Using English at Work：32 Having Computer Problems(4)（在线收听）

A "keyboard" is a rectangular piece of equipment that works with a computer, it has all of the letters or symbols for whatever language that we are using, so we can put information into the computer by typing.

In the story, my mouse and keyboard go haywire.

The phrase "to go haywire" (haywire) means to become uncontrollable - to stop working properly.

If you are a parent with small children, you might feel like things are going haywire when both of your children are sick, you have to work late at your job, you're going to school at night, and your car isn't working all at the same time.

Things are going haywire - things are going wrong; there are many things that are going wrong.

Usually you feel like things have gone haywire when you don't have a lot of control over them.

Finally, I give up on my mouse and my keyboard.

"To give up" means to stop trying to do something because it is so difficult or because it is taking a very long time.

I, for example, might want to become a professional singer, but if everyone tells me that I'm a terrible singer - I'm a bad singer - I will probably give up after trying for a few years.

In this story, I tried to fix my computer problems on my own, but it was just too difficult, so I gave up and called the computer tech.

A "computer tech" is a "computer technician," who is a person that knows about computers - knows how to fix computers.

Many businesses have computer techs, who can come to help other employees when they're having computer problems.

If your office doesn't have a computer tech, you'll probably need to talk to a computer tech over the phone to fix your computer problems - or just buy a new computer!

I don't usually like calling the computer tech to help me with computer problems.

She's nice enough, meaning she is not mean or unkind, but she always makes me feel like I did something bad to my computer, meaning I shouldn't have done something, even though I didn't do anything.