II. How would you define the following systems? Use the words in part II.

1. the registration system of a university

2. a robot at a car assembly line

3. an unmanned spaceship

4. a radio network

5. the CIA World Factbook

6. a video conferencing system

III. Find the equivalents (use part III).

1 A new radio communication system.

3 A system that integrates telephones and computer is a................centre.

4 A global system of networks of integrated services.

5 A device used to send and receive exact copies of documents.

6 Similar to interactive TV.

7 Written information you get on your TV screen.

Text VI solving computer problems

I. Read and translate the text

Troubleshooting and help desks

Sally Harrison is a help desk technician. She works at a help desk, a computer support centre where people phone for help with their computer problems.

She says:

“In my job I have to talk to the computer user to find the source of a problem and try to fix it on the phone.

We offer computer assistance for all types of problems. Some people prefer to use the word debugging when we solve programming errors and use troubleshooting when we solve problems encountered while using information technology tools.

Sometimes there are no problems with either of them and it's a PEBCAK, the problem exists between the chair and keyboard, i.e. it's a user's problem.

I generally start by asking the customer if there has been an error message, a warning of a

problem displayed by the application inside a dialogue box, a small window that provides

information about the problem and an interface of communication with the user.

One of the most frightening messages is the one shown with a BSoD, or Blue Screen of Death, a blue screen that shows an unrecoverable system error.”

Describing the problem

People ask the help desk technician for help with problems like these.

1 “My printer is producing fuzzy, not clear, printouts.”

2 “1 get a lot of error messages. Some of my files won't open. They're corrupted, damaged.”

3 “The monitor flickers, the image is unsteady.”

4 “My optical drive fails: it won't read or write discs.”

5 “My machine is running very slowly and it shows low memory error messages.”

6 “My computer is behaving strangely. I think it's got a virus.”

7 “I get a 401 message: I'm unauthorized, not allowed to enter that website.”

8 “I've tried to access a website but I get a 404 Not Found message, as if it didn't exist.”

9 “I try to connect but I get this message: Network connection refused by server.”

Making guesses and giving advice

Help desk technicians have to sort out the different reasons for the problem and suggest ways to fix it. Look at some of the expressions that can be used.

■ Turn the computer off and on again. It often works.

■ You should check that dust is not affecting the computer cooling fan, the device that prevents the parts inside the computer from overhearing.

■ Why don't you reboot, restart, the system again?

■ If this doesn't work, use a recovery tool, a software application to restore your deleted data.

■ You should back up your files in the future, make copies.

■ If 1 were you, I'd get a UPS, an uninterruptible power supply, a device to maintain the continuous supply of electric power.

II. Complete these sentences with words from paragraph 1

1. Your computer may have a virus if it has symptoms like these:

Windows won't start and an __________ tells you that it's because important files are missing.

An unfamiliar message pops up in a _________ .The message is usually unrelated to programs you're running or asks for confidential information such as passwords.

2. A bug is a coding error in a computer program. That's why some people say that __________ is the art of taking bugs out - programming is the art of putting them in.

3. The company is improving the __________ for computer users. They are introducing 'answer-express' to handle all kinds of technology support and online advice.

4. The firm is seeking a __________ to join the team. The successful candidate will be responsible for __________ and resolving problems for internal staff as well as external users.