VII. Form the sentences using:
1. there is/are … (a colour monitor, some operators, 15 terminals, a computer centre, a laser printer);
2. there was/were … (an interesting lecture, computer companies, few computers, ink-jet printer, video terminals).
VIII. Translate the following sentences into Russian:
1. There are many input devices of different types.
2. There are two main categories of hardware: processors and peripherals.
3. There is no better way to understand computer than through interacting with one.
4. There are keyboards with different number of keys nowadays.
5. There are two types of software: system and applications.
6. There is a long history of research at IBM on the theory of databases.
7.There are a number of(there areis a lot of) different types of terminals.
Section CReading
I. A modern computer has a long history of development. Do you happen to know who is considered to be the father of the computer? Scan paragraph 4 to prove your idea.
II. Study the following words and word combinations and make sure you know their translations. Use a specialized dictionary in case of any difficulties.
binary numbers
to devise
to subtract
to multiply
methods of difference
punched card
automatic loom
III. Symbols for 4 main arithmetic operations are well-known to everyone. Match the notions with their symbols.
-
1. +
a. subtraction
2. ‑
b. multiplication
3. ÷
c. addition
4. ×
d. division
IV. State the type of word-building of the following words and translate them into Russian.
necessarily, mathematician, calculator, automatically, to displace, successor, indifference
V. Read the text attentively and name the main stages in the development of computing devices.
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5
10
15
20
25
30
35 |
Binary code The idea that number systems do not necessarily have to be based on 10 is not a recent one. Gotffried Leibniz, working in the 1600s, developed theories of logic and binary numbers. A century later, George Boole, a British mathematician, devised a branch of logic that is still applied to binary systems in computing.
Calculators
T In 1694, Gottfried Leibniz in Germany improved the mechanical calculator so that it could also multiply and divide. He devised a way of making it automatically perform repeated additions or subtractions. Mechanical calculators then advanced rapidly over the following two centuries, until they were gradually displaced by much faster electronic calculators from the late 1950s and on.
Mechanical computers E |
he
principle of the abacus was first translated into a mechanical
calculator in 1642 by the great French scientist Blaise Pascal.
Numbers were fed into his machine by turning dials similar to
those on a telephone, and the result appeared in a window. The
machine added or subtracted numbers with total accuracy, but was a
financial flop.
arly
calculators only did arithmetic; unlike a computer they could not
store results and they could not be given instructions. However,
the idea that such a machine could be built occurred to the
British inventor Charles Babbage. The idea came to his mind in
1833, an idea which earned him the title of ‘father of the
computer’. Babbage at that time was working on a machine called
the Difference Engine capable of accurate calculation of
logarithms using the method of differences. He wanted to make a
successor that could be programmed to perform different kinds of
calculations and that could store results. The machine was called
the Analytic Engine. It was to be given instructions on punched
cards like those used in automatic looms. But it was not
completed.