Text b. Nolan bushnell (born in 1943)

The father of home video games. He built Pong in 1972, starting the videogame craze that led to today’s powerful super systems.

During the 1950’s and 1960’s, computers improved enormously. Still, only big businesses, universities and the military had them. Then in 1972 the videogame erase began.Computers were scaled down to small boxes, using electronic circuitry instead of the Mark I's switches. They could do more than analyze data. They could play games.

The first big hit was a simple game called Pong. Two players sat in front of a television screen where a “ball”- a point of light – bounced back and forth. Using knobs on a cabinet, the players could hit the ball with inch-long “paddles” on the screen.

Pong was created by Nolan Bushnell, who grew up near Salt Lake City, Utah. He loved to tinker with machines and became an electrical engineer. He played primitive computergames that were even older than Pong.

"I built it with my own two hands and a soldering-iron”, Bushnell said of his creation of the first Pong games.

In 1972 Bushnell founded Atari Inc. in Sunnyvale, Calif., to build Pong games. By 1975 there were

150,000 Pong games in American homes.

Vocabulary

Pong – понг (электронная телевизионная игра)

craze - повальное увлечение

to scale down - уменьшать

circuitry - схема

hit - успех

to bounce - подпрыгивать

back and forth - взад и вперед

knob - кнопка

cabinet - ящик радиоприемника

to hit – ударять

inch-long – длиной в один дюйм

paddle - ракетка

to tinker - возиться

soldering-iron – паяльник

creation – творение

Inc.= Incorporation - корпорация

to launch - начинать

financial - финансовый

record - отчет

to involve - развиваться

high-tech - высокоразвитая техника

to popularize - популяризировать

mouse - мышка

hand-controlled - управляемый вручную

cursor - стрелка, курсор

Exercise 1. Choose the sentence according to the text.

a) During the 1950's and 1960’s computers improved very little.

b) The videogame craze began in 1962.

c) Only big businesses, universities and the military had computers in the 60’s.

Exercise 2. Complete the sentence according to the text.

Two players sat in front of a TV screen and …

a) hit the ball with a point of light on the screen

b) hit the knobs on a cabinet

c) manipulate the ball with the help of inch-long "paddles".

Exercise 3. Choose the sentence which doesn't correspond to the text.

1. Bushnell created his first. Pong games with the help of the latest technology.

2. Bushnell loved to tinker with machines.

3. In 1972 Bushnell founded Atari Inc. in Sunny vale, Calif., to build Pong games.

4. He built his first Pong Games with his own two hands and a soldering iron.

Exercise 4. Choose the proper answer to the question according to the text.

How many Pong games were there in American homes by 1975?

1. 150,000

2. 1,500

3. 15,000