Vocabulary and reading comprehension exercises

Exercise 1. Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs.

perform hack shut be crash

1. Make sure you ….. down your computer before you leave the office.

2. A bug in the program caused the computer to ….., so I had to restart it.

3. Banks have tight security system to stop people from ….. into their computers.

4. How long are you going to ….. on the computer? I need to send something.

5. The difference between you and a computer is that a computer can multi-task. That is, it can ….. many different tasks at the same time.

Exercise 2. Read the text, for questions 1-5, choose the answer (A, B, C, D or E) which you think fits best according to the text.

Computers in our life

The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) is a national information system designed to provide users with ready access to an extensive body of education-related literature. Established in 1966 and supported by the US Department of Education, the ERIC database is the world’s largest source of education information, containing nearly a million abstract of documents and journal articles. You can access the ERIC database on-line via the Internet or commercial vendors, on CD-ROM, or through the printed abstract journals. The database is updated monthly (quarterly on CD-ROM), ensuring that the information you receive is timely and accurate.

The ERIC system, through its 16 subject-specific clearinghouses, associated adjunct clearinghouses, and support components, provides a variety of services and products that can help you stay up to date on a broad range of education-related issues. Products include research summaries, bibliographies, reference and referral services, computer searches, and document reproduction. AskERIC is a free, personalized, Internet-based question-answering service for professional educators and anyone interested in the theory and practice of education.

Those who work with adult learners report that these learners do not seem to have a fear of computers nor do they need to be convinced of the importance and value of technology in the classroom. In fact, students need to know very little about computers to use computer software. As far as the keyboard is concerned, knowing how to use the enter key, the shift key, the space bar, and the tab key will enable them to get started. Students do not need to know how to type to use a computer. Just as students can learn grammar in context, they can learn how to type by using a computer.

Students who are unfamiliar with using a mouse will need to be shown how to maneuver it correctly including how to push down on the mouse to hold it steady and how the cursor moves along with the mouse on the screen. Students also should understand how to click on the menu bar to start, quit, and exit programs. Don’t worry; you can’t break anything. If you press the wrong key, you’ll just get an error message.

No one person is in charge of the Internet, it is organized chaos out there; it is constantly changing and growing. So the more you go on-line, the more you’ll find out about what’s out there. Jump in and get your feet wet. The best way to learn is through hands-on experience.

1. You can’t access the ERIC database on-line

A) via the Internet

B) on CD-ROM

C) through commercial channels

D) through any printed journal

E) through telephone

2. The ERIC system fails to provide the following products

A) research abstracts

B) references

C) document reproduction

D) biographies

E) answer to questions

3. Students should be shown how to maneuver the mouse

A) in the space bar

B) on the screen

C) on the bar menu

D) on-line

E) on the table

4. AskERIC service is

A) free professionals

B) not professionally oriented

C) not personalised

D) not Internet-based

E) not electronic

5. The database is timely updated but you cannot receive new information every

A) month

B) three months

C) fortnight

D) four months

E) week

Exercise 3. Read the text below. Match choices (A-H) to (1-6). There are two choices you do not need to use.