Computers

Computer engineering is now the most rapidly growing field. The electronics of computers involve engineers in design and manufacture of memory systems, of central processing units, and of peripheral devices. The field of computer science is closely related to computer engineering; however, the task of making computers more «intelligent» (artificial intelligence), through creation of sophisticated programs or development of higher level machine languages or other means, is generally regarded as the aim of computer science.

One current trend in computer engineering is microminiaturization. Engineers try to place greater and greater numbers of circuit elements onto smaller and web browser, providers, link, WWW smaller chips. Another trend is towards increasing the speed of computer operations through the use of parallel processors and superconducting materials.

Grammar: Degrees of Comparison of Adjectives.

	Positive degree	Comparative degree	Superlative degree
Words of 1 or 2 syllables Односложные	large hot easy	-er larger hotter easier	the … -est the largest the hottest the easiest
Polysyllabic words многосложные	interesting	more more interesting	the most the most interesting
Special group of words особые	good, well bad, badly many, much little	better worse ore less	the best the worst the most the least

Сравнительные конструкции:

as … as такой же … как

not so … as не такой … как

the… the чем… тем

than чем

Task 7. Read and translate:

1. Minicomputers are bigger than microcomputers.

2. Mainframes are more expensive than microcomputers.

3. Microcomputers are not so big as minicomputers.

4. Microcomputers are not so powerful as mainframes.

5. Mainframes are the biggest computers.

6. Mainframes are the most powerful computers.

7. Mainframes are the most expensive computers.

Task 8. Give the comparative and superlative degrees.

Long, cosy, big, bad, dark, happy, beautiful, old, young, early, small, sad, significant, difficult, comfortable, deep.

Task 9. Choose the correct adjective. Then fill in the gaps with the correct form of the adjective.

1. light/heavy Laptops are __________ than desktop computers, but _______ than notebooks.

2. large/small The mainframe is type of computer. A minicomputer is __________ than a microcomputer.

3. common/good Personal computers are ___________ than mainframes, but mainframes are than personal computers at processing very large amounts of data.

4. powerful/expensiveMinicomputers are —————— than mainframes but they are also __________ .

5. fast/ cheap New computers are ________ and sometimes _________ than older machines.

6. powerful/ expensive Laptops are often __________ . than PCs but they are not as ___________ .

Task 10 Put the words in brackets into the correct form to make an accurate description of sizes of computers.

There are different types of computer. The (large) __________ and (powerful) __________ are mainframe computers. Minicomputers are (small) ___________ than mainframes but are still very powerful. Microcomputers are small enough to sit on a desk. They are the (common) __________ type of computer. They are usually (powerful) __________ than minicomputers.

Portable computers are (small) - __________ than desktops. The

(large) ____________. portable is a laptop. (Small) ___________ portables, about the size of a piece of writing paper, are called notebook computers. Subnotebooks are (small) __________ than notebooks. You can hold the (small) _________ computers in one hand. They are called handheld computers or palmtop computers.