III Communicative skills

Read and translate the following dialogs.

1. A service contract

A: Do you have a copy of your service contract with Telecoms? I’m not happy with their response time and I’d like to check the terms and conditions of the contract.

B: Sure. I’ve got a copy here. It’s due for renewal at the end of the next month. We’ve still got time to look for another supplier if you’re not happy.

2. Extended warranty

A: How long have we had the A3 printer in the sales department?

B: Just over a year I think. What’s the problem?

A: I’m not sure but there seems to be something wrong with it. Is it still under guarantee?

B: I think the guarantee’s just run out. Let me check. Oh, it’s OK. We took an extended warranty. It runs until next March.

3. A product guarantee

A: Can you tell me what’s included in your warranty?

B: Certainly. The product has two year guarantee. If it breaks down during that period we offer a replacement unit completely free of charge. Our products are very reliable but we recommend you take out an extended warranty. This covers you for a further two years.

A: I see. What does that include?

B: It covers all parts and labour, except for normal wear and tear of cause.

A: What sort of response time do you guarantee?

B: Our engineers are on call 24 hours a day. We guarantee someone will be with you within four hours, but in practice it’s much sooner.

A: Are there any exclusions?

B: Not really. It’s a very comprehensive warranty. I’ll put a copy in the post to you and you can read through the small print.

4. An insurance policy

A: Bad news, I’m afraid. Our supplier has gone bust. The parts you ordered have arrived at the docks but the handling agent won’t release them until someone pays the invoice. We also need to arrange transport to the factory.

B: Don’t worry about the cost. Our insurance policy covers us against situations like this. We need those parts urgently. Could you please try to get them here tomorrow?

2. Make up and present a dialog (use expressions and topics of the dialogs given above).

IV Comprehensive skills

1. actuator – маніпулятор

2. fuzzy logic – нечітка логіка

3. swarm – рій

4. resistant – стійкий

5. intellectual capacity – розумова здатність

6. predict – пророкувати

Listen to the text Robot Research. Read the following statements, say whether they are true (T) or false (F).

1. Much of the research in robotics focuses on specific industrial tasks.

2. Soft robots are robots with flexible silicone bodies.

3. Soft robots are capable of different behaviour.

4. Swarm robots can together perform a useful task, such as finding something hidden, cleaning, or spying.

5. First generation robots should have an intellectual capacity comparable to human.

Unit 8. Computing

1. imagine – уявляти

2. fastest growing – швидко розвиваюча

3. identify – ідентифікувати

4. criminals – злочинці

5. computer science – комп’ютерна наука

1. Read and translate the text.

Computers

50 years ago, people hadn’t even heard of computers, and today we cannot imagine life without them.

Computer technology is the fastest-growing industry in the world. The first computer was the size of a minibus and weighed a ton. Today, its job can be done by a chip the size of a pin head. And the revolution is still going on.

Very soon we’ll have computers that we’ll wear on wrists or even in our glasses and earnings. Such wearable computers are being developed now.

Japan’s biggest mobiles-phone company has just released its cleverest product - a mobile phone that allows you to stuff the Internet as well as make calls. People are already using the phone to check the news headlines, follow the stock market and download the latest jokes. Soon they will be able to buy cinema tickets and manage their bank accounts.

The next generation of computers will be able to talk and even think for themselves. They will contain electronic ‘neural networks’. Of course, they’ll be still a lot simpler that human brains, but it will be a great step forward. Such computers will help it diagnose illnesses, find materials, understand and control the world’s money markets, identify criminals and control space travel.

Computer revolution is changing our life and our language, too. We are constantly making up new words or giving new meanings to old ones. Most of computer terms are born in Silicon Valley, the world’s top computer-science center.

1. Answer the following questions:

1. What is the fastest-growing industry in the world?

2. What was the weigh of the first computer?

3. What does allow you to stuff the Internet as well as make calls?

4. What was the size of the first computer?

5. People are already using the phone to check the news headlines, are not they?

6. What are the most important applications of computer?

7. How does computer revolution change our life?