Application of Personal Computers

Personal computers have a lot of applications, however, there are some major categories of applications: home and hobby, word processing, professional, educational, small business and engineering and scientific.

Home and hobby. Personal computers enjoy great popularity among experimenters and hobbyists. They are an exciting hobby. All hobbyists need not be engineers or programmers. There are many games that use the full capabilities of a computer to provide many hours of exciting leisure-time adventure.

The list of other home and hobby applications of PCs is almost endless, including: checking account management, budgeting, personal finance, planning, investment analyses, tele­phone answering and dialing, home security, home environment and climate control, appliance control, calendar management, maintenance of address and mailing lists and what not.

Word processing. At home or at work, applications software, called a word processing program, enables you to correct or modify any document in any manner you wish before printing it. Using the CRT monitor as a display screen, you are able to view what you have typed to correct mistakes in spelling or grammar, add or delete sentences, move paragraphs around, and replace words. The letter or document can be stored on a dis­kette for future use.

Professional. The category of professional includes persons making extensive use of word processing, whose occupations are particularly suited to the desk-top use of PCs. Examples of other occupations are accountants, financial advisors, stock brokers, tax consultants, lawyers, architects, engineers, educators and all levels of managers. Applications programs that are popular with persons in these occupations include accounting, income tax preparation, statistical analysis, graphics, stock market forecast­ing and computer modeling. The electronic worksheet is, by far, the computer modeling program most widely used by profes­sionals. It can be used for scheduling, planning, and the exam­ination of "what if situations.

Educational. Personal computers are having and will contin­ue to have a profound influence upon the classroom, affecting both the learner and the teacher. Microcomputers are making (heir way into classrooms to an ever-increasing extent, giving impetus to the design of programmed learning materials that can meet the demands of student and teacher.

Two important types of uses for personal computers in edu­cation are computer-managed instruction (CMI), and comput­er-assisted instruction (CAI). CMI software is used to assist the instructor in the management of all classroom-related activities, such as record keeping, work assignments, testing, and grading. Applications of CAI include mathematics, reading, typing, com­puter literacy, programming languages, and simulations of real-world situations.

1. Find in the texts:

a) words similar in meaning:

Verbs: to print; to produce; to convert; to keep; to found; to erase; to name; to change; to use; to start; to switch on; to sup­ply; to give possibility; to involve.

Nouns: rate; analyst; possibilities; use; plays; control; post; mode; profession; consultant; teacher; director; book-keeper; fight; producer; attack; amateur; device; crystal; error; storage; primary (memory); monitor; characteristic; aim.

Adjectives: flexible; thrilling; main; little; general;

b) words opposite in meaning:

Verbs: to finish; to switch on; to take; to delete. Nouns: online; input; work.

Adjectives: cheep; weak; common; general; large; soft; high; easy.

Unit 4

Text Study: PC Configuration.

Additional Text: The Development of the Personal Computer.

Grammar: Revision of the Module I.

Text Study

I. Pre-reading Exercises

1. Repeat the words in chorus:

View, primary, keyboard, delicate, punctuation, surface, smooth, rough, twice, quick, succession.

2. While reading the text you will come across a number of international words. Try to guess what Ukrainian words they remind of you:

Monitor, metal, electronics, stereo, pixels, position, microphone, modem, port.

3. Pay attention to some grammatical points:

1) Don't remove the case's cover unless you need to do something inside the unit and always replace the cover when you are done. 2) Using it you type instructions and commands for the computer and information to be processed and stored. 3). The mouse works by sliding it around (ball down) on a flat surface.4) The mouse does not work if you hold it in the air like a remote con­trol. 5) The display adapter for your system is either built onto the system board or is an expansion card plugged into your system board. 6) You should set them for the largest image without losing any part of it. 7) DVD Writer - a device used for both reading and writing data to and from a DVD.

II. Reading

Read, translate the text and mind the PC configuration.

PC Configuration

Meet the PC Configuration.

1. The main part of the system. An exploded view of modern personal computer: 1. Monitor; 2. Motherboard; 3. CPU (Microprocessor); 4. Primary storage (RAM); 5. Expansion cards; 6. Power supply; 7. Optical disc drive; 8. Secondary storage (Hard disk); 9. Keyboard; 10. Mouse

2. The case. The large metal box that is the main part of the computer is called the case. The case and its contents (power supply, system board, etc.) are called the system unit. The case has several functions:

- it protects the delicate electronics inside;

- it keeps electromagnetic emissions inside, so your TV, cordless phone and stereo don't go haywire when you power up the computer;

- it can also hold the monitor.

Don't remove the case's cover unless you need to do something inside the unit and always replace the cover when you are done.

3. The keyboard. You communicate with your computer with the keyboard. Using it you type instructions and commands for the computer and information to be processed and stored. Many of the keys on the keyboard are like those on a typewriter, letter keys, punctuation keys, shift keys, tab and spacebar. Your keyboard also has many specialized keys. The instruction manuals for most software applications contain a section describing the functions of each key or combination of keys.

4. The mouse. The mouse works by sliding it around (ball down) on a flat surface. The mouse does not work if you hold it in the air like a remote con­trol. The desktop is fine, but a ready-made mouse pad is the best sur­face to roll the mouse on. Its surface is flat and usually somewhat tex­tured. If a surface is too smooth or rough, the ball inside can slip. As you glide the mouse, the ball inside moves in the direction of your movement. You will see the arrow on your screen moving in unison. The arrow is called a pointer and the most important part is the very top of its point. That is the only part the computer pays attention to. To use the mouse, slide it on the mouse pad until the pointer's point is on something, like a button or an icon.

Click - position the mouse pointer over an element and press and re­lease the left mouse button once.

Double-click - same as above except press the mouse button twice in quick succession without moving the mouse.

5. The monitor. Your computer is not complete without a monitor, a TV-like de­vice. Most computers still use CRT (cathode-ray tube) monitors but in recent years flat screen based on LCD (liquid-crystal display) technology have become increasingly popular. The monitor displays text characters and graphics. It allows you to see the results of the work going on inside your system unit. The image you see is made up of tiny dots called pixels. The sharpness of the picture depends on the number and size of these pixels. The more pixels the sharper the image. This is called resolution.

A display adapter card is actually what builds the video images, the monitor simply displays them. The display adapter for your system is either built onto the system board or is an expansion card plugged into your system board.

Some of the controls on the monitor change the size and position of the image. You should set them for the largest image without losing any part of it. You can set a screen saver to appear on your monitor screen if the computer doesn't work for a period of time.

6. The floppy drive. Floppy drives provide a way to pass data from and to the hard drive or another computer. The drives can read and write on floppy dis­kettes (3.5 inch, usually drive A). If you put a new diskette into the drive you have to format it first.

7. The hard drive. Unlike the floppy drive the hard disk drive is inside the compu­ter's case and you cannot see it. Usually it is referred to as drive C, D or F.

8. The optical drive. The optical drive is similar to the one you might have in your car or at home. It can play DVDs, music CDs as well as read software program CDs and the new Kodak photo CDs.

To operate the drive, press the eject button to open the tray. Put a CD in the tray (label side UP) and gently start to push the tray in.

9. Removable media devices

CD - the most common type of removable media, inexpensive but has a short life-span.

CD-ROM Drive - a device used for reading data from a CD.

CD Writer - a device used for both reading and writing data to and from a CD.

DVD - a popular type of removable media that is the same di­mensions as a CD but stores up to 6 times as much information. It is the most common way of transferring digital video.

DVD- ROM Drive - a device used for reading data from a DVD.

DVD Writer - a device used for both reading and writing data to and from a DVD.

DVD- RAM Drive - a device used for rapid writing and reading of data from a special type of DVD.

Blu-ray - a high-density optical disc format for the storage of digital information, including high-definition video. Currently a rival of HD-DVD.

BD-ROM Drive - a device used for reading data from a Blu-ray disc.

BD Writer - a device used for both reading and writing data to and from a Blu-ray disc.

HD DVD - a high-density optical disc format and successor to the standard DVD. Currently a rival of Blu-ray.

Floppy disk - an outdated storage device consisting of a thin disk of a flexible magnetic storage medium.

Zip drive - an outdated medium-capacity removable disk storage system, first introduced by Iomega in 1994.

USB flash drive - a flash memory data storage device integrated with a USB interface, typically small, lightweight, removable and re­writable.

Tape drive - a device that reads and writes data on a magnetic tape, usually used for long term storage.

10. Sound card

Enables the computer to output sound to audio devices, as well as accept input from a microphone. Most modem computers have sound cards built - in to the motherboard, though it is common for a user to install a separate sound card as an upgrade.

11. Networking. Connects the computer to the Internet and/or other computers.

· Modem - for dial-up connections.

· Network card - for DS L/Cable internet, and/or connecting to other computers.. • Direct Cable Connection - Use of a null modem, connecting two computers together using their serial ports or a Laplink Cable, connecting two computers together with their parallel ports.

Vocabulary Notes

motherboard ['mADq"bLd] — системна плата

primary [praImqrI] /secondary storage ['stLrIG] — первинна/вторинна пам’ять

expansion card [Iks'pxnS(q)n] — плата розширення

power supply — джерело живлення

case — корпус

system unit — системний блок

to go haywire ['heI"waIq] = out of order — несправний

shift key — клавіша переключення регістру

tab — клавіша табуляції

spacebar — клавіша пробілу

mouse pad — килим для миші

sharpness [SRpnIs] — чіткість зображення

a display adapter [dIs'pleI q'dxptq] — адаптер дисплею

life-span — термін дії

high-density [haI 'densItI] — з високою щільністю розміщення

null modem [nAl 'mqVdqm] — безмодемний

network card — мережевий адаптер

Comprehension