TEXT № 7. Range of Computer Ability

TASK: Read and translate the following text. Learn the vocabulary by heart. Make the summary of the text.

Computers exist in a wide range of sizes and power. The smallest are embedded within the circuitry of appliances, such as televisions and wrist watches. These computers are typically preprogrammed for a specific task, such as tuning to a particular television frequency or keeping accurate time.

Programmable computers vary enormously in their computational power, speed, memory, and physical size. The smallest of these computers can be held in one hand and are called personal digital assistants (PDAs). They are used as notepads, scheduling systems, and address books; if equipped with a cellular phone, they can connect to worldwide computer networks to exchange information regardless of location.

Laptop computers and PCs are typically used in businesses and at home to communicate on computer networks, for word processing, to track finances, and to play games. They have large amounts of internal memory to store hundreds of programs and documents, They are equipped with a keyboard; a mouse, trackball, or other pointing device; and a video display monitor or liquid crystal display (LCD) to display information. Laptop computers usually have similar hardware and software as PCs, but they are more compact and have flat, lightweight LCDs instead of video display monitors.

Workstations are similar to personal computers but have greater memory and more extensive mathematical abilities, and they are connected to other workstations or personal computers to exchange data. They are typically found in scientific, industrial, and business environments that require high levels of computational abilities.

Mainframe computers have more memory, speed, and capabilities than workstations and are usually shared by multiple users through a series of interconnected computers. They control businesses and industrial facilities and are used for scientific research. The most powerful mainframe computers, called supercomputers, process complex and time-consuming calculations, such as those used to create weather predictions. They are used by the largest businesses, scientific institutions, and the military. Some supercomputers have many sets of CPUs. These computers break a task into small pieces, and each CPU processes a portion of the task to increase overall speed and efficiency. Such computers are called parallel processors. (2334)

Vocabulary:

range – ряд, ассортимент

power – мощность

wrist watch – наручные часы

to vary – изменять, менять, разниться

enormously – весьма, очень, чрезвычайно

notepad – блокнот

scheduling system – система составления графиков (расписаний)

cellular phone – сотовый телефон

laptop computer – ноутбук

mainframe computer – компьютер обычных размеров

prediction – предсказание, прогноз

parallel processor – параллельный процессор

overall – общий

interconnected computers – объединенные (взаимодействующие) компьютеры

 

ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY FOR THE TERM № 2.

Learn the following words and word combinations by heart:

1) to encode – кодировать, шифровать

2) to understand / understood / understood – понимать

3) executable program – исполняемая программа

4) sequence – последовательность, очередность, порядок

5) machine code – машинный код

6) to require – требовать

7) set of codes – кодовая комбинация

8) аssembly language – язык ассемблера

9) string – строка, цепочка

10) to convert – преобразовывать

11) correspondence – соответствие

12) abstract code – псевдокод, символический код

13) to insert – вставлять

14) to speed up – ускорять

15) to develop – развивать

16) portable – переносной

17) malfunction – неисправная работа

18) bug – ошибка, помеха

19) available – доступный, пригодный

20) object-oriented programming (OOP) – объектно-ориентированное программирование

21) property – свойство

22) to simplifу – упрощать

23) to define – определять

24) reliable – надежный

25) efficient – эффективный, результативный

26) digital – цифровой

27) analog сomputer – аналоговая вычислительная машина

28) binary number – двоичное число

29) switch – переключатель

30) turn on – включать

31) to turn off – выключать

32) value – значение

33) exact – точный

34) narrow – узкий

35) to respond to – соответствовать

36) to denote – означать, указывать

37) power – мощность

38) to vary – изменять, менять, разниться

39) notepad – блокнот

40) parallel processor – параллельный процессор

41) overall – общий

42) interconnected computers – объединенные (взаимодействующие) компьютеры

43) cellular phone – сотовый телефон

44) laptop computer – ноутбук

45) mainframe computer – компьютер обычных размеров

46) scheduling system – система составления графиков (расписаний)

47) prediction – предсказание, прогноз

48) range – ряд, ассортимент

49) slide rule – логарифмическая линейка

50) assembler – ассемблер

(тексты заочникам «АВТ» 2 к. 3 сем.)

TEXT № 1. HARDWARE

TASK: Read and translate the following text. Learn the vocabulary by heart. Make up the short summary.

Hardware (computer), equipment involved in the function of a computer. Computer hardware consists of the components that can be physically handled. The function of these components is typically divided into three main categories: input, output, and storage. Components in these categories connect to microprocessors, specifically, the computer's central processing unit (CPU), the electronic circuitry that provides the computational ability and control of the computer, via wires or circuitry called a bus.

Software, on the other hand, is the set of instructions a computer uses to manipulate data, such as a word-processing program or a video game. These programs are usually stored and transferred via the computer's hardware to and from the CPU. Software also governs how the hardware is utilized; for example, how information is retrieved from a storage device. The interaction between the input and output hardware is controlled by software called the Basic Input Output System software (BIOS).

Although microprocessors are still technically considered to be hardware, portions of their function are also associated with computer software. Since microprocessors have both hardware and software aspects they are therefore often referred to as firmware. (1073)

 

Vocabulary:

hardware – аппаратное обеспечение

equipment – оборудование

to handle – управлять

firmware – программно-аппаратные средства

circuitry – цепь

TEXT № 2. INPUT HARDWARE

 

TASK: Read and translate the following text. Learn the vocabulary by heart. Discuss the text about input hardware with your groupmates.

Input hardware consists of external devices—that is, components outside of the computer's CPU—that provide information and instructions to the computer. A light pen is a stylus with a light sensitive tip that is used to draw directly on a computers video screen or to select information on the screen by pressing a clip in the light pen or by pressing the light pen against the surface of the screen. The pen contains light sensors that identify which portion of the screen it is passed over, A mouse is a pointing device designed to be gripped by one hand. It has a detection device (usually a ball) on the bottom that enables the user to control the motion of an on-screen pointer, or cursor, by moving the mouse on a flat surface. As the device moves across the surface, the cursor moves across the screen. To select items or choose commands on the screen, the user presses a button on the mouse. A joystick is a pointing device composed of a lever that moves in multiple directions to navigate a cursor or other graphical object on a computer screen. A keyboard is a typewriter-like device that allows the user to type in text and commands to the computer. Some keyboards have special function keys or integrated pointing devices, such as a trackball or touch-sensitive regions that let the user's finger motions move an on-screen cursor.

An optical scanner uses light-sensing equipment to convert images such as a picture or text into electronic signals that can be manipulated by a computer. For example, a photograph can be scanned into a computer and then included in a text document created on that computer. The two most common scanner types are the flatbed scanner, which is similar to an office photocopier, and the handheld scanner, which is passed manually across the image to be processed. A microphone is a device for converting sound into signals that can then be stored, manipulated, and played back by the computer. A voice recognition module is a device that converts spoken words into information that the computer can recognize and process.

A modem, which stands for modulator-demodulator, is a device that connects a computer to a telephone line or cable television network and allows information to be transmitted to or received from another computer. Each computer that sends or receives information must be connected to a modem. The digital signal sent from one computer is converted by the modem into an analog signal, which is then transmitted by telephone lines or television cables to the receiving modem, which converts the signal back into a digital signal that the receiving computer can understand.

(2630)

Vocabulary:

input - ввод

light pen – световое перо

stylus – пишущий узел, перо

sensitive tip – чувствительный наконечник

clip – зажим, усечение

portion – узел, блок, часть

detection – обнаружение

receiving modem – принимающий модем

photocopier – фотокопировальное устройство

trackball – шаровой указатель, шаровой манипулятор

touch-sensitive region – чувствительная зона (область)

to allow - позволять

on-screen pointer – экранный указатель

motion – движение, перемещение, ход

TEXT № 3. OUTPUT HARDWARE

TASK: Read and translate the following text. Learn the vocabulary by heart. Explain the following words in English: 1) cathode ray tube (CRT); 2) liquid crystal display (LCD).

Output hardware consists of external devices that transfer information from the computer's CPU to the computer user. Avideo display, or screen, converts information generated by the computer into visual information. Displays commonly take one of two forms: a video screen with a cathode ray tube (CRT) or a video screen with a liquid crystal display (LCD). A CRT-based screen, or monitor, looks similar to a television set. Information from the CPU is displayed using a beam of electrons that scans a phosphorescent surface that emits light and creates images. An LCD-based screen displays visual information on a flatter and smaller screen than a CRT-based video monitor. LCDs are frequently used in laptopcomputers.

Printers take text and image from a computer and print them on paper. Dot-matrix printers use tiny wires to impact upon an inked ribbon to form characters. Laser printers employ beams of light to draw images on a drum that then picks up fine black particles called toner. The toner is fused to a page to produce an image. Inkjet printers fire droplets of ink onto a page to form characters and pictures. (1122)

 

Vocabulary:

output – вывод

cathode ray tube (CRT) - электронно - лучевая

трубка

liquid crystal display (LCD) – жидко-

кристаллический экран

phosphorescent – светящийся,

фосфоресцирующий

tiny - крошечный

toner – тонер

particle – частица

to employ – использовать

beam – луч

drum – (магнитный) барабан

inkjet printer – струйный принтер

droplet – капля

 

TEXT № 4. STORAGE HARDWARE

TASK: Read and translate the following text. Learn the vocabulary by heart. Point out the main idea of the text and add something new about storage hardware.

Storage hardware provides permanent storage of information and programs for retrieval by the computer. The two main types of storage devices are disk drives and memory. There are several types of disk drives:hard, floppy, magneto-optical, and compact. Hard disk drives store information in magnetic particles embedded in a disk. Usually a permanent part of the computer, hard disk drives can store large amountsof information and retrieve that information very quickly. Floppy disk drives also store informationin magnetic particles embedded in removable disks that may be floppy or rigid. Floppy disksstoreless information than a hard disk drive and retrieve the information at a much slower rate. Magneto-optical disc drives store information on removable discs that are sensitive to both laser light and magnetic fields. They can typically store as much information as hard disks, but they have slightly slower retrievalspeeds. Compact disc drives store information on pits burned into the surface of a disk of reflectivematerial (see CD-ROM). CD-ROMs can store about as much information as a hard drive buthave a slower rate of information retrieval. A digital video disc (DVD) looks and works like a CD-ROM butcan store more than 15 times as much information.

Memory refers to the computer chipsthat store information for quick retrieval by the CPU. Random access memory (RAM) is used to storethe information and instructions that operate the computer's programs. Typically, programs aretransferred from storage on a disk drive to RAM. RAM is also known as volatile memory because the information within the computer chips is lost when power to the computer is turnedoff. Read-only memory (ROM) contains critical information and software that must be permanently availablefor computer operation, such as the operating system that directs the computers actions from start up to shut down. ROM is called nonvolatile memory because the memory chips do not lose their information when power to the computer is turned off.

Some devices serve more than one purpose. For example, floppy disks may also be used as Input devices if they contain information to be used and processed by the computer user. In addition, they can be used as output devices if the user wants to store the results of computations on them. (2323)

Vocabulary:

рermanent – постоянный, неизменный

disk drive – дисковод

hard disk – жесткий диск

floppy disk – дискета

retrievalspeed – возвратная скорость

read-only memory (ROM) – постоянное

запоминающее устройство

nonvolatile memory – энергонезависимая

память

digital video disc (DVD) – цифровой видеодиск

computation – подсчет

magneto-optical disc – магнитно-оптический

диск