Міністерство освіти і науки,

Молодi та спорту України

Державний вищий навчальний заклад

«Приазовський державний технічний університет»

Барабаш І.В.

Золотарьова О. М.

Методичні вказівки

до аудиторної роботи з англійської мови за темою «Computers»

для студентів I курсу усiх спеціальностей

Маріуполь 2012

УДК 811.111(072)

Методичні вказівки до аудиторної роботи з англійської мови за темою «Computers» для студентів I курсу усiх спеціальностей. Укл. Барабаш І.В., Золотарьова О.. М., – Маріуполь: ПДТУ, 2012. – с. 44

Дані методичні вказівки призначені для розвитку і вдосконалення навичок аудіювання, читання і усного мовлення студентів 1 курсу технічних спеціальностей за темою „Комп’ютери”. Вказівки складаються з 6 розділів з розробками і вправами для аудиторної роботи. Всі розділи споряджені словником основних термінів; до вказівок додається аудіодиск.

Рецензент: Костiна Т.О.

Укладачі: Золотарьова О.М., викл.

Барабаш І.В., ст.викл.

Відповідальний за випуск: зав. кафедрою іноземних мов

Л.М.Лазаренко

Затверджено на засіданні кафедри іноземних мов

Протокол № 5 від 23.10.2012 р.

Затверджено на засіданні Вченої ради факультету інженерної та мовної підготовки

Протокол №  5 від 02.11.12 р.

Unit 1. Types of Computer

Speaking

Task 1: Match these names to the different types of computer.

Task 2: Discuss in pairs or groups the following questions.

1. What types of computer are most popular now?

2. What computer do you have? What do you use it for?

Reading.

Study these details of different types of computer. Which type of computer is:

1 the most common?

2 small enough for a pocket?

3 the most common portable?

4 used by many people at the same time?

5 also called a handheld computer?

6 the most powerful?

7 not suitable for a lot of typing?

8 integrated into a flat touch screen?

Types of computer	Notes
Mainframes	Large, powerful, expensive. Multi-user systems - used by many people at the same time. Used for processing very large amounts of data. The most powerful mainframes are called supercomputers.
Microcomputers or Personal computers (PCs)	The most common type of computer. Smaller, cheaper, and less powerful than mainframes.
Types of portable	Notes
Laptop / Notebook	About the size of a piece of writing paper. The most common type of portable. It is often less powerful than a desktop computer.
Netbook	Small, lightweight, and inexpensive laptop computer
Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) /Handheld or Palmtop	Small enough to fit into the palm of one hand. Not easy to type with because of their size. Mostly used as personal organizers.
Tablet computer	Larger than a mobile phone; integrated into a flat touch screen and operated by touching the screen rather than using a physical keyboard. It often uses an onscreen virtual keyboard, a passive stylus pen, or a digital pen. It combines access to all resources in one convenient device, provides a new form of interactivity.

Language work: Comparison

Study this comparison of three types of computer:

	Mainframes	Microcomputers	Netbooks
Size	+++	++	+
Power	+++	++	+
Cost	+++	++	+

We compare things using adjectives in two ways:

1. We can compare one type of computer with another. Microcomputers are bigger than netbooks. Mainframes are more expensive than microcomputers. For negative comparisons, we can say: Microcomputers are not as big as mainframes. Microcomputers are not as powerful as mainframes.

2. We can compare mainframes to all other types of computer. Mainframes are the biggest computers. Mainframes are the most powerful computers. Mainframes are the most expensive computers.

With short adjectives (big, small, fast), we add -er and -est (faster, fastest).

With longer adjectives (powerful, expensive), we use more / less and the most / the least before the adjective (more powerful, the most powerful).

Remember these two exceptions: good - better - the best

bad - worse - the worst

Practice: Choose the correct adjective. Then fill in the gaps with the correct form of the adjective.

1. light / heavy Laptops are ______________ than desktop computers, but _______________than netbooks.

2. large / small The mainframe is the_____________ type of computer. A notebook is _____________ than a microcomputer.

3. common / good Personal computers are _______________ than mainframes but mainframes are _______________than personal computers at processing very large amounts of data.

4. powerful / expensive Microcomputers are _______________than mainframes but they are also _______________

5. fast / cheap New computers are _______________ and sometimes _______________ than older machines.

6. powerful / expensive Laptops are often _______________than PCs but they are not as ______________

Problem-solving: In pairs, decide what sort of computer is best for each of these users. Use the phrases:

A: (I think) The best computer for a … is …..

B: I agree. / I think so too

C: I disagree. / I don't think so.

1. John Wilmott is a salesperson and he spends a lot of time visiting customers. He wants a computer to carry with him so he can access data about his customers and record his sales.

2. Pat Nye is a personnel officer. She needs a computer to keep staff records and to keep a diary of appointments. She also needs a computer for writing letters.

3. The University of the North needs a computer to look after its accounts, its network, the records of all students and staff, and to help with scientific research.

4. The James family want a computer for entertainment, writing letters, the Internet, and for calculating tax.

Listening 1

Listen to an extract from the lecture on types of the computer. Fill in the missing words. Translate the text.

... as I'll explain to you now, computers can be divided into five main types, depending on their _____ and ______. These are: mainframes, _______PCs, laptops, tablet PCs and personal digital assistants, or PDAs.

Mainframes are the largest and most _______ computers. The basic configuration of a mainframe consists of a ______ system which ________ immense amounts of _____ very quickly. This central system ________ information and _________ facilities for hundreds of terminals connected together in a ________. Mainframes are ______ for large-scale computing purposes in banks, universities and big companies.

PCs, or personal computers, carry out their processing on a single ________. They are usually __________ by size and portability. A desktop PC is designed to be placed on your desk. It is used as a ______ computer or as a workstation for _______ work. _______ examples are the IBM PC and the Apple Macintosh.

A laptop is a _________ computer that has a flat LCD screen and uses batteries for _______ use. Small laptops are also called ________. The latest models can run as _____ as similar desktop computers and have similar _________. They are ideal for _______executives who travel a lot.

A _______ PC is a type of notebook computer that has an LCD screen on which you can write with a stylus or ______ pen. Your handwriting is recognized and converted into editable text. You can also input text by using speech recognition or a small _______. You can fold and rotate the ________ easily.

Finally, a PDA is a lightweight, ________ computer. The letters stand for personal digital __________. The term refers to a wide variety of handheld ______, including _______and pocket PCs. For input, you _____ using a small keyboard or you use a stylus - a special pen to ______ items on the screen. PDAs can be used as mobile _______, personal organizers or ______ players. They also let you ____ the Internet via Wi-Fi networks, and some include a GPS ________ system.

Writing

Put the words in brackets into the correct form to make an accurate description of sizes of computers.

There are different types of computer. The (large)___________ and (powerful) ________________are mainframe computers. Microcomputers are (small) _______________ than mainframes but are still very powerful. They are small enough to be placed on a desk. They are (common) _______________type of computer. Portable computers are (small).____________than desktops. The (large) _____________________ portable is a laptop. Netbooks are not as___________( large) as laptops or notebooks. You can hold the (small)_________________ computers in one hand. They are called PDAs (handheld or palmtop computers).

Tablets are not as ____________(small) as mobile phones, and yet they are the (convenient)_________________of all portables.

Vocabulary: Types of Computers

n. computer : mainframe microcomputer personal c laptop c. notebook netbook handheld / palmtop desktop tablet multi-user system processing data ( datum- sg. ) amount of data touch screen onscreen keybooard stylus pen access interactivity device

adj. common powerful (in)expensive/ cheap light/ lightweight/ heavy fast/slow suitable ( for) available integrated (into) flat digital convenient v. fit into operate use touch combine provide conj. because of rather than

Unit 2. Parts of a computer

Reading.

Read the text and answer the comprehension questions.

A computer system consists of two parts: hardware and software. Hardware is any electronic or mechanical part you can see or touch. Software is a set of instructions, called a program, which tells the computer what to do. There are three basic hardware sections: the central processing unit (CPU), main memory and peripherals

Perhaps the most important component is the central processing unit. (CPU) to which are attached different input devices, output devices, and storage devices. The main parts of a desktop computer are enclosed in a box known as the system unit. This contains an electronic board called the motherboard that holds and connects together the main electronic components. These are shown in the table below.

Processor (microprocessor)	controls the system and processes the data
ROM (Read Only Memory)	stores the program instructions the computer needs to start up. It is non-volatile, that is, its information is not lost when the computer is turned off.
RAM (Random Access Memory)	stores the data being processed. It is volatile
Cache memory	speeds up the processing

The motherboard usually has empty electronic connectors, called expansion slots, into which additional electronic boards (sometimes called expansion cards) can be plugged. This allows extra electronic components to be added. For example, more memory can be added by plugging memory boards (e.g. SIMMS) into the memory slots. Sound facilities can be added by plugging a sound card into an expansion slot. This is one way of upgrading a computer. Another way is to replace the motherboard with a newer and better one. The system unit usually also contains a small speaker (or loudspeaker), the power supply, and some storage devices. These often include: a hard disk drive with a fixed disk that can store a very large amount of data; a floppy disk drive that uses removable floppy disks (diskettes); a CD-ROM or DVD drive that is used for reading CD-ROM or DVD drive disks (particularly in multimedia computers). Some other devices may be included in the system unit but most input and output devices are plugged into the back of the system unit using connectors known as ports.

Power is a function of both speed and capacity. The power of a computer depends on the combination of all the components. When buying a computer, you can often choose between different components. In particular, you can choose between different processor speeds, amounts of memory, and hard disk sizes. Units of measurement commonly used in computing are shown below.

Unit	Symbol	Meaning	Measurement
hertz	Hz	cycles per second	frequency
byte	В	space for one character, i.e. one letter, number, punctuation mark, symbol, or even a space	capacity

Hertz are measured using the decimal system but bytes are measured using the binary system. The values of the unit prefixes vary in these two systems as shown in the table below.

Unit	Symbol	Decimal System	Binary System
kilo	К	103 = 1000	210=1024
mega	M	106= 1000000	220= 1048576
giga	G	109 = 1000000000	230=1073741824
tera	T	1012 = 1000000000000	240=1099511627776

(MHz=megahertz, KB kilobytes, MB=megabytes, GB=gigabytes, TB=terabytes)

Comprehension questions:

1. What is hardware?

2. What is software?

3. Name three basic hardware sections of the computer system.

4. What devices are attached to the CPU?

5. What does the system unit contain?

6. Name the components that the motherboard holds.

7. What are the two ways of upgrading a computer?

8. What does the power of a computer depend on?

9. Name the most common units of measurement used in computing.

Language work. Classifying

Classifying means putting things into groups or classes. We can classify types of computers, parts of a PC, etc. Some typical expressions for classifying are:

• ... are classified into X types/categories

• ... are classified by...

• ... can be divided into X types/categories

Digital computers can be divided into five main types: mainframes, desktop PCs, laptops, tablet PCs and handheld PDAs.

• ... include(s)...

• ... consist(s) of...

The basic configuration of a mainframe consists of a central system which processes immense amounts of data very quickly.