2. Прочитайте текст снова и письменно ответьте на вопросы:

1. How does the Webster's dictionary define the hardware?

2. What is the purpose of the input hardware?

3. What examples of the input hardware can you name?

4. What does the abbreviation CPU mean? What role does it play in computer performance?

5. How does the CPU affect the speed of the computer?

Вариант 2

1. Прочитайте и письменно переведите на русский язык текст:

STORAGE DEVICES

1. Storage media are classified as primary storage or secondary storage on the basis of combinations of cost, capacity, and access time. The cost of storage devices is expressed as the cost per bit of data stored. The time required for the computer to locate and transfer data to and from a storage medium is called the access time for that medium. Capacities range from a few hundred bytes of primary storage for very small computers to many billions of bytes of archival storage for very large computer systems.

2. Memories may be classified as electronic or electromechanical. Electronic memories have no moving mechanical parts, and data can be transferred into and out of them at very high speeds. Electromechanical memories depend upon moving mechanical parts for their operation, such as mechanisms for rotating magnetic tapes and disks. Their data access time is longer than that of electronic memories; however they cost less per bit stored and have larger capacities for data storage.

3. For these reasons most computer systems use electronic memory for primary storage and electromechanical memory for secondary storage. Primary storage has the least capacity and is the most expensive; however, it has the fastest access time. The principal primary storage circuit elements are solid-state devices: magnetic cores and semiconductors. For many years magnetic cores were the principal elements used in digital computers for primary storage.

4. The two principal types of semiconductors used for memory are bipolar and metal-oxide semiconductors (MOS).

5. When saving anything on the computer, you will be asked for the storage location, which is where you want to save the information. By default most of the information you save will be saved to your computer hard drive, however, if you want to move the information to another computer you would want to save it to a removable storage device such as a Jump drive.

2. Прочитайте текст снова и письменно ответьте на вопросы:

1. How are storage media classified?

2. How is the cost of storage devices expressed?

3. What classification of memories is mentioned in the text?

4. Does the difference between the two memories exist?

5. What would you do if want to move the information to another computer?

Вариант 3

1. Прочитайте и письменно переведите на русский язык текст:

INPUT-OUTPUT ENVIRONMENT

1. Data and instructions must enter the data processing system, and information must leave it. These operations are performed by input and output (I/O) units that link the computer to its external environment.

2. The I/O environment may be human-related or human-independent. A remote banking terminal is an example of a human-related input environment, and a printer is an example of a device that produces output in a human-readable format. An example of a human-independent input environment is a device that measures traffic flow. A reel of magnetic tape upon which the collected data are stored in binary format is an example of a human-independent output. Data enter input units in forms that depend upon the particular device used. For example, data are entered from a keyboard in a manner similar to typing, and this differs from the way that data are entered by a bar-code scanner.

3. However, regardless of the forms in which they receive their inputs all input devices must provide a computer with data that are transformed into the binary codes that the primary memory of the computer is designed to accept.

4. This transformation is accomplished by units called I/O interfaces. Input interfaces are designed to match the unique physical or electrical characteristics of input devices to the requirements of the computer system. Similarly, when output is available, output interfaces must be designed to reverse the process and to adapt the output to the external environment. These I/O interfaces are also called channels or input-output processors (I/OР). The major differences between devices are the media that they use and the speed with which they are able to transfer data to or from primary storage.

5. Various standards for connecting peripherals to computers exist. For example, integrated drive electronics (IDE) and enhanced integrated drive electronics (EIDE) are common interfaces, or buses, for magnetic disk drives.