Dubai: Most days, Basheer Ahmad can be found at an Internet cafe in Satwa. This 60 year old Pakistani national lives alone in Dubai, which he has called home for the past 32 years. His entire family moved back to Pakistan, after the cost of living in Dubai became too expensive.

For years, Ahmad says they had to rely on conventional modes of communication, such as telephone calls, letters and then emails. However, it was not until Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services provided by companies such as Skype, that the family was able to see and speak to each other every day.

1.	Which of would not be considered a  conventional mode of communication by the author? video-phone calls   mobile-phone calls   talking face to face

"Because my salary is quite low, I found that I could no longer keep my family here in the UAE," he told Gulf News. "But, after I learned about the online telephone services, I have been able to keep in touch with my family. It is a perfect way for me to be able to see and talk to them at the same time. I imagine that they are here with me. Being able to speak to them every day has made me very happy."

2.	The idiom to keep in touch means to use the internet regularly.      to communicate regularly.    to meet regularly.
3.	Skype provides Internet telephone services. True      False     The article does not say

Access Denied
Gradually, access to VoIP services became unreliable and Etisalat's 'Site Blocked' message began to pop up more frequently. Now most VoIP services are blocked in many areas in the UAE. Residents and business people are angry about the loss of a service that has helped to connect people worldwide.

"Particularly as an expatriate the service is really invaluable. It is a very easy mode of communication, which I used for business as well," said David Foster, a Canadian, Dubai-based business analyst. "The ban does not mesh well with the overall stated goals of the UAE."

4.	VoIP services used to be available in the UAE, but are now mostly blocked. True      False     The article does not say

According to Dubai-based VoIP consultant Reza Mamati, confusion also exists about the reasons behind the ban, which he describes as "very negative."

"It is fine if the authorities gave us a straight answer about whether it is available or not, and if not why not, rather than giving mixed-signals about access in some areas such as the free-zones," he said. "The internet should be open for all services. It has really changed the way people communicate, and it is fair to say that, here the last thing we expected was such a ban."

Modified from an article appearing at gulfnews.com on October 07, 2006.

5.	VoIP services are blocked because they take customers from the phone companies. True      False     The article does not say
6.	VoIP provides a cheap way for people to communicate while in other countries. True      False     The article does not say