9.2. Read the text.

INTRODUCTION TO THE WWW AND THE INTERNET

Millions of people around the world use the Internet to search for and retrieve some information on all sorts of topics in a wide variety of areas including arts, business, government, humanities, news, politics and recreation. People communicate through electronic mail (e-mail), discussion groups, chat channels and other means of informational exchange. They share information and make commercial and business transactions. All this activity is possible because tens of thousands of networks are connected to the Internet and exchange information in the same basic ways.

The World Wide Web (WWW) is a part of the Internet. But it’s not a collection of networks. Rather, it is the information that is connected or linked together like a web. You access this information through one interface or tool called a Web browser. The number of resources and services that are a part of the World Wide Web is growing extremely fast. By using a computer terminal (hardware) connected to a network that is a part of the Internet, and by using a program (software) to browse or retrieve information that is a part of the World Wide Web, the people connected to the Internet and World Wide Web through the local providers have access to a variety of information. Each browser provides a graphical interface. You move from place to place, from site to site on the Web by using a mouse to click on a portion of text, icon or region of a map. These items are called hyperlinks or links. Each link you select represents a document, an image, a video clip or an audio file somewhere on the Internet. The user doesn’t need to know where it is, the browser follows the link.

All sorts of things are available on the WWW. One can use Internet for recreational purposes. Essentially, if something can be put into digital format and stored in a computer, then it’s available on the WWW. You can even visit museums, gardens, cities throughout the world, learn foreign languages and meet new friends. And, of course, you can play computer games through the WWW, competing with partners from other countries and continents.

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9.3.Read the text “Introduction to the WWW and the Internet” again and choose the correct question for the following answers.

1. Millions of people around the world use the Internet to search for and retrieve some information on all sorts of topics in a wide variety of areas.

a)What is the Internet?

b)What do people use the Internet for?

c)Do people in our country use the Internet?

2.People communicate through electronic mail (e-mail), discussion groups, chat channels and other means of informational exchange.

a)What is electronic mail?

b)What are the means of informational exchange?

c)How do people communicate?

3.The World Wide Web (WWW) is the information that is connected or linked together like a web.

a)What does the WWW stand for?

b)What is the World Wide Web?

c)What is the WWW linked to?

4.You access some information through one interface or tool called a Web browser.

a)How can you access any information?

b)What is a Web browser?

c)How many interfaces are there in the WWW?

9.4.Match the English terms with their definitions.

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9.5. Read the text.

THE HISTORY OF TELECOMMUNICATION

The history of telecommunication is an important part of the larger history of communication. Early telecommunications included smoke signals and drums. Drums were used by natives in Africa, New Guinea and South America, and smoke signals in North America and China. In 1792, a French engineer, Claude Chappe built the first visual telegraphy (or semaphore) system between Lille and Paris. However, semaphore as a communication system suffered from the need for skilled operators and expensive towers often at intervals of only ten to thirty kilometers (six to nineteen miles). As a result, the last commercial line was abandoned in 1880.

The first commercial electrical telegraph was constructed in England by Sir Charles Wheatstone and Sir William Fothergill Cooke. It used the deflection of needles to represent messages and started operating over twenty-one kilometers (thirteen miles) of the Great Western Railway on 9th April, 1839. On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Samuel Morse independently developed a version of the electrical telegraph that he unsuccessfully demonstrated on 2nd September, 1837. The first successful transatlantic telegraph cable was completed on 27th July, 1866, allowing transatlantic telecommunication for the first time.

The conventional telephone was invented by Alexander Bell in 1876. The first commercial telephone services were set-up in 1878 and 1879 on both sides of the Atlantic in the cities of New Haven and London. Bell held patents needed for such services in both countries. The technology grew quickly from this point, with intercity lines being built and telephone exchanges in every major city of the United States by the mid-1880s. In spite of this, transatlantic voice communication remained impossible for customers until January 7, 1927 when a connection was established

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using radio. However, no cable connection existed until TAT-1 was inaugurated on 25th September, 1956 providing 36 telephone circuits.

In December 1901, Guglielmo Marconi established wireless communication between Britain and the United States earning him the Nobel Prize in physics in 1909 (which he shared with Karl Braun).

On 25th March, 1925, Scottish inventor John Logie Baird publicly demonstrated the transmission of moving silhouette pictures at the London department store Selfridges. In October 1925, Baird was successful in obtaining moving pictures with halftone shades, which were by most accounts the first true television pictures. This led to a public demonstration of the improved device in January 26, 1926 again at Selfridges. Baird’s first devices relied upon the Nipkow disk and thus became known as the mechanical television.

However, for most of the 20th century televisions depended upon the cathode ray tube invented by Karl Braun. The first version of such a television to show promise was produced by Philo Farnsworth and crude silhouette images were demonstrated to his family on 7th September, 1927. John Logie Baird switched from mechanical television and became a pioneer of colour television using cathode-ray tubes.

In September 11, 1940, George Stibitz was able to transmit problems using teletype to his Complex Number Calculator in New York and to receive the computed results back at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. In the 1960s, researchers started investigating packet switching – a technology that would allow chunks of data to be sent to different computers without first passing through a centralized mainframe. A four-node network emerged on 5th December, 1969 between the University of California, Los Angeles, the Stanford Research Institute, the University of Utah and the University of California, Santa Barbara. This network would become ARPANET, which by 1981 would consist of 213 nodes. In June 1973, the first non-US node was added to the network belonging to Norway’s NORSAR project. This was shortly followed by a node in London.

In September 1981, RFC 791 introduced the Internet Protocol v4 (IPv4) and RFC 793 introduced the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) – thus creating the TCP/IP protocol that much of the Internet relies upon today. An e-mail protocol, SMTP, was introduced in August 1982 by RFC 821 and HTTP/1.0 a protocol that would make the hyperlinked Internet possible was introduced in May 1996 by RFC 1945.

9.6.Read the text “The History of Telecommunication” again and answer the following questions.

1.What did early telecommunications include?

2.Who were drums and smoke signals used by?

3.When was the first visual telegraphy (or semaphore) system built?

4.What year was the last commercial line abandoned?

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5.Who constructed the first commercial electrical telegraph?

6.What did Samuel Morse develop?

7.What did Alexander Bell invent in 1876?

8.Where were the first commercial telephone services set-up?

9.What is Guglielmo Marconi famous for?

10.What became known as the mechanical television?

11.Who is considered to be a pioneer of colour television?

12.When did researchers start investigating packet switching?

13.When was the TCP/IP protocol created?

14.What year was an e-mail protocol introduced?

9.7.Read the following statements and decide if they are true (T) or false

(F).

1.Drums were used by natives in Australia.

2.In 1792, a French engineer, Claude Chappe built the first visual telegraphy (or semaphore) system.

3.In December 1901, Guglielmo Marconi established wireless communication between France and the United States.

4.Baird’s first devices relied upon the Nipkow disk and thus became known as the colour television.

5.The cathode ray tube was invented by George Stibitz.

6.John Logie Baird became a pioneer of colour television.

9.8.Choose the correct variant and complete the following sentences.

1.The first commercial electrical telegraph was constructed by …

a)George Stibitz.

b)Guglielmo Marconi.

c)Sir Charles Wheatstone and Sir William Fothergill Cooke.

2.The conventional telephone was invented by …

a)John Logie Baird in 1845.

b)Alexander Bell in 1876.

c)George Stibitz in 1940.

3.In December 1901, Guglielmo Marconi …

a)established wireless communication between Britain and the United States.

b)became a pioneer of colour television.

c)invented the conventional telephone.

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4.On 25th March, 1925, Scottish inventor John Logie Baird …

a)started to investigate packet switching.

b)publicly demonstrated the transmission of moving silhouette pictures.

c)constructed the first commercial electrical telegraph.

5.In September 1981, RFC 791 introduced …

a)the Internet Protocol v4.

b)SMTP.

c)the Transmission Control Protocol.

6.An e-mail protocol was introduced in …

a)April 1980.

b)September 1888.

c)August 1982.

9.9.Fill in the gaps with the words from the text.

1.Early telecommunications included … … and … .

2. In 1792, a French engineer, … … built the first … … (or semaphore) system between Lille and Paris.

3.The first commercial electrical … was constructed … … by Sir Charles Wheatstone and Sir William Fothergill Cooke.

4.The conventional … was invented by Alexander Bell in 1876.

5.In December 1901, Guglielmo Marconi established … … between Britain and the United States earning him the Nobel Prize in physics in 1909 (which he shared with Karl Braun).

6.In October 1925, … was successful in obtaining moving pictures with halftone shades, which were by most accounts the first true … … .

7.John Logie Baird switched from … … and became a pioneer of … … using cathode-ray tubes.

8.In September 11, 1940, … … was able to transmit problems using … to his Complex Number Calculator in New York and to receive the computed results back at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

9.In September 1981, RFC 791 introduced the … … v4 (IPv4) and RFC 793 introduced the ... … … (TCP) – thus creating the TCP/IP protocol that much of the … relies upon today.

10.An … protocol, SMTP, was introduced in August 1982 by RFC 821 and HTTP/1.0 a protocol that would make the … … possible was introduced in May 1996 by RFC 1945.

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