4.4. Тексты

4.4.1. Прочитайте и переведите текст устно

COMPUTER GAMES IN EDUCATION

“An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.”

- Oscar Wilde

Computer games have come a long way since Pong, a high-tech version of table tennis, became the first to hit the screen in 1972. The vast majority of children now regularly play games ranging from Mario to Mortal Combat. One study has suggested that one teenager in fifteen devotes thirty hours a week to them, though the majority are moderate consumers.

What does it do to young minds?

For years concern has been expressed by parents and teachers about the effect of computer games on the moral and mental make-up of the next generation. Some have warned that a relentless diet of whizz-bang “shoot-em-ups” fosters antisocial behavior, even playground violence. Others believe that the age of the zombie is upon us.

But expert opinion is shifting radically. Psychologists in America and Britain now suggest that while computer games hold some dangers for children, they also provide opportunities their parents never enjoyed to amplify powers of concentration and memory. Researchers have also highlighted the positive response of children to the way computer games reward success, thereby spurring them on to look for greater challenges-a boon if the same attitude is applied to school work. A leading academic at the University of Washington has even claimed that children think differently when they play computer games, learning to deal with problems in parallel rather than in sequence. In effect, children are being trained to tackle problems in a fashion which is not only more rapid but also more effective. In the long term, the facility that game players develop with computer graphics could help much in future career. It could, for example, be of particular benefit to children who go on to become engineers or scientists.

Games are also now being developed for pre-school children to encourage reading and writing skills. At Lanterns, a private nursery in east London, computer games make part of a syllabus. Each week its sixteen pupils – the youngest aged two – are treated to a whirlwind tour of cyberspace. Every day the pupils attend a special class, such as dance or drama, and on Tuesdays they have a computer workshop where they spend an hour playing games. All the children love it. There is no technofobe among them.

4.4.1.1. Используя материалы упр. 4.4.1., найдите определяемые слова или словосочетания, к которым подошли бы приведенные ниже описания

Ex.	A high tech version of table tennis	Pong
1	One person in fifteen devoting 30 hours a week to computer games
2	To solve several problems not one by one but at a time
3	The facility of particular benefit for future engineer or scientist
4	A person afraid of technique
5	Games which can foster the playground violence
6	Skills encouraged by games developed for pre-school children

4.4.1.2.Что вы думаете по поводу высказывания Оскара Уайльда?

I think he is right/wrong because

4.4.2.Прочитайте и переведите текст устно без словаря

THE ELECTRONIC CADAVER

It’s not exactly Frankenstein, but now medical students can interact with the computer to learn anatomy. Called The Electronic Cadaver, the multimedia program runs on a Mac II, a laserdisc player, and HyperCard, and it combines graphics, text, and images into a unique teaching tool. For instance, a student studying the nerves in the human hand can ask the computer, “Does it hurt here?” while clicking the mouse on the thumb. “Ouch!” replies the computer if the nerve in question is where the student pointed. Students can watch short animations that demonstrate how muscles and tendons move the fingers, or see the bone development of a hand as it ages from infancy to nineteen years old. They can scan images of the muscles and internal organs. Students can also create their own play-lists, ordering stacks of images and text as they need to, creating their own text-book.

4.4.2.1. Используя материал упр. 4.4.2., ответьте устно на вопрос: «Почему программа имеет столь странное название?»

4.4.3. Прочитайте текст

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS - WHO ?

Carmen Sandiego, that`s who, a now-legendary crook who does things like attempting to steal Taj Mahal or the original copy of the Magna Carta. She`s glamorous , hip, and, thanks to the fact that children interact with her on their computer in a series of best selling games (sales of over 1 million), she can travel anywhere in the world and visit any time. Oh and yes, along the way children learn a lot about geography, history and variety of other subjects. And that`s the real purpose of the games from Broderbund Software. Each player is a detective from Acme Detective Agency and must capture all of Carmen`s gang to win. Each game comes with a reference book, appropriate to the storyline, which provides clues. Kids love the games, and parents love the fact that their children are learning – schools have even had Carmen Sandiego Day, complete with an actress dressed as the crook arriving by helicopter. No one is saying where the next Carmen Sandiego game will be set, but there are a lot of people who can hardly wait to find out.

4.4.3.1. Переведите текст 4.4.3. со словарем письменно

4.4.4. Заполните пропуски приведенными ниже словами. Прочитайте текст. Придумайте название.

Mistakes/errors, time, use/operation, improving, human, are, accuracy so part/role, make, involved, since, back, ever, replaced, more.

______________________________________________

Once upon a …, according to a much told story, a computer was set a task of translating “traffic jam” into French and back into English. The machine buzzed, clicked, blinked its lights and eventually came up with “car-flavored marmalade”. Machine translation has come a long way … then. Computer translation systems are now in … in many parts of the world.

Not surprisingly, the EEC is very … . With so many official languages, translating and interpreting take up … than 50% of the Community’s administrative budget. But although the efficiency of machine translation is … rapidly, there’s no question of … translators being made redundant. On the contrary, people and machines work together in harmony. Today’s computers …of little value in translating literary works, where subtlety is vital, or the spoken word, which tends to be ungrammatical, or important texts, where absolute … is essential. But for routine technical reports, working papers and the like, which take up … much of the translation workload of the international organizations, computers are likely to play an increasing … . The method of operation will probably be for the machines to … a rough version, which the translator will then edit, correcting obvious …, and where necessary referring … to the original.

If machines can translate languages, could they … teach languages? Yes say enthusiasts, although they doubt that the teacher could ever be totally … by a machine in the classroom. Goodoldteachersknowbest!

4.4.4.1. Используя схему, приведенную в упр. 1.4.2.1. (стр.8), запишите текст устного пересказа текста 4.4.2.