Text II. Computer literacy for all

 

1. Fortunately, fewer and fewer people are suffering from computer anxiety. The availability of inexpensive, powerful, and easier-to-use personal computers is reducing the intimidation factor. As new generations grow up in the Information Age, they are perfectly at home with computers.

2. Why are you studying about computers? In addition to curiosity (and perhaps a course requirement!), you probably recognize that it will not be easy to get through the rest of your life without knowing about computers. Let us begin with a definition of computer literacy that encompasses three aspects of the computer's universal appeal:

Ø Awareness. Studying about computers will make you more aware of their importance, their versatility, their pervasiveness, and their potential for fostering good and (unfortunately) evil.

Ø Knowledge. Learning what computers are and how they work requires coming to terms with some technical jargon. In theend, you will benefit from such knowledge, but at first it may be frustrating.

Ø Interaction. There is no better way to understand computers than through interacting with one. So being computer literate also means being able to use a computer for some simple applications.

3. Note that no part of this definition suggests that you must be able to create the instructions that tell a computer what to do. That would be tantamount to saying that anyone who plans to drive a car must first become an auto mechanic. Someone else can write the instructions for the computer; you simply use the instructions to get your work done. For example, a bank teller might use a computer to make sure that customers really have as much money in their account as they wish to withdraw. Or an accountant might use one to prepare a report, a farmer to check on market prices, a store manager to analyze sales trends, and a teenager to play a video game. We cannot guarantee that these people are computer literate, but they have at least grasped the "hands-on" component of the definition — they can interact with a computer. Is it possible for everyone to be computer literate? Computer literacy is not a question of human abilities. Just about anyone can become computer literate. In the near future, people who do not understand computers will have the same status as people today who cannot read,

4. If this is your first computer class, you might wonder whether using a computer is really as easy as the commercials say. Some students think so, but many do not. In fact, some novice computer users can be confused and frustrated at first. Indeed, a few are so frustrated in the early going they think they never will learn. To their surprise, however, after a couple of lessons they not only are using computers but enjoying the experience.

5. Some students may be taken aback when the subject matter turns out to be more difficult than they expected — especially if their only computer experience involved the fun of video games. They are confused by the special terms used in computer classes, as if they had stumbled into some foreign-language course by mistake, A few students may be frustrated by the hands-on nature of the experience, in which they have aone-to-one relationship with the computer. Their previous learning experiences, in contrast, have been shared and sheltered — they have been shared with peers in a classroom and sheltered by the guiding hand of an experienced person. Now they are one-on-one with a machine, at least part of the time. The experience is different, and maybe slightly scary. But keep in mind that others have survived and even triumphed. So can you.

6. And don't be surprised to find that some of your fellow students already seem to know quite a bit about computers. Computer literacy courses are required by many schools and colleges and include students with varying degrees of understanding. That mix often allows students to learn from one another — and provides a few with the opportunity to teach others what they know.

 

Exercises

 

I. Find in the text equivalents to:

компьютерная грамотность; доступность (наличие); осведомленность; век информации; прожить оставшуюся жизнь; притягательность компьютеров; снять с банковского счета; технический жаргон; взаимодействие; рекламный ролик; к удивлению; пара занятий; растеряться; предыдущий учебный опыт; поделиться со сверстниками; быть наедине с; помнить; страшноватый; однокурсники; вырасти в компьютерной среде; учиться друг у друга; пользователь-новичок.

II. Answer the following questions:

1. What does being computer literate mean?

2. What are the three aspects of the computer's universal appeal?

3. What is the best way to understand computers?

4. What are the simplest applications of computers?

5. What is the hand-on component of computer literacy?

6. What are some novice computer users frustrated by?

7. What is the first computer literacy skill?

8. Is it possible for everyone to be computer literate? Do you need any special talents?

 

III. Put the proper words into sentences:

computer networks, info, computer literate, routine, boring, repetitive tasks, accuracy, to come to terms with, quantative.

1. Society is heading in the direction of... majority.

2. Computer programs now can integrate text,... data and graphs.

3. The source of... is the computer.

4. It is difficult for some people to come... the speed of change in the modern world.

5. Many... which people find... and tiring can now be carried out by machines.

6. Computers give us speed, scope, quality, flexibility, large capacity, elimination of the... and increased efficiency.

7. We need... with expanding computer technology and adjust our vision to a whole new world.

8. As more and more people are linked by…, how soon will it be before the paperless office becomes a reality?

 

IV. Construct other sentences in these patterns (models):

1. At best the computer can search for intelligence in the form of operating system.

2. Computers might affect your future career.

3. Young people may not understand these cyberphobic reactions.

4. Computers do not put in the data they must work with, people do.

5. Could unauthorized persons obtain personal info?

6. Should legislators be encouraged to create laws for society's protection?

7. We cannot guarantee that anyone who drives a car is an auto mechanic.

 

V. Complete the sentences (if, when-clauses):

1. When your PC is turned off...

2. You will bring it to life when...

3. If everyone around you uses computers...

4. If you are taken aback how to use a computer...

5. As multimedia becomes more prevalent on the Web...

6. If you look on the entire Internet today...

7. If the program fails the test...

8. Don't open until...

9. If you are selling weapons, cryptography, military info, pornography...

10. If the program passes the test...

11. If you don't view your Web site as a global presence...

12. If Java is the answer,...

13. They will lose status if...

14. Provided you have the necessary tools...

 

 

LESSON TWO

Prereading Discussion

1. Who uses computers today? Give examples of the impact they have on our lives.

2. When did the first personal computer appear? How was it different from the computers that preceded it?

3. How have computers changed since the first one was introduced in the early 1940s?

4. Where is the Silicon Valley? How is it related to the computer industry?

 

Reading Analysis

VOCABUIARY LIST

 

Verbs: anticipate, collaborate, devise, donate, emerge, foresee, intimidate, market, thrive.

Nouns: application, capacity, components, entrepreneur, expertise, gadget, innovation, investment, potential, technology, venture, wizard, pioneer, integrated circuit, microprocessor, circuit, peripherals.

Adjectives/Participles: cumbersome, genuine, inevitable, makeshift, massive, muted, skeptical, state-of-the-art, user-friendly.

Adverbials: passionately, technologically, thereby, whereas.

 

TEXT I. THE EARLY YEARS

 

1. Until the late 1970s, the computer was viewed as a massive machine that was useful to big business and big government but not to the general public. Computers were too cumbersome and expensive for private use, and most people were intimidated by them. As technology advanced, this was changed by a distinctive group of engineers and entrepreneurs who rushed to improve the designs of then current technology and to find ways to make the computer attractive to more people. Although these innovators of computer technology were very different from each other, they had a. common enthusiasm for technical innovation and the capacity to foresee the potential of computers. This was a very competitive and stressful time, and the only people who succeeded were the ones who were able to combine extraordinary engineering expertise with progressive business skills and an ability to foresee the needs of the future.

2. Much of this activity was centered in the Silicon Valley in northern California where the first computer-related company had located in 1955. That company attracted thousands of related businesses, and the area became known as the technological capital of the world. Between 1981 and 1986, more than 1000 new technology-oriented businesses started there. At the busiest times, five or more new companies started in a single week. The Silicon Valley attracted many risk-takers and gave them an opportunity to thrive in an atmosphere where creativity was expected and rewarded.

3. Robert Noyce was a risk-taker who was successful both as an engineer and as an entrepreneur. The son of an Iowa minister, he was informal, genuine, and methodical. Even when he was running one of the most successful businesses in the Silicon Valley, he dressed informally and his office was an open cubicle that looked like everyone else's. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he started working for one of the first computer-related businesses in 1955. While working with these pioneers of computer engineering, he learned many things about computers and business management.

4. As an engineer, he co-invented the integrated circuit, which was the basis for later computer design. This integrated circuit was less than an eighth of an inch square but had the same power as a transistor unit that was over 15 inches square or a vacuum tube unit that was 6.5 feet square. As a businessman, Noyce co-founded Intel, one of the most successful companies in the Silicon Valley and the first company to introduce the microprocessor. The microprocessor chip became the heart of the computer, making it possible for a large computer system that once filled an entire room to be contained on a small chip that could be held in one's hand. The directors of Intel could not have anticipated the effects that the microprocessor would have on the world. It made possible the invention of the personal computer and eventually led to the birth of thousands of new businesses. Noyce's contributions to the development of the integrated circuit and the microprocessor earned him both wealth and fame before his death in 1990. In fact, many people consider his role to be one of the most significant in the Silicon Valley story.

5. The two men who first introduced the personal computer (PC) to the marketplace had backgrounds unlike Robert Noyce's. They had neither prestigious university education nor experience in big business. Twenty-year-old Steven Jobs and twenty-four-year-old Stephen Wozniak were college drop-outs who had collaborated on their first project as computer hobbiests in a local computer club. Built in the garage of Jobs's parents, this first personal computer utilized the technology of Noyce's integrated circuit. It was typewriter-sized, as powerful as a much larger computer, and inexpensive to build. To Wozniak the new machine was a gadget to share with other members of their computer club. To Jobs, however, it was a product with great marketing potential for homes and small businesses. To raise the $1300 needed to fill their first orders Jobs sold his Volkswagen bus and Wozniak sold his scientific calculator. Wozniak built and delivered the first order of 100 computers in ten days. Lacking funds, he was forced to use the least expensive materials, the fewest chips, and the most creative arrangement of components. Jobs and Wozniak soon had more orders than they could fill with their makeshift production line.

6. Jobs and Wozniak brought different abilities to their venture: Wozniak was the technological wizard, and Jobs was the entrepreneur. Wozniak designed the first model, and Jobs devised its applications and attracted interest from investors and buyers. Wozniak once admitted that without Jobs he would never have considered selling the computer or known how to do it. “Steve didn't do one circuit, design or piece of code. He's not really been into computers, and to this day he has never gone through a computer manual. But it never crossed my mind to sell computers. It was Steve who said, ‘Let's hold them up and sell a few’.”

7. From the very beginning, Apple Computer had been sensitive to the needs of a general public that is intimidated by high technology. Jobs insisted that the computers be light, trim, and made in muted colors. He also insisted that the language used with the computers be "user-friendly" and that the operation be simple enough for the average person to learn in a few minutes. These features helped convince a skeptical public that the computer was practical for the home and small business. Jobs also introduced the idea of donating Apple Computers to thousands of California schools, thereby indirectly introducing his product into the homes of millions of students. Their second model, the Apple II, was the state-of-the-art PC in home and small business computers from 1977 to 1982. By 1983 the total company sales were almost $600 million, and it controlled 23 percent of the worldwide market in personal computers.

8. As the computer industry began to reach into homes and small businesses around the world, the need for many new products for the personal computer began to emerge. Martin Alpert, the founderof Tecmar, Inc., was one of the first people to foresee this need. When IBM released its first personal computer in 1981, Alpert bought the first two models. He took them apart and worked twenty-four hours a day to find out how other products could be attached to them. After two weeks, he emerged with the first computer peripherals for the IBM PC, and he later became one of the most successful creators of personal computer peripherals. For example, he designed memory extenders that enabled the computer to store more information, and insertable boards that allowed people to use different keyboards while sharing the same printer. After 1981, Tecmar produced an average of one new product per week.

9. Alpert had neither the technical training of Noyce nor the computer clubs of Jobs and Wozniak to encourage his interest in computer engineering. His parents were German refugees who worked in a factory and a bakery to pay for his college education. They insisted that he study medicine even though his interest was in electronics. Throughout medical school he studied electronics passionately but privately. He became a doctor, but practiced only part time while pursuing his preferred interest in electronics. His first electronics products were medical instruments that he built in his living room. His wife recognized the potential of his projects before he did, and enrolled in a graduate program in business management so she could run his electronics business successfully. Their annual sales reached $1 million, and they had 15 engineers working in their living room before they moved to a larger building in 1981. It wasn't until 1983 that Alpert stopped practicing medicine and gave his full attention to Tecmar. By 1984 Tecmar was valued at $150 million. 10. Computer technology has opened a variety of opportunities for people who are creative risk-takers. Those who have been successful have been alert technologically, creatively, and financially. They have known when to use the help of other people and when to work alone. Whereas some.have been immediately successful, others have gone unrewarded for their creative and financial investments; some failure is inevitable in an environment as competitive as the Silicon Valley. Rarely in history have so many people been so motivated to create. Many of them have been rewarded greatly with fame and fortune, and the world has benefited from this frenzy of innovation.

 

Exercises

I. Find in the text the English equivalents to:

рассматривать как; слишком дорогая; для личного пользования; существующая тогда технология; сделать привлекательным; предвидеть потенциал; технические знания; одеваться неформально; менее одной восьмой дюйма; значительная роль; выполнять заказы; испытывать недостаток в фондах; быть вынужденным; самодельный (временный) конвейер; приходить в голову; чувствительный к нуждам; убедить скептиков; тем самым; дать возможность; съемные платы; поддержать интерес к; немецкие беженцы; ежегодная продажа; тогда как; конкурентная среда; неизбежные неудачи; вознагражденные славой и богатством.

 

II. True or false?

1. Robert Noyce graduated from a prestigious university and gained engineering expertise before he devised the integrated circuit.

2. Robert Noyce was one of the pioneers of the computer industry.

3. The microprocessor influenced the world in ways that its inventors did not foresee and subsequently led to the invention of the integrated circuit.

4. Stephen Wozniak and Steven Jobs used the state-of-the-art technology developed by Robert Noyce when they devised the first personal computer.

5. When Wozniak designed the first model of the PC, he did not plan to market it to the general population.

6. Jobs did not want the PC to be as intimidating to the general public as previous computers were, so he insisted that it include features that were practical and attractive.

7. The Apple Computer company sold their computers to thousands of American schools at discounted rates, thereby introducing their product into the homes of millions of students.

8. Martin Alpert foresaw that the success of the first IBM personal computer was inevitable, so he bought the first two models and devised ways to change them.

9. Martin Alpert's wife was skeptical about the potential of her husband's technical innovations.

10. Alpert's interest in technology was more passionate than his interest in medicine.

 

III. Give a synonym for words in parentheses:

1. Steven Jobs and Stephen Wozniak (worked together) to (invent) the personal computer, and then produced it in a (temporary) production line in a garage.

2. Steven Jobs wanted to (advertise and sell) the personal computer to people who would use it in their homes, so he knew it could be neither (very large) nor (awkward).

3. Stephen Wozniak applied the (most up-to-date) (applied science) when designing the first personal computer, while Steven Jobs designed its (practical functions).

4. People seemed to be less (frightened) by computers when they were made in (soft) colors and were (easily understood by the average person).

5. Robert Noyce's (specialization) in computers was a result of his experience with the (first people) in the computer field while working at his first job.

6. Martin Alpert's wife was never (doubtful) about (the future possibilities) of Tecmar.

7. Martin Alpert studied the first IBM personal computer (with great love and emotion), and (by that means) he was the first innovator to (come forward) with (supplementary devices) for the computer.

8. Whereas some people (grow) as a result of competition, others are (threatened) by it.

 

IV. Some of the following statements describe an act of an entrepreneur (E), others describe an act of an inventor (I), and others could describe both titles (B). Identify each one and be prepared to explain your answer.

1. Alexander Graham Bell originated the first telephone.

2. Robert Noyce co-invented the integrated circuit and co-founded Intel.

3. In 1890 John Loud created the first ballpoint pen.

4. Robert Noyce's engineering expertise contributed to the develop­ment of the microprocessor.

5. Robert Noyce's financial investments helped build one pf the most successful companies in the Silicon Valley.

6. Steven Jobs had the original idea to market the first personal com­puter.

7. King С. Gillette designed the first disposable razor blade.

8. A Frenchman named Benedictus introduced the idea of making safety glass in 1903 after he discovered a chemical that held broken glass together.

9. Martin Alpert devised many new products for the personal computer.

10. Martin Alpert's wife managed his business and marketed his products.

 

V. Describe the relationship between each of the following pairs of words (antonyms, synonyms, neither):

massive/small	skeptical/unfriendly
cumbersome/awkward	potential/ability
expertise/innovation	donate/loan
muted/bright	collaborated/worked
anticipate/foresee	Together
inevitable/avoidable	genuine/insincere
venture/risk	devise/invent
	makeshift/permanent

 

VI. Choose the word to complete each of the following sentences:

1. Whenever the inventor was working on an innovation, she (emerged from/withdrew to) her house because she didn't want to be disturbed.

2. The new computer program was (collaborated/devised) by the newest student in the class.

3. The executives bought a (cumbersome/portable) copy machine because they needed to take it to meetings.

4. The computer enthusiast devised a portable model that had several practical (applications/markets) for educators.

5. It was Wozniak's (expertise/skepticism) that made it possible for him to devise the first personal computer.

6. The government (loaned/donated) $100 million to the corporation, expecting it to be repaid with 12 percent interest.

7. The investors (anticipated/intimidated) the higher profits because of the activity in the stock market.

8. When computers are not working, it is (inevitable/avoidable) that work will be delayed.

 

VII. Cross out the one word that does not have the same meaning as the other three words:

1. Everyone liked the computer salesman because he was (genuine/ calculating/ sincere/ unaffected).

2. The corporation president (benefited/contributed/gave/donated) his services to the school of business.

3. The sudden decrease in sales was not (understood/ foreseen/ anticipated/ predicted), by anyone.

4. The corporate office of the manufacturing company was so close to the factory that the noise in the office was (muted/ vivid/ intense/ extreme).

5. There are many specialized (parts/ components/ contributors/ elements) in the -memory bank of a computer.

6. The software company has the (capacity/ extent/ potential/ ability) to employ 500 people.

7. After the young investor earned a million dollars, he was highly regarded for his financial (skillfulness/ wizardry/ good fortune/ aptitude).

8. The software engineer's (expertise/ intelligence/ proficiency/ mastery) was limited to one area.

9. The computer-game business (celebrated/ thrived/ prospered/ progressed) during the summer months.

10. They undertook their (venture/ risky undertaking/ challenge/ decision) after making careful calculations.