E

Computers

xercise 3. Look at the scheme “Computers in our life” and discuss it.

personal

aspect

artistic

aspect

educational

economic

scientific

e-mail and Internet – enable people to keep in touch

generate music and graphics

much of today’s research impossible without them

doing work of many people, saving time and money

provide easy access to a lot of useful information

Here are some opposing arguments:

• keep young people from reading/studying and adults from working;

• unemployment increases when workers are replaced;

• impersonal contact, dependence on computer screens;

• computerized art becomes mechanical and impersonal;

• too much money/time spent on developing computers.

Exercise 4. Look through the following abstracts and discuss each of them.

1. Three of the four best times of the year to purchase a laptop or desktop computer come around like clockwork. The first three are the holiday shopping season, the back-to-school period in August and September, and inventory clearance time in late January and February. The fourth time is variable from year to year. When a new technology is introduced, the channel tries to flush the older stuff. That's not predictable as a time of year, but has to do with when products are launched.

2. The CPU determines how quickly a notebook runs applications and performs on-screen tasks. Core Duo and Core 2 Duo processors are good choices for speedy processing.

3. The more installed memory your notebook has, the more applications you can run at once, and the better your notebook will perform. Ease of access aside, upgrading memory in a notebook is a bit trickier than with a desktop, so buy as much memory preinstalled as you can afford.

4. The specified size of a notebook's LCD screen represents a diagonal measurement. The larger the screen, the higher the maximum resolution and the more information you can view at once.

5. The larger the hard drive, the more data you can keep on your notebook. If you plan to work with databases, spreadsheets, or digital photo or video files, opt for a large drive.

6. The more expansion bays, the more options you have for switching in new optical drives or other storage drives; but switching drives takes time. Though high-end ultraportables typically have no extra bays, you can purchase external drives for them.

Exercise 5. Choose the topic you want to speak about.

1. Advantages of laptop/notebook over the desktop PC.

2. Tablet PC was designed for military purpose.

3. Most wearable computers are created by Japanese.

Lesson II

Exercise 1. These words you should know.

first degree – степень бакалавра

university degree - университетский диплом

subordinate – подчиненный to staff – набирать кадры

qualification – квалификация, право занимать какую-л. должность

( подтвержденное документом )

Exercise 2. These terms you should learn.

technician – техник technical support - техническая поддержка

desktop publishing - (DTP) настольная издательская система, настольная редакционно-издательская система, НИС

off-the-shelf software - массовое (покупное) ПО

in-house software - программное обеспечение для внутреннего (ис)пользования

Exercise 3. Don’t mix such words.

to back up – делать копию to keep up – поддерживать;

to build up –монтировать, строить, создавать

to set up - основывать, настраивать

to start up – пускать в ход to free up – освобождать

to catch up – наверстывать to upload - пересылать, загружать

Exercise 4. Check your memory: to encounter a problem, well-paid and low-paid, company car, freelancer, to amend something, to recruit somebody.

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