Using Computers

Computers are being used more and more in business because they are fast, efficient and 1_______.

Here are some ways in which computers are used:

Insurance companies use them to store and 2_______ details of clients’ policies.

Production departments in companies use them to ensure they have adequate 3_______ of raw materials and 4_______.

Banks use them for processing details of accounts and 5_______.

Personnel departments use them to keep 6_______ of a company’s employees.

For the most part, the computers, software, and 7_______ that are needed depend on individual needs. For instance, if you’re an architect you may want a system with good 8_______ capability. If a lot of records are to be kept, then you’ll want ample 9_______, perhaps even a CD-ROM 10_______ for permanent storage of massive amounts of data. Regular disks can then be used for 11_______ copies. For desktop 12_______, you may want a monitor with a full-page 13_______ and a high-quality laser 14_______. If quality printing is not so important, then a cheaper ink-jet or even cheaper dot-matrix printer may be more suitable.

If you’re in a business where you need to do a lot of 15_______, then maybe you should consider a modem, so you can communicate with other computers 16_______.

Exercise 3. Read the following text and answer the questions which follow.

Information Technology (it)

The microchip revolution is having a huge impact on modern business. While the advent of completely automated (robotized) production systems is producing legions of unemployed workers, people at work are most likely to come into contact with microelectronics through the medium of ‘information technology’.

Information technology (IT) covers a wide range of operations based on a combination of computing and telecommunications techniques. It includes the compilation of information in the form of data banks and the material, which may be textual, numeric, pictorial or even vocal can be processed and stored until retrieval is required.

In the past, information management involved massive dependence on paper, but today tiny electronic pulses are stored on floppy disks. Although modern discs have an incredible capacity, newer and even more compact devices are being developed.

The earliest forms of computers were so-called mainframe computers, programmed electronic machines capable of processing almost limitless amounts of routine data and making complex calculations repetitively, speedily and accurately.

Microelectronics involves the design, application and production of very small electronic devices containing many miniaturized components. Microcomputers are obviously much smaller in size than the mainframe computers. They are also cheaper and more flexible in operation. A substantial range of software programs are on offer to perform many of the key office functions such as accounting, stock control and word processing.

The other branch of information technology is telecommunications, which covers the transmission of information by electronic cables (telephone and telegraph or radio waves. Fibre optics (very fine strands of glass) transmitting high speed pulses of light are replacing the old-fashioned, conventional copper cables and allow many thousands more telephone calls to be made. Using microwave transmissions, static space satellites are also revolutionizing international communication.

Perhaps the example of the new concepts with which we are most familiar in the infra-red system which we use to operate our television sets by remote control.

1. What benefits as an individual do you expect from the increasing use of computers in our society?

2. What do you see as the major problem arising from the increasing use of computers? For example, do you think they depersonalize work? What dangers do you see with respect to possible computer frauds? Do you see any military implications?

3. Do you think the microchip revolution has created unemployment? If so, what do you see as an answer to the problem? Shorter working weeks? Work sharing? Earlier retirement?

4. How do you think satellite communications can be useful to:

1. multinational corporations

2. companies providing information on world events for newspapers and television news and entertainment

3. educational establishments?

Exercise 4. The following sentences relate to various aspects of IT. There are words missing from each statement. Choose the appropriate word for each sentence.

1. The future development of word-wide integrated networks for funds transmission _______ difficult questions of security both for the network itself and the customer using it.

a. raise b. raises c. raised

2. The _______ in digital technology are providing a boost for the reprographics industry, enabling companies to produce higher quality business forms and documents rapidly on desktop publishing systems.

a. advances b. research c. researches

3. The processor, memory and electronic controls for the periphery equipment for a microcomputer are _______ put together on a printed circuit board.

a. seldom b. usually c. always

4. The trend in software is towards integrated systems where a number of different products from a software _______ are designed to work in a single system.

a. purchaser b. user c. manufacturer

5. When data needs to be saved for an _______ period of time it is stored on magnetic tapes or magnetic disks.

a. extend b. short c. long

6. Sorting is the _______ of data into a pre-determined sequence to assist further processing, and the most common sorting sequences are numerical and alphabetical.

a. collection b. arrangement c. disposal

7. A local area network (LAN) is a system of interconnecting microcomputers over a small geographical area, _______ within a few hundred metres.

a. typically b. occasionally c. specifically

8. Wide area networks (WANs) operate on a wide geographical scale and, since they send data over telecommunications links, they need modems which _______ digital form data into wave form.

a. modify b. convert c. define

9. A timesharing system is a multi-user/multi-access system in which many users have _______ access to the computer for their own data processing requirements.

a. immediate b. continuous c. simultaneous

10. A real time system is one in which data is received and processed and results are transmitted _______ enough for the data to be capable of influencing the sources of data (for example, air traffic control, airline bookings and process control).

a. accurately b. rapidly c. slowly