1. Why did you decide to seek a Computer Science/Information Technology degree? (Are you simply interested in the subject matter? Do you see this field as a greater source of income? or Is it the field where the most jobs are?)

2. When did you decide to pursue a cs/is degree?

Here are the answers of some web visitors. Which of them do you like best of all? Can you answer the questions given above?

• Dave Citron

When I was a kid, I always wanted to grow up and be a chemist, or a biologist. But the thing is, I really didn't understand what that meant, I just liked the reaction I got from my parents.

My dad is a huge computer buff so he started showing me how to use a computer at quite a young age. Then when my schools started getting computers and we started using them in class more and more, I found that I was always one step ahead of most of the other students, and even the teachers. I liked the respect I received from being the knowledge source on computing. Remember, I was only 12 or 13, but getting called out of class by the librarian so I can format a document for her ... quite an incentive to spend your life with computers.

So I just learned more and more, and more, and more ... until I started programming. And being able to create applications like the ones I had used for so long, or being able to create games like the ones I had gotten so much enjoyment out of ... I just fell in love.

And so that's why I am going for my degree in CS. I just have a passion for programming, and technology!

• Lee B

I never owned a computer until I reached college, and even as a senior in high school I still had trouble double-clicking. But almost all my friends pursued a CS degree, while I was doing math. I began to play more with computers simply by being around them. We setup LANs at my buddy Evan's house and play video games during the summer. I built my own computer as a sophomore, and really got into it. Still, not until I was a junior did I take my first programming course. I discovered I really had a knack for it, so I stuck to it. One of the few things that actually comes easier to me than Math does.

Main incentive for taking that class, though, was to get on track for CS degree and make money. However, with things the way they are in industry, I am not nearly as optimistic as I once was, and the main reason I don’t just graduate right now with a degree in Math is because I’ve developed a deep interest in computers.

• Brad Rider

I remember my dad bringing home a Vic20. We bought several cartridges for it and even a cassette tape drive. I would spend hours working with the educational stuff and playing text adventures (Scott Adams Rocks!). In the back of the manual, they had sample code that you could type in and the computer would play sound through your TV.

What can I say, the inherent logic of programming appeals to me. Of course, my starting salary is better than the current salary of most of the people. But that's not the point. Programming is what I enjoy doing, and would be doing this even if the pay was not as good.

• Young Lee

For me, it was a different story. I was indifferent to computers (only for surfing online and just having fun). In fact, I was undecided when I entered college. By chance, I registered for a class Poli Sci² 12 that was way advanced for me (I'm a shy one so don't ask for any speeches or stuff like that), so I was searching for a class-filler. The only class I noticed for real beginners was for Computer Science so I thought why not? Hey, I'm not really interested in it for the major, but I needed to be full-time.

Imagine my surprise when I took the course and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was actually thinking of becoming a Math major really. Well, I took the class and I was great in it helping friends and just gaining the satisfaction that I was actually able to program something out of my own hands that would do stuff I asked for it. Having the computer print out what I wanted was a rush. I could show my parents and stuff (yeah, corny, isn't it?). I got this rush from learning C++. Then Java came along and I got hooked on it.

Anyway, after my CSE 5 class, I knew then what my major would be. And to this day, I haven't had any regrets. I'm a ECE: Computer Engineering major.

• William Triest

I'm seeking a CSE degree for one reason... With the exception of my daughter, computers are my life.

I was born missing over half the muscles in my tongue. They didn't realize this until I was 5 or 6, and it really delayed my communication development. I had to go to specialized school for children with speech pathology. During that time, we had a 386, and it was my break from the world. It didn't require talking, or even writing sentences properly. It was my escape. By the time I was in middle school³, I was getting excused from classes to help with computers. In high school, we were punished for even making suggestions about the computers. I also started fixing other people's computers and getting offered money while I was done. I always tried to pass up the money (though I accepted some so I would avoid insulting people), but I asked for letters of recommendation to help me in my future job search. My senior year I took my first computer class. I knew much more then my teacher.

Also, I have made a lot of friends from computers. I helped start a Linux user group, and while most of my friends from that were older than me, we had fun hanging out. So when it came to knowing what to do, it was good money for doing something I really enjoyed, so really there was no decision to be made. Now that there really isn't that much money, I'm a little worried as I have a daughter to support. But as long as I can find a job, I really want to work in computers. Hopefully programming, but if not then I'll find some other aspect.

Notes: ¹CS/IS major – студент, специализирующийся в области вычислительной техники и информационных технологий;

²poli-sci (Political Science) – разг: политология [как предмет в университете];

³middle school – "промежуточная школа" [4-8 классы];

to hang out – разг: тусоваться.

UNIT TWO COMPUTER APPLICATIONS

Ex. 1. Practice the reading of the following words and phrases:

person, business, trajectory, phenomena, machine, database, financial, effect, component, professional, diagram, engineer, mathematician, architect, chemist, meteorologist, pilot, medicine, airline, diagnostic, laboratory, ideally, intensively, efficiently, creative, encyclopedia;

programmable computer, special index, computer technology, business manager, results of experiments, molecular model.

Ex. 2. Revise the following words from your school active vocabulary:

to study, to think, to find, to shop, to change, to call, to teach, to draw, to create; science, scientist, plant, power station, spaceship, library, nature, education, language, dictionary, answer, report, example, human being, weather, scientific, foreign, possible, wide(ly), together.

Ex. 3. Memorize the following words.

to calculate – вычислять, подсчитывать Syn: to compute calculation – вычисление, расчёт Syn: computation to refer – относиться (to – к чему-л.), ссылаться (to – на что-л.) research – исследование, исследовательская работа to do research – проводить исследования to design – 1) проектировать, конструировать, разрабатывать; 2) предназначать design – проект, конструкция, разработка to discover – открывать, обнаруживать discovery – открытие to collect – собирать, получать [данные] collection – сбор, совокупность collection of information – информационный фонд (массив), совокупность данных to produce – 1) производить, выпускать, создавать Syn: to manufacture production – производство, изготовление to invent – изобретать, создавать invention – изобретение inventor – изобретатель to store – запоминать, хранить [в памяти], сохранять storage – 1) запоминающее устройство; 2) хранение [информации] amount – количество Syn: quantity, number complex – сложный Syn: complicated to add – складывать, прибавлять addition – сложение to subtract – вычитать subtraction – вычитание to multiply – умножать multiplication – умножение to divide – делить division – деление to display – 1) выставлять, показывать; 2) отображать, выводить [данные на экран] error – ошибка Syn: bug to feed (fed, fed) – вводить [информацию] (into – куда-л.) Syn: to enter, to input accurate – точный fast – быстрый, быстродействующий to operate – 1) работать, действовать; 2) управлять [машиной], приводить в действие operation – действие, работа, операция to apply – применять, использовать application – пpимeнeниe, использование purpose – цель Syn: aim to process – обрабатывать processing – обработка common – 1) общий; 2) распространенный to include – включать, содержать Syn: to contain to check (up) – проверять, контролировать tool – 1) устройство, инструмент; 2) способ, средство to affect – оказывать влияние, влиять, воздействовать Syn: to influence image – образ, изображение to lead (led, led) – приводить (to – к чему-л.) Syn: to result in instead of – вместо, вместо того чтобы expensive – дорогой Ant: cheap feature – характерная особенность, отличительная черта sophisticated – сложный, совершенный; современный, передовой dimension – размер tiny – крошечный condition – 1) условие; 2) состояние to predict – прогнозировать Syn: to forecast prediction – прогноз, прогнозирование Syn: forecast versatile – разносторонний, многофункциональный, универсальный own – свой, собственный

Ex. 4. Read and translate the following sentences, paying attention to the italicized words.

1. The error message "BAD COMMAND OR FILENAME" means that the name of the command or file is not correct.

2. PDA is a very small computer that is used for storing personal information and creating documents. It may include other functions such as telephone, fax, connection to the Internet, etc.

3. The computers of the early 1950s could only be operated by experts, and preparing a problem for computation (what would be called programming today) took a long time.

4. To convert the temperature into Celsius, subtract 32, then multiply by 5 and divide by 9.

5. There are several test programs, which you can apply to find out defects in the system.

6. Only after users discovered the bug in the program and began discussing it on the Internet, Microsoft admitted the problem.

7. Supercomputer is designed to perform calculations as fast as current technology allows and used to solve extremely complex problems.

8. Some scientists predict that the Earth's temperature will rise by 5° over the next 20 years.

9. Painting and drawing programs enable artists to create realistic and animated images much more easily than they could with more traditional tools.

10. Theremin designed the weird [экзотический, странный] electronic instrument that was used for recording soundtracks to 1950s science-fiction movies.

11. Some scientific discoveries and inventions are misused to create weapons of destruction.

12. Apple Computer, Inc. designs, manufactures and sells personal computer systems for use in business, education, government and at home. Its products include PCs, printers, monitors, scanners, software, and networking devices.

13. The analyst carefully checked up the computer system but couldn't detect any errors.

14. It is a condition of my contract with the university that I must spend half of the summer vacation to complete research.

15. All the physical and mechanical components of a computer system, such as the chips, monitor, disks, disk drives, keyboard, modem and printer refer to computer hardware.

Ex. 5. Fill in the gaps with the required words.

I ___ my email and voicemail every evening. Large ___ of information, sound and pictures can be stored on a single CD-ROM. The manual has a lot of useful instructions on how to ___ the photocopier. A new computer executes a few hundred thousand ___ in a few seconds. The University of Pennsylvania is famous for the ___ of the first electronic computer in 1946. The statisticians use computers to ___ large amounts of data. Children often learn to use computer programs by trial and ___. The usual ___ of symbols of a printer's line is 120-150. A Trojan horse is a computer program that seems to be useful but in fact, its ___ is to destroy data on the hard disk. Dick Morley is known as the ___ of the floppy disk. The first stage in research is data ___. The software is ___ to run on different operating systems. Videodiscs are large laser discs that store visual ___ as well as sound. A diagram represents the object in only two ___. The ___ of educational programs is to make the process of learning interesting and easy.

aim amounts calculations check up collection designed dimensions error images inventor number operate process production purpose

Ex. 6. Give English equivalents to the italicized words.

1. The исследование did not give the expected results because of the ошибка in the расчёты.

2. The progress of electronics, which привёл к the изобретению of electronic computers was a breakthrough (пpopыв) of the second part of the 20^th century.

3. French mathematician Blaise Pascal and other изобретатели in the 1600s began making machines that могли складывать and вычитать numbers.

4. A клавиатура is a board with buttons marked with letters or numbers that are pressed to вводить данные в a computer or other machine.

5. This calculator can показывать only nine цифр at a time.

6. Дистанционное управление is used для того, чтобы управлять устройствами and machines from a distance by radio signals.

7. The изобретение of the transistor in the 1940s and создание the microprocessor in the early 1970s привело к the most important изобретению of the modern era – the PC.

8. The основная цель of the course is to совершенствовать your basic programming навыки.

9. ENIAC's first задача was to do расчёты that привели к the creation of a hydrogen bomb.

10. Вам следует включить some examples of using this устройства on the railways in your essay.

11. Понадобиться four to six weeks для того, чтобы обработать these statistical данные.

12. A PC жёсткий диск can хранить a large количество информации.

Ex. 7. Fill in the gaps with the required adjectives from the active vocabulary. Consult the box, if necessary.

1. It is one of most ___ mathematical errors.

2. Supercomputers are so __ that usually only large research universities and government agencies can buy them.

3. A digital computer's hardware is a ___ system of four functionally different elements – a central processing unit, input devices, memory-storage devices and output devices.

4. With the production of inexpensive microcomputers, their applications have become more ___.

5. Computer users can copy pictures and clip-art images that are stored on websites and add them to their ___ documents.

6. Highly ___ electronic devices such as lasers are used for eye operations.

7. It is too early to make any ___ predictions about the results of the experiment.

8. Cell phones and digital watches contain ___ computers that can store such information as telephone numbers, addresses, and appointments.

9. It is a false economy to buy a ___ computer because it will not last very long.

10. The ___ development of electronics began with the invention of transistors.

быстрый дешёвый дорогой крошечный многосторонний распространенный сложный [2] собственный точный

Ex. 8. Match the beginnings and ends of these sentences.

Before opening the compact disk, … By means of computers, … Video games are one of … A computer expert with a trained eye … The progress of electronics resulted in … You get five if… The toy machine has flashing lights and a siren noise, … They will give us the money on condition that … He doesn't really need those glasses; … The term 'computer' refers to…

the most popular PC applications. the processor plus the main memory. the invention of electronic computers. but batteries are not included. we pay it back within six months. you need to check it up for viruses. banks can process millions of transactions a day. they are just part of his "intellectual" image. could detect an error immediately. you divide twenty by four.

Ex. 9. TEST. Choose the required word to complete each sentence.

1. The part of the computer, which holds information, is called a ___.

A. disk drive C. storage

B. keyboard D. visual display unit

2. If there are no brackets, we perform ___ before addition.

A. multiplication C. subtraction

B. operation D. division

3. The date and time are always ___ on the monitor screen.

A. collected C. processed

B. added D. displayed

4. The ___ shows that computer games may cause aggression.

A. display C. dimension

B. calculation D. research

5. The book would look a lot more attractive if they ___ a few color pictures.

A. multiplied C. added

B. divided D. subtracted

6. Among the ___ of the late 19th century, there were several new chemical elements, including radium.

A. discoveries C. designs

B. calculations D. inventions

7. The human brain is like a very powerful, very ___ computer.

A. useful C. expensive

B. sophisticated D. tiny

8. We think that the system crash was caused by the program ___.

A. tool C. producer

B. error D. design

9. The digitized ___ can be stored on a computer hard disk or printed out on special photographic paper.

A. applications C. purposes

B. images D. manufacturers

10. In some countries, children learn to ___ the computer when they first go to school.

A. design C. operate

B. collect D. produce

Ex. 10. If you think a statement is false, change it to make it true. (TIP: You should change one word in each sentence.)

1. A sum is the result of subtraction.

2. Hardware is generally stored on magnetic disks, compact disks or tapes.

3. Children will learn to add in the second grade.

4. A computer is an electronic machine that can store, organize and find information, do calculations and control other human beings.

5. Alexander Graham Bell discovered the telephone in 1876.

6. The first automatic machine for complex calculations was divided by Ch. Babbage.

7. The user outputs the data, and the computer stores it in its memory.

8. If the entered information is invalid, an OK message will be displayed on the monitor screen.

9. Up-to-date calculating machines perform adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing at an extremely slow speed.

10. A mouse is a device, which copies pictures and documents so that they can be stored on a computer.

11. Microsoft discovered the DOS and Windows operating systems, which are used on many home and office PCs.

12. The number 57,306 consists of five errors.

Ex. 11. Memorize the following terms.

application program – приложение, прикладная программа business application – 1) коммерческое применение; 2) бизнес-приложение, прикладная программа для решения экономических задач technical application – 1) техническое применение; 2) прикладная программа для технических расчётов scientific application – 1) научное применение; 2) прикладная программа для научных исследований business computer – ЭВМ для (решения) экономических задач technical computer – ЭВМ для технических расчётов scientific computer – ЭВМ для научных исследований spreadsheet – электронная таблица spreadsheet program – программа обработки электронных таблиц, программа табличных расчётов word processor – текстовый процессор, текстовый редактор word processing – электронная обработка текста computer-assisted (-aided) design, CAD – система автоматизированного проектирования, САПР computer-assisted (-aided) manufacturing, CAM – автоматизированная система управления производством, АСУП computer-assisted (-aided) instruction, CAI – компьютерное обучение, обучение с помощью компьютера desktop publishing, DTP – настольная редакционно-издательская система computer simulation – компьютерное моделирование simulator – 1) тренажер; 2) программа моделирования

Ex. 12. Read and translate the sentences.

1. Most people use their home computers mainly for word processing and playing video games.

2. The first electronic spreadsheet program for microcomputers was VisiCalc, which became available in the 1980s.

3. Flight simulators are useful training tools for pilots.

4. Some simulation programs can create models of weather conditions to help meteorologists make predictions.

5. Word Processor is the electronic equivalent of paper, pen, typewriter, eraser as well as dictionary and thesaurus.

6. Computer-aided design programs enable engineers and architects to create three-dimensional models of buildings and machinery on a computer screen.

7. Applications software, called a word processing program, allows you to correct or modify any document before printing it.

8. Chemists may use computer simulations to design and test molecular models of new drugs.

9. In 1992, Apple Computer, Inc. introduced its QuickTime software, which allowed computers to play video clips in multimedia applications.

10. Microsoft’s well-known products include Word (a word processor), Excel (a spreadsheet program), Access (a database program) and PowerPoint (a program for making business presentations).

11. Initially much of the Unix-based software was for technical applications. Now these programs are applied for solving business problems as well.

12. The spreadsheet application is second only to word processing in terms of popularity.

Ex. 13. WHAT IS IT? Complete the sentences, using the terms given in Exercise 11.

1. Computer software that is applied for doing research is called… .

2. .

3. The use of a computer to create, store and print a text, usually typed in from a keyboard is called… .

4. Computer software that is designed for a particular use or user is called… .

5. The use of a microcomputer and a printer to produce a small book, a magazine, or other printed material is called… .

6. The use of computers to design industrial products such as automobiles or airplanes is called… .

7. A machine, which copies precisely the movements and conditions that exist when flying an aircraft and used to train pilots, is called… .

8. The application program used for processing text documents is called… .

9. The use of computers and specially developed programs for teaching is called… .

10. Computer software that is used, for example, when doing financial or project planning and other finance-related tasks is called… .

Ex. 14. Translate the following sentences paying attention to the verb to take in the meaning of занимать, отнимать, понадобиться, требовать (времени, активности, энергии)

Model: How long does it take to burn a CD? – Сколько времени занимает запись диска? Any ignoramus can construct a straight line, but it takes an engineer to make a curve. – Любой профан может построить прямую линию, но чтобы построить кривую, требуется инженер.

1. It took a long time for the web page to load up.

2. It will take the computer some time to defragment the hard disk.

3. It took the hackers two days to break the secret code.

4. Installation of the new security system will take about a week, give or take a day or so.

5. It took me a long time to learn typing fast and without errors.

6. It will take only a couple of minutes to explain how the program works.

7. The new keyboard will take some time to get used to.

8. It sometimes takes only one virus to cause the system crash.

9. It was a difficult equation, but it took her only five minutes to work out the solution.

10. This program will take up a lot of your available disk space.

11. If we add up two numbers of six figures without a calculator, it will take us a lot of time.

12. It took the operator some time to find the necessary file.

Ex. 15. Translate the sentences paying attention to the construction It is ... that (who).

1. It was Nick who wrote the best essay on nanocomputers.

2. It is the gravitation that makes the satellites move round the Earth.

3. It was the latest version of this program that did not run on my computer.

4. It is Windows OS that is used on 90 % computers all over the world.

5. It was the secretary who was responsible for typing all the documents.

6. It is the manufacturer who supplies the systems software.

7. It was the Apple Company that developed one of the first successful personal computers.

8. It was my friend who worked as an interpreter for the Japanese delegation at the exhibition on Computer Technologies.

9. It is the computer that will help us to solve this problem more accurately.

10. It was the invention of the transistor in 1948 that made a revolution in electronics.