1.2. 1.3. Вивчення тексту за фахом. Комп’ютер як інструмент постіндустріального суспільства. Сфери використання (частина 1, частина 2)

Тема	Computers
Граматика	Герундій. Основні властивості герундія в реченні.

Граматика

Герундій (the gerund) — це форма дієслова із закінчен­ням -ing, що має властивості дієслова й іменника: asking, understanding. В українській мові подібна форма відсутня. З чотирьох існуючих форм герундія ми розглядаємо лише просту:

Reading is my favourite occupation.

He is fond of skating.

За формою герундій збігається з дієприкметником те­перішнього часу (the present participle) і віддієслівним імен­ником (the verbal noun).

Відрізнити герундій можна за такими ознаками:

1. Не вживається з артиклем

2. Не вживається у множині

3. Може мати прислівник як означення

4. Може бути означенням з прийменником

5. Може мати складні форми

6. Йому може передувати прийменник

7. Йому може передувати присвійний відмінок іменника чи займенника

8. Може вживатися у реченні у функції підмета, додатка, означення чи обставини

9. Не вживається для утворення часів Continious

Вправа 1

Прочитайте нову лексику за фахом. Вивчіть її напамять:

important development	важливий крок у розвитку
inanimate power	нежива сила
supplementing	яка доповнює
data	дані, інформація
input data	вхідні дані
output data	вихідні дані
to calculate	обчислювати
to analyze	аналізувати
to handle	зберігати
to process	обробляти
to produce	створювати
input/ output device	пристрої вводу/ виводу

Вправа 2

Прочитайте текст. Випишіть незнайому лексику. Перекладіть весь текст усно, а 3 та 6 абзаци письмово:

Computers

1 Today the computer plays a vital role in the lives of many people all over the world and is seen as one of the greatest technological developments of all times.

2 A computer is an electronic machine that can perform mathematical tasks to solve scientific or clerical problems in a relatively short period of time. It can process data.

3 Past When people first started counting, they counted on their fingers, a fact recalled by the word digit. But the process was inefficient, and about 5,000 years ago, the search for improved ways of counting provided the abacus. In an adaptation of the abacus, used by the Romans, small stones took the place of beads. The stones were called calculi, from which the word calculation came. In the nineteenth century, Charles Babbage devoted much of his life (and fortune) to developing mechanical computers of increasing capability that represented number by the rotational position of gear wheels. Babbage's most ambitious project unfortunately never completed.

4 Today's computers are primarily electronic, although optical data transmission is becoming popular, and optical processors are being tasted in the laboratory.

5 Today. The modern history of computers can be broken down into five "generations".

6 It is amazing to see the progress of computers over the last 25 years or so. The first generation computers with vacuum tubes were very large and generated much heat. Such computers filled whole rooms. The second generations used smaller, cooler transistors and diodes. The third generation was the introduction of integrated circuits. An integrated circuit is a network of transistors all contained on a silicon chip about the size of the top of a pencil. The fourth generation uses very large-scale integrated circuits. These computers have much greater processing ability than the original room-sized computers. Today's personal computers are fourth-generation computers. The so-called fifth generation of computers is being developed now.

7 The latest generation may be characterized by artificial intelligence, expert systems, office automation, and manufacturing information systems.

8 Fifth generation computers are much faster. They are able to use artificial intelligence software. That is, the computer systems are able to "reason" and "learn" using data from their past actions. Such systems are now being used in financial management, petroleum refinery monitoring, diagnosing medical problems, providing vision systems for robots, and allowing people to use English to communicate with computers.

9 The earliest commercial digital computer was the UNIVAC I, that was I worked out in 1943 in the USA.

10 A personal computer (PC) is the smallest and the least expensive class of computers. PCs became available in the late 1970s. By the early 1980s, their speed, memory capacity, and reliability had improved to the point where they could handle real accounting and managerial tasks. Microcomputers brought automated accounting within the reach of even the smallest organization. The computer has proven itself to be extremely useful to small businesses.

11 The first home personal computers appeared in 1981. They began to increase steadily and rapidly in speed and power while becoming more compact and more user-friendly from the early 1980's on. From the start of the decade to today, PCs in the home have become immensely popular. They have increased their role from professional and business machines to entertainment educational tools.

12 In addition to PCs, today's technology includes minicomputers and mainframe computers.

13 Minicomputers are more powerful more expensive, and accept more programming languages than microcomputers, but they are not as large, expensive or powerful as mainframe computers. Many small or medium-size businesses are choosing minicomputers instead of mainframes when they need more power than PCs because minicomputers are easier to use and more able to network with PCs.

14 Microcomputers are cheaper and provide a more flexible and reliable system. The microcomputers can be operated as standalone machines or can be networked into a single system. Microcomputers have become popular for accounting purposes and offer many advantages over larger machines. On the other hand, the control problems have not yet all been solved, and many large organizations continue to use midrange or mainframe computers for their business functions.

15 Portable, and notebook computers are successive generations of computers that can be carried around. Considerable progress has been made over the last 10 years to make computers smaller and lighter, while preserving useful processing power and storage capacity. All of these small computers are attractive о accountants, managers, economists and other business people because they can be operated on aircraft, in automobiles and motel rooms, and, most importantly, in clients' offices. For example, many auditors carry small computers with them to provide the information processing capability.

16 Mainframes are the largest, fastest, and most expensive class of computers. (Supercomputers are the largest, fastest, and most expensive of the mainframes.) Mainframes are used for information processing in large businesses.

17 Future. What will computers be like in the future? Already here are prototypes of computers that are voice activated. Others are able to read instructions written out by hand or translate such instructions into computer printing. Computer experts have discovered that it is often more effective to link a whole series of computers together rather than develop one huge computer. Called parallel processing such a linkage makes it possible to do some computer tasks unbelievably fast. Such developments will be as significant as the industrial revolution. Computers are becoming as common as telephones, TV sets.

Вправа 2

Дайте відповіді на питання:

1 What is seen as one of the greatest technological developments of all times?

2 What is a computer?

3 What was provided the abacus for?

4 What type of data transmission is becoming popular?

5 Can the modern history of computers be broken down into five or ten "generations"?

6 What is the first generation of computers?

7 What is the the second generation of computers?

8 What is the the third generation of computers?

9 What is the the fourth generation of computers?

10 What is the the fifth generation of computers?

11 When and where was the earliest commercial digital computer worked out?

12 How many classes of computers do you know?

13 When did the first home personal computers appear?

14 What are minicomputers?

15 What are microcomputers?

16 Portable and notebook computers are successive generations of computers, are they not? Why?

17 Are mainframes the most expensive or cheap class of computers?

18 What will computers be like in the future?

19 What is data?

20 What is input/ output data?

21 How are the instructions called?

22 Where can we use computers?

Вправа 3

Складіть діалоги за темами:

1. Ви розповідаєте своїй бабусі(дідусю) про види і типи комп’ютерів.

2. Ви з товаришем обговорюєте плюси та мінуси різних видів комп’ютерів.

3. На фірмі, куди ви прийшли працювати, вас не влаштовує покоління встановлених там комп’ютерів. Поясніть директору фірми важливість заміни комп’ютерів.