- •Exercises
- •IV. Translate into Russian paying attention to the «-ed»-forms.
- •VI. Read the text without a dictionary.
- •VII. Topics for discussions.
- •Exercises
- •The Present Simple Passive
- •IV. Discuss what computers can do in the following areas.
- •V. Write a short paragraph summarizing your discussion. Then ask one person from your group to give a summary of the group's ideas to the rest of the class.
- •VI. Read the text and retell it. Computer Applications
- •Unit III
- •Exercises
- •III. Mind the translation of the word «operate».
- •IV. Translate the sentences paying attention to the infinitives.
- •V. Complete the following sentences with relative pronouns «who»,«that», «which».
- •VI. Decide if the sentences are true or false.
- •VII. Speak about the features of the computer that you would like to have.
- •Bits — Basic Units of Memory
- •Bytes and Characters
- •The ascii Code
- •Kilobytes, Megabytes and Gigabytes
- •Exercises
- •IV. Translate the Following Sentences.
- •V. Read the text and render its contents.
- •Input device. Point and click!
- •Exercises
- •IV. Here are some basic mouse actions. Match the terms in the box with the explanations below.
- •V. Discussion Points.
- •Unit VI output device. The monitor
- •IV. Translate the sentences paying attention to the Gerund.
- •V. Rewrite these sentences about what you should do to protect your eyes. Use modal verbs: «must», «should», «ought to».
- •VI. Answer the questions.
- •Unit VII optical disks: pros and cons
- •Exercises
- •Unit VIII graphical user interface
- •Exercises
- •Unit IX programming languages
- •What is programming?
- •Exercises
- •IV. Read the text and find answers to these questions.
- •V. Read the passage and complete it with the verbs in brackets in the correct form. A Short Description of basic
- •VI. Speak on the advantages and disadvantages of the low-level and higher-level languages.
- •VII. Make up a summary of the text.
- •Basic features
- •Of database programs
- •Exercises
- •Unit XI word-processing facilities
- •Exercises
- •I. Match words and expressions meaning the same.
- •IV. Translate into Russian.
- •V. Make a summary of the text using the expressions given below.
- •Unit XII the postscript revolution
- •Exercises
- •IV. Translate the attributive groups.
- •V. These statements about PostScript are all false. Read and cor rect them.
- •VI. What is a PostScript? Choose the correct answer.
- •VII. Read the passage below looking for the main idea of scanners. Scanners
- •VIII. Think and say about.
VI. Read the text and retell it. Computer Applications
Computers are «big brains» which can solve the most difficult problems of science and engineering. Modern computers have many applications in a great variety of fields and help to change our lives and the world around us.
Computers are already widely used in education and the time has come when it is possible for ordinary people to use them as well. They are capable of doing extremely complicated work in all branches of human activities. They can provide information how to prevent traffic accidents, they can translate texts, control technological processes in factories, play chess, write poetry and compose music. Computers are used in hospitals as well. They help doctors to diagnose patients' illnesses. Airline pilots use computers to help them control the plane operation. In airport computers are used to control radar systems and regulate air traffic. Computers help in operation of railways and control train traffic as well.
VII. Think and say about.
The greatest advance in modern technology.
Computers help people in their everyday life. What do you use computers for?
Unit III
WHAT'S INSIDE A MICROCOMPUTER?
The nerve center of a microcomputer is the Central Processing Unit, or CPU. This unit is built into a single microprocessor chip — an integrated circuit — which executes program instructions and supervises the computer's overall operation. The unit consists of three main parts:
the Control Unit, which examines the instructions in the user's program, interprets each instruction and causes the circuits and the rest of the components-disk drives, monitor, etc. — to be activated to execute the functions specified;
the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), which performs mathematical calculations (+, -, etc.) and logical operations (and, or, etc.);
the registers, which are high-speed units of memory used to store and control information. One of these registers is the Program Counter (PC) which keeps track of the next instruction to be performed in the main memory. Another is the Instruction Register (IR), which holds the instruction that is currently being executed.
One area where microprocessors differ is in the amount of data — the number of bits — they can work with at a time. The computer's internal architecture is evolving so quickly that the 64-bit processors are able to address 4 billion times more information than a 32-bit system.
The programs and data, which pass through the central processor must be loaded into the main memory (also called the internal memory) in order to be processed. Thus, when the user runs an application, the microprocessor looks for it on secondary memory devices (disks) and transfers a copy of the application into the RAM area. RAM (Random Access Memory) is temporary, i.e. its information is lost when the computer is turned off. However, the ROM section (Read Only Memory) is permanent and contains instructions needed by the processor.
Most of today's computers have internal expansion slots that allow users to install acceleration cards or co-processors. As the word implies, an acceleration card is a board that increases the processor speed. A coprocessor is a silicon chip that performs precise tasks and mathematical operations at a very high speed.
The power and performance of a computer is partly determined by the speed of its microprocessor. A clock provides pulses at fixed intervals to measure and synchronize circuits and units. The clock speed is measured in MHz (megahertz) and refers to the frequency at which pulses are emitted. For example, a CPU running at 50 MHz (50 million cycles per second) is likely to provide a very fast processing rate and will enable the computer to handle the most demanding applications.