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2. Useful expressions

Invent sentences using the expressions from the left column:

Expression

Definition

«open» and «close»

turn on and turn off

a sequence of instructions

an order of commands

ambitious machine

(here) computer that meets up to date requirements

be capable of executing

be able to carry out

break codes

solve a task concerning a system of signals used for secrecy

bring huge gains in computational power

enlarge very much computational possibilities

deserve the credit for the idea

deserve acknowledgement of merit of being the first who proposed the idea

divide into

separate into parts

dramatic improvements

impressive improvements

in principle

chiefly

in under an hour

in less than an hour

the second generation saw

the second generation included

up-to time

modern

wear out

become damaged by prolonged use

3. Reading comprehension

Read the text, try to understand the topic, look for the logical sequence of the items and put them in the proper order. The first item is in the right position.

  1. On May, 22, 1990, the critically accepted Windows 3.0 was released. Windows 3.0 had an improved program manager and icon system, a new file manager, support for sixteen colors, and improved speed and reliability.

  2. Windows 2000 was based on Microsoft’s NT technology, and Microsoft offered automatic software updates over the Internet. We can expect to see a greater user of speech and facial recognition in future versions of Windows. Computer users will soon control their computers without even touching a keyboard or mouse.

  3. On August 24, 1995, Windows 95 was released in a buying fever so great that even consumers without home computers bought copies of the program. Windows 95 was considered very user-friendly. It was the first version of Windows that did not require MS-DOS to be installed beforehand.

  4. Most important, Windows 3.0 gained widespread third-party support. Programmers started writing Windows-compatible software, giving users a reason to buy Windows 3.0. Three million copies were sold the first year, and Windows finally came of age.

  5. On June 25, 1998, Microsoft released Windows 98. It was the last version of Windows based on the MS-DOS kernel. Windows 98 has Microsoft’s Internet browser «Internet Explorer 4» built in and supports the new input devices like USB.

  6. On April 6, 1992, Windows 3.1 was released. Three million copies were sold in the first two months. True Type scalable font support was added, along with multimedia capability etc.

4. Computer terms in use

A. Match the terms in the left-hand column with their definitions in the right–hand column, e.g. 5-7.

1. basic circuits

1. a machine that that can be used for different purposes

2. compression

2. a series of actions that computer performs accepting data from users and producing a respond

3. extension

3. a list of instructions written in a computer language

4. general purpose

computer

4. electronic devices

5. high level language

5. a programming language that communicates directly with the hardware

6. low level language

6. a means of communication used between computers

7. parallel processing

7. a programming language that must be processed through a compiler before they can be put to use

8. process

8. a rough grouping of different file types by putting a tag at the end of the name

9. program

9. processing data through the use of two or more CPUs

10. protocol

10. the process of packing data into

lesser amount of storage space

B. Find out Russian equivalents of the computer terms given below.