

The problem happened in Oklahoma and Arkansas. Two cities with problems were Tulsa and Little Rock.

Many customers asked the same question. They asked: is Verizon having an outage right now?

An outage means a service stops working. Verizon has not said why this happened.

Verizon customers waited for their network to work again. A network lets phones connect to each other.

Vocabulary10 words

Verizon
a big phone company in the US
Downdetector
a website that shows when services stop working
down
not working
outage
when a service stops working for a time
network
a system that connects phones and computers
customer
a person who pays for a service
wireless
without wires; using signals in the air
service
something a company gives to customers
report
to tell people about something
impact
an effect on someone or something

Quiz

1. What happened to Verizon Wireless on Thursday?
2. Which website reported the problem?
3. True or False: The outage affected cities in Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Fill-in-the-blank listening

Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.

Many people could not use their _____ on Thursday.

They all use _____ Wireless. Verizon is a big phone company in the United States.

A website called _____ showed the problem.

Thousands of people had trouble with their phones. They could not call or use the _____.

The problem happened in _____ and Arkansas.

Two cities with problems were _____ and Little Rock.

Many customers asked: is Verizon having an _____ right now?

Verizon customers waited for their _____ to work again.

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