3. Read the sentences and say if they are true (t) or false (f).

1. Hard drives are faster than floppy drives.

2. Access time' refers to the average time required for the recording heads to move and access data.

3. 'Access time' and 'data transfer rate' mean the same.

4. Hard disks use rigid rotating disks.

5. A hard drive is about 20 times faster than a floppy disk drive.

V. Vocabulary: Word building

1. Look at the groups of words and decide what class each word belongs to: noun, verb, adjective or adverb. Fill in the gaps in the sentences below.

magnet magnetic magnetically magnetism magnetize magnetized

1 is the science of magnetic phenomena and properties.

2. Floppy and hard disks are considered as storage devices.

3. Data is recorded on a disk in the form of spots called bits.

record /ri'kc:d/ recorder recording recorded

4. All disks must be initialized before information can be ….onto them.

5. The……heads magnetize the coating along each track.

6. A disk drive works very much like a tape that can both play and record.

fragment fragmentation defragmenter fragmented

4. After you create, delete and modify a lot of files, the hard disk becomes…………. with bits and pieces spread all over the disk.

5. ……………slows down the speed at which data is accessed because the disk drive has to work harder to find the parts of a file stored in many different locations.

6. To reorganize your hard disk, you can use a disk optimizer or………….; this will reorder your files into contiguous clusters.

VI. Listening

1. Before listening try to answer these questions.

1. What do CD and DVD stand for?

2. What is the main advantage of using DVDs instead of CDs?

2. Paul wants to buy some blank discs. Listen to his conversation with the sales assistant.

3. Listen again and decide whether these sentences are true or false. Correct the false ones.

1. A DVD is an optical digital disk that can be used for video, audio and data storage.

2. The dimensions of a CD and a DVD are the same: 1.3 mm thick and 13 cm in diameter.

3. The data on a DVD is read with a laser beam.

4. A basic DVD can hold 3.7 gigabytes.

5. You need a hard drive to read DVDs.

6. DVD-video discs can hold full-length movies.

7. A DVD writer is not compatible with old CD-ROMs.

VII. Reading: Optical Discs

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of optical disks? Read the text to find out.

2. Which types of drives and storage devices do you use most often? Why?

3. What is a flash card? What are the advantages/ disadvantages of using it?

1 5 10 15 20 25

Optical disks can store information at much higher densities than magnetic disks. Thus, they are ideal for multimedia applications where images, animation and sound occupy a lot of disk space. Besides, they are not affected by magnetic fields. This means that they are secure and stable, e.g. they can be transported through airport metal detectors without damaging the data. However, optical drives are slower than hard drives. While there are hard drives with an average access time of 8 ms, most CD-ROM drives have an access time of 150 to 200 ms. There are various types of optical drives: CD-ROM systems offer everything, from shareware programs to dictionaries and encyclopedias, from multimedia databases to 3-D games. A lot of institutions have discovered that CD-ROM is the most economical way of sharing information. In fact, one CD-ROM disk (650 MB) can replace 300,000 pages of text (about 500 floppies), which represents a lot of savings in distributing materials and corporate databases. In addition, CD-ROM drives can play music CDs while you work. Yet CD-ROM technology has one disadvantage: you cannot write anything onto a CD-ROM disk. You can only 'read' it, like a book. CD-Recorders come in two different forms: CD-R and CD-RW. CD-R machines record on CD-R (write-once) disks, allowing you to create and duplicate CDs. They are used to back up hard disks or to distribute and archive information. In fact, these systems are the modern version of old WORM (write once, read many) disks. CD-RW (rewritable) disks can be erased and re-used, just as you would do with a hard disk. DVD (digital versatile disk). A DVD-ROM can hold up to 8.5 GB, about 15 times an ordinary CD-ROM. For this reason, it can store a large amount of multimedia software and complete Hollywood movies in different languages. They can also play music CDs and CD-ROMs. However, DVD-ROMs are 'read-only' devices. To avoid this limitation, companies also produce DVD-R and DVD rewritable disks.

VIII. Grammar: Discourse cohesion (Reference signals)

1. Read these sentences and clauses and look back at the text in Task VII to find out what the words in bold refer to.

1. ... they are secure and stable ...

2. ... which represents a lot of savings in distributing materials ...

3. ... you cannot write anything onto a CD-ROM disk

4. You can only 'read' it ...

Connectors and modifiers

2. Look at the expressions in italics in these sentences and clauses.

1. Thus, they are ideal for multimedia applications ...

2. Besides, they are not affected by magnetic fields.

3. However, optical drives are slower than hard drives.

4. In addition, CD-ROM drives can play music CDs while you work.

5. Yet CD-ROM technology has one disadvantage: ...

6. For this reason, it can store a large amount of multimedia software ...

3. Put each expression (1 to 6) into the right category: a, b or c.

a to show contrast

b to explain causes and results

c to add new ideas

IX. Translation. Translate the text into English

Достойна класика

У нової моделі смартфону компанії ASUS – широкий корпус (117Х65Х13,8 мм) і повноцінна QWERTY клавіатура з чітко сегментованими клавішами, що в даному випадку важливо. І хоча це не перша модель в світі, виконана в даній концепції, у деякої категорії наших споживачів цей комунікатор, напевне, викликає інтерес.

Масою лише 130 грамів, M530w оснащений великим дисплеєм діагоналлю 2,46 дюйми, 2-мегапіксельною фотокамерою і додатковою камерою з роздільною здатністю 640Х480 для передачі зображення при відео дзвінках. У моделі –

256 Мб флеш пам'яті і 64 Мб SDRAM, яка може бути розширена за допомогою карт пам'яті Micro-SD. Звичайно ж є повний набір бездротових інтерфейсів: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth і GSM- модуль з підтримкою функцій 3G.

Звичайно ж, зручно, що M530w може бути і USB- хостом, який дозволяє підключати інші USB-пристрої (клавіатуру, мишку, та ін..) Комунікатор може працювати до 4 годин в режимі розмови. І все це чудо відбувається завдяки свіжій версії операційної системи Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 Smart Phone version.