Breaking News English

Gmail celebrates its 20th birthday

Gmail - Level 0

Gmail was 20 on Monday. It started on the 1st of April 2004. It offered 1 gigabyte of storage for free. Other email companies only gave 15 megabytes. Gmail quickly became a "must-have" tool. It became very popular. It searched mails very quickly and was great at filtering spam.

More than 1.7 billion people use Gmail. It now has 15 gigabytes of free storage. It also has a one-click unsubscribe button. It also has an "undo send" button. The PC Mag website said Gmail is now an important part of many people's lives. Maybe people will use Gmail forever.

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Gmail - Level 1

Gmail had its 20th birthday on Monday. When it started, on the 1st of April 2004, it changed everything. It offered 1 gigabyte of storage for free. Other email companies only gave 15 megabytes. Some people thought it was a joke because it started on April Fools' Day. However, Gmail became a "must-have" tool. Another reason for Gmail's success is that it searched mails very quickly and was great at filtering spam.

More than 1.7 billion people use Gmail. It now has 15 gigabytes of free storage. It also has new features. One of these is a one-click unsubscribe button. Another is an "undo send" button. Users can stop a mail from being sent even after they click "send". The PC Mag website said Gmail, "is so [fixed] in so many people's lives that hardly anyone thinks much about it." Maybe people will use Gmail forever.

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Gmail - Level 2

Slowest

Gmail, the world's biggest email provider, was 20 on Monday. It launched on the 1st of April 2004. At that time, it changed everything because it offered an enormous 1 gigabyte of storage for free. Some people thought it was a joke because it was announced on April Fools' Day. However, it was real. Other email providers only gave 15 megabytes. Gmail became a "must-have" tool for technology fans. Another reason for Gmail's success is that it searched mails faster than other email services. It was also better at filtering spam.

Today, more than 1.7 billion people use it. That's 20 per cent of the world population. Over the years, Google has increased its free storage to 15 gigabytes. It has added new features. One of these is a one-click unsubscribe button for unwanted mail. Another feature is an "undo send" button. This means users can stop a mail from being sent after clicking "send". The PC Mag website said Gmail is an important part of life today. It wrote: "Gmail is so [fixed] in so many people's lives that hardly anyone thinks much about it." It is likely people will use Gmail forever.

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Gmail - Level 3

The world's most utilized email provider turned 20 on Monday. Gmail was launched on the 1st of April 2004. At that time, it was revolutionary because it offered a huge amount of storage, and it was free. Some people thought it was a hoax because it was announced on April Fools' Day. However, it was no joke. Gmail offered an enormous 1 gigabyte of storage for free. Many other providers only provided 15 megabytes. At first, people could only sign up for Gmail after receiving an invitation. It became a "must-have" tool for technology fans. Another reason for Gmail's success is that it searched mails faster than any other email service at the time. It was also better at filtering spam.

Since 2004, Gmail has become the world's biggest email provider. More than 1.7 billion people use it. That's 20 per cent of the world population. Around 45 per cent of email users in the USA use it. Over the years, Google has increased its free storage to 15 gigabytes and has added many new features. One of these is a one-click unsubscribe button to keep unwanted mail away. Another feature is an "undo send" button. This allows users to stop a mail from being sent after clicking "send". The PC Mag website said Gmail is an important part of life today. It wrote: "Gmail is so embedded in so many people's lives that hardly anyone thinks much about it." It is likely people will use it forever.

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

25 online activities    |    27-page printable    |    2-page mini-lesson