VI. Writing

1. Summarize the text in Task V in 70-75 words. You may like to follow these steps.

1 Read through the whole text again and think of a suitable title for it.

2. Make sure you understand all the main points. Go through the text and underline the relevant information in each paragraph.

3. Make notes about the main points:

• omit repetitions and unnecessary phrases

• leave out details, such as examples.

E.g. notes on the first paragraph:

In the past only experts used computers. But now, emphasis on user-friendly interfaces.

4 Make sentences from the notes and connect the sentences by using linking words (and, but, also, because, that's why, in fact, therefore, etc.). Write your first draft.

5 Improve your first draft by reducing sentences^***

6 Check grammar, spelling and punctuation. Write the final version of your summary.

^***Ways of reducing sentences

• Transform a relative clause into an -ing participle clause e.g. Icons are graphic images that represent tasks ...

= Icons are graphic images representing tasks.

• Take out relative pronouns where possible e.g. The software (that) we bought last year ...

• Omit qualifying words (adjectives or modifying adverbs) e.g. (quite) complex/(very) similar

• Take out that in reported speech or thought e.g. It is well known (that) computers ...

I think (that) there's something wrong with this program.

• Cut out unnecessary phrases

e.g. Macintosh computers were designed with a clear aim: to facilitate the user's interaction with the computer.

= Macintosh machines were designed to facilitate the user's interaction with the computer.

VII. Listening

Listen to this radio interview with Bill Thompson, a program developer. He is talking about Microsoft Windows. Complete this fact file.

• Why it's so popular

(1)…………………….. because everything is presented in graphic images.

(2)………………………with thousands of programs and allows multi-tasking.

• Windows versions

Older versions like Windows 98 and Windows 2000 have been replaced by the new Windows XP.

(3)……………… …….is ideal for home users.

(4) ………...is aimed at business users.

• Other features

Offers support for the latest technologies. Includes Windows.

(5)……………………., a program that lets you play music CDs and videos.

• Internet connections

Internet Explorer is more reliable and secure. A connection Firewall protects your PC from (6)……………….. .

• Windows programs

The most popular is (7)………………….. a suite that includes: a word processor, an e-mail program, a spreadsheet, and a presentation graphics program.

VIII. Research

Find and present information on one of the suggested topics:

1. New products of the Microsoft

2. Advantages and disadvantages of popular Operating Systems. Which one to choose?

3. PCs and laptops vs. smartphones. Who wins?

Stop &Check 2

Exercise 1. Complete the phrases by shop assistants with words from box A and then choose which device they’re talking about from box B.

A: to can which allows used by features works for

B: scanner, keyboard, game controller, graphics tablet, mouse, microphone, light pen, trackball

1. This model …… a backlight, so you can see what you’re typing in the dark.

2. We have a Bluetooth version which …… without wires, but the surface you use it on needs to be dark.

3. Why don’t you try this? It’s …… drawing, as if you were using a pen and paper.

4. You’ll need one of these – it’s …… to control your movements while you play.

5. For more precision, I’d recommend this. It’s like an upside-down mouse, and it works …… running your hand over the plastic ball here.

6. This is our most popular model. It …… you …… reproduce exact copies of your documents in digital format.

7. This works just like a mouse, except you …… write directly onto the screen with it.

8. This is a model …… works particularly well with Skype.

Exercise 2. Complete these FAQs from a word processing program by choosing the correct words from the box.

Caps Lock, return, tab, Ctrl, backspace, arrow, shift, space bar

1. Question: How do I start a new line in my document?

Answer: Just hit …… .

2. Question: How can I delete a letter or word that I’ve typed?

Answer: Position the cursor after the letter or word and hit …… once per letter.

3. Question: Do I have to use the mouse to navigate around my document?

Answer: No, you can also use the …… keys.

4. Question: How can I type in UPPER CASE characters?

Answer: If you want to type one or two letters in upper case, then simply hold

down …… and type the letters at the same time. If you want to type a whole

sentence in upper case, you should use …… .

Exercise 3. Complete this review of a digital camera by typing in the superlative form of the adjectives in brackets.

With 6.0 megapixels and 3x optical zoom, the D930 is (1) (good) the …… high resolution digital camera available in this price range. You can use the D930 to produce some of (2) (sharp) the …… images possible and take detailed photos for printing up to poster size. In addition, it has a 3x optical and 5x digital zoom giving 15x total zoom when combined – (3) (high) the …… in any digital camera under £50. ASR technology prevents the degradation of image clarity and colour common in flash photography. With ASR, the effects of camera shake are reduced in lower light conditions; you can even take well exposed, sharper pictures in low light without using a flash at all. It guarantees (4) (bright) the …… and (5) (natural) the …… pictures possible at this price.

Exercise 4. Complete these descriptions of printers by comparative form of the adjectives in brackets.

1. Laser printers are (expensive) …… than inkjets.

2. Thermal transfer printers are (good) …… for printing bar codes han dot-matrix printers.

3. Inkjets are (small) …… than imagesetters

4. Dot-matrix printers are (noisy) …… than laser printers.

5. Imagesetters are (convenient) …… than platesetters, as you still need to print to film before making the printing plates.

Exercise 5. Complete these sentences by choosing the correct phrase in box.

seek time, transfer rate, access time, sectors, tracks, directory, partition

1. The average time it takes the read/write heads to move and find data on a disk is called the …… .

2. …… is another way of saying seek time.

3. …… is the average speed required to transmit data to the CPU from the disk; it is measured in megabytes per second.

4. Once formatted, a disk’s surface is organized into circular …… . each of these is then divided into …… .

5. When a disk is formatted, a …… is created by the operating system to record the location of files.

6. If you have more than one …… on your hard drive, you can install more than one operating system.

Exercise 6. Complete this extract from a wiki entry about Windows Vista by appropriate articles: a, an, the, - .

Windows Vista is (1) … operating system developed by Microsoft for use on (2) … personal computers. Development was completed on November 8, 206; over (3) … next three months it was released in stages to (4) … computer manufacturers, (5) … business customers, and (6) … shops. N January 30, 2007, it was released worldwide to the general public, and was made available for purchase and download direct from Microsoft. (7) … release of Windows Vista comes more than five years after (8)… introduction of Windows XP.

Vista contains hundreds of new and improved features. The most significant include (9) … updated GUI and visual style called Windows Aero, improved search features, new multimedia creation tools, and completely redesigned networking, audio print, and display sub-systems. However, perhaps the greatest improvement has been to (10) … security Windows XP suffered from (11) … vulnerability to viruses and mailware, and it will be interesting to see to what extent this has been addressed in Vista.

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