Electronic brain

Computers represent a completely new branch of science, the first of them having appeared more than half a century ago. Although still now, these machines have already brought about a real revolution in science, technology, statistics and automatic control.

The reason for this lies in the fact that a mathematical formula can be found for almost all scientific and technical problems. They can be solved without the computer but it would require millions of arithmetical operations. No wonder that many problems of exceptional importance remained unsolved for a long time, the volume of the calculations required being above human possibilities.

A high-speed electronic computers can carry out several thousand arithmetical operations in one second. A calculation, which would have taken several years of intense human work in the past, is now done in a few minutes or hours.

Answer the following questions:

1. What machines have already brought about a real revolution in science,

technology, statistics and automatic control?

2. Where does the reason for this lie?

3. Can all scientific and technical problems be solved without the computer?

4. Why did many problems of exceptional importance remain unsolved for a long time?

5. How many operations can high-speed electronic computer carry out in a second?

Text 7

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Electronics - science of the future

1. In our country much attention is given to electronics, which is playing a major part in economic development. Soviet scientists and engineers have many achievements to their credit in this field. One outstanding example is space.

2. Electronics, however, has not only helped us to reach cosmic expanses but has given us an insight into the world of the most minute organisms-viruses. For instance, a modern electronic microscope shows the processes taking place in ultra-microscopic formations of a living cell. Now it is possible to distinguish details being a millionth of millimeter away from each other.

З. Electronics is in many ways helping to solve the problem of the peaceful uses of atomic energy, and to study atomic nuclei and elementary particles. We know electronics to have found broad application in industry as a means of automation, control and inspection, and as a direct means of fulfilling such operations as melting, cutting of super hard materials, welding, etc.

Answer the following questions:

1. What is playing a major part in economic development?

2. What has electronics helped us?

3. In what way is electronics used in industry?

Text 8

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Electronics

Electronics is a science which studies the properties of electrons, the laws of their motion, the laws of the transformation of various kinds of energy through the media of electrons. The basic elements in electronics are the electron tube and the transistor. Electronic techniqu­es are applied in many fields, including industry, communication, defense and entertaining.

Industrial electronics is the science of electronic processes. It deals with the technology of design, construction of electronic devices. The industrial application of electronics includes control gauging, counting and measuring, speed regulations, etc.

The research in the field of electronics gave us radar devices, computers, tape-recorders betatron and a lot of medical tools. Semi­conductor devices which have replaced electron tubes reduce the size of instruments.

The appearance of the transistor made a great progress in the development of the field. It was the first step in miniaturization of electronic devices. Then it led to the development of large-scale integrated circuits. Now hundreds of circuits can be placed on the space of one square inch.

Electronics makes a great contribution to automation. Electronic computers have provided the basis for the construction of automatic lines, automated units, shops and whole plants, tools with programmed control, robots and manipulators.

Answer the following questions:

1. What is electronics as a science?

2. Where are electronic techniques applied?

3. What is industrial electronics?

4. What are the stages in the development of electronics?

5. What contribution does electronics make to different branches of industry and science?

6. What are the advantages of electronics?

Text 9

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