1. Определите, является ли утверждение:

New programmes incredibly reduced the cost of electronic components of the computer.

1. истинным

2. ложным

3. в тексте нет информации

2. Определите, является ли утверждение:

With the help of the first computers people could reduce their work, play high-quality games and make complicated calculations.

1. истинным

2. ложным

3. в тексте нет информации

3. Определите, является ли утверждение:

Apple Computer was introduced at the beginning of the 20^th century by CDC Corporation.

1. истинным

2. ложным

3. в тексте нет информации

4. Определите, является ли утверждение:

The first supercomputer was popular with different laboratories and organizations dealing with weapons and government.

1. истинным

2. ложным

3. в тексте нет информации

5. Укажите, какой части текста (1, 2, 3, 4) соответствует следующая информация:

The appearance of first minicomputers dates back to the middle of the 20th century.

1. 1

2. 2

3. 3

4. 4

6. Укажите, какой части текста (1, 2, 3, 4) соответствует следующая информация:

Nowadays personal computers are available not only to organizations and firms but to any individual.

1. 1

2. 2

3. 3

4. 4

7. Ответьте на вопрос:

What main devices were necessary for proper work of the first PC?

1. A keyboard, high-quality color graphics and video games.

2. The means of storing software, a monitor and an input device.

3. A floppy disk drive, electronic spreadsheet program and a monitor.

4. A cassette recorder, microchips and a microprocessor.

8. Определите основную идею текста.

1. The history of success of digital equipment corporations.

2. The drastic price changes in the progress of PC evolution.

3. The description of main parts and devices of computers.

4. The main stages of development of mainframes, supercomputers and minicomputers.

TEXT 2

The Internet

(1) The Internet is a large, international computer network linking tens of millions of users around the world. It is used daily by many individuals for the main purposes of sending and receiving electronic mail (e-mail), obtaining mountains of information on almost any subject, or to communicate with coworkers on projects. Access to the Internet is obtained only by subscription, and an Internet address is needed to receive a message or to send a message to another Internet user. Such addresses have a specific format that specifies the name of the user, the machine they are working on, and where that machine is located.

(2) The Internet began as a network of computers, the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, or ARPANET, supported by the U.S. Defense Department. In the 1980s, the National Science Foundation (NSF) supplied funding to extend the network to connect research-based supercomputers at various sites across the U.S. By the end of the decade, the Internet had extended to connect countries from around the world. By the early 1990s the Internet had encompassed all research universities, four-year colleges, federal agencies and laboratories, and computer vendors. At the close of the 1990s, lower personal computer prices and the ready availability of numerous online services encouraged increased personal and home connections to the Internet, particularly via the World Wide Web, an application that gathers resources from the Internet into a series of menu pages, or screens. The advent of the World Wide Web, with its relative ease of use, is undoubtedly one reason for the explosion of home computer use experienced at the close of the twentieth century.

(3) Although no single authority governs the use of the Internet, users voluntarily adhere to a telecommunications protocol. Because there is no governing body, however, controversy sometimes arises as to issues of privacy and what information may or may not be allowed into the network. In 1996, a new law designed to regulate indecent material on the global Internet computer network was declared an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment guarantee of free speech by a panel of three U.S. Federal judges.

(4) The legislation, known as the Computer Decency Act, had been approved as part of the broad Telecommunications Act of 1996 that won Congressional approval and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in February. The law's supporters said it was designed to stop the dissemination of pornography and other unsuitable material over the Internet network, which was used by tens of millions of adults and children around the world. Under the legislation, the distribution of “indecent” material over the Internet was punishable by a $250,000 fine and up to two years in prison. The decision was the first judicial ruling that Internet materials should be extended the same protection from censorship as printed materials.

(Britannica Student Encyclopedia Library)