From the History of Computers.

The educated man of 200 years ago did not need to know anything about science. The educated man of 25-30 years ago did not need to know anything about computers. But the educated man of today needs to have some significant knowledge of science and a little significant knowledge about computers.

The computer is no doubt the most amazing achievement of mankind. It is a data storage system created by man. A human tells the machine what to do, when to do it and how it should be done.

The word computer comes from a Latin word which means to count. Nearly one hundred fifty years ago there were no such things as computers. Knotted ropes, marks in clay, the abacus were all the methods of keeping track of numbers. In 1833 an English inventor and mathematician Charles Babbage, professor of Cambridge University designed the first computer. The mathematical programme for his machine had been composed by Augusta Ada Byron, Lord Byron's daughter. The first programmed computer which operated successfully was built in 1939 by H. H. Aiken, professor of Harward University.

In our country the first electronic digital computer MACM was constructed by the Ukrainian Academician S. A. Lebediev.

Nowadays computers greatly increase man's thinking capabilities of planning, analyzing, computing and controlling. Millions of computers are already in daily use.

They penetrate almost into all spheres of our modern society, from nuclear energy production and missile design to the processing of bank checks, weather forecasting, manufacturing, research and medical diagnoses.

There are three kinds of computers: digital, analogue and hybrid. A digital computer computes by using numbers or digits. An analogue computer computes by using physical analogue of numerical measurements. A hybrid computer is a machine which combines some of the properties of the digital and analogue computers.

IV). Make up sentences.

Computer

is was

a machine which performs sequence of operations. a universal information processing machine the most amazing achievement of mankind. now widely used in many fields. a million times faster than humans. used chemical plants, power stations. a data storage system created by man. built in 1939 by H. H. Aiken. constructed by the Ukrainian Academician S. O. Lebediev in 1950.

V). Make up questions and let your fellow-students answer them:

a computer?

a microprocessor?

What do we call a memory?

a personal computer?

a microcomputer?

a program?

a keyboard?

 

A computer   A microprocessor   A memory   A personal computer is   A microcomputer   A keyboard   A program

a heart of a microcomputer.   a tiny processor on a single chip used in a micro-computer.   a data storage system created by man.   a computer used for home and personal use.   a part of a computer which stores information.   a set of instructions composed for solving given problems by a computer.   a small scale computer using a single micropro- cessor chip in its architecture.   a part of a computer which allows the user to communicate with the computer.

 

Lesson 26.

 

 

Topic: A Computer.

I) Read, translate and discuss the following text:

The Internet

The best way to think of the Internet, or Net as it is often called, is a vast global network of networks connecting computers across the world. At present, more than 33 million people use Internet and over three million computers worldwide are linked in. they use the Net for transferring data, playing games, socializing with other computer users, and sending e-mail.

The Net was dreamt up in the late 1960s by the US Defense Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency which decided that it needed a means by which messages could be sent and received even if phone lines were inoperative.

In 1969, there was a network of just four computers. By 1972 the number had risen to 40. About this time the idea of electronic mailbox was born. By 1984 the Internet began to develop into the form we know it today.

The Internet can be divided into five broad areas.

Electronic mail, which is much faster than traditional mail. Anything that can be digitized (converted into digital form) – pictures, sound, video – can be sent, retrieved, and printed at the other end.

Information sites. This is perhaps the fastest growing area of the Internet as more and more people put their own information pages on line. Computers process vast amounts of information very fast, by specifying a key word or phrase. The computer can then search around the Net until it finds some matches. These information sites are usually stored on big computers that exist all over the world. The beauty of the Net is that you can access all of them from your home, using your own PC.

The World Wide Web, usually referred to as WWW or 3W, is a vast network of information databases that feature text, sound, and even video clips. On the WWW you can go on a tour of a museum or exhibition, see the latest images from outer space, go shopping, and get travel information on hotels and holidays.

Usenet is a collection of newsgroups covering any topic. Each newsgroup consists of messages and information posted by other users. There are more than 10,000 newsgroups and they are popular with universities and businesses.

Telnet programs allow you to use your personal computer to access a powerful mainframe computer.

 

II) Put questions to the text

III. Put the Infinitives in brackets in Indefinite, Continuous or Perfect Tenses in the Active Voice. Translate the sentences into Ukrainian:

 

1. A computer (to store) information which it (to receive). 2. When I (to come) into the room my friend (to compile) a program. 3. When you (to came) to the laboratory I (to show) you how to calculate by using computer. 4. You (to solve) this algebraic problem and I (to compare) my results with yours. 5. When a computer (to do) reasonable operations it (to compute) or (to calculate). 6. The electronic computer just (to perform) its calculations. 7. They (to do) many operations on the computer. 8. When you come back (to perform) computing operations. 9. Owing to the computer we (to process) a great deal of information. 10. They (to write) a program for the computer by the end of the month. 11. I (to compile) a program for two hours when the lecturer came into the laboratory. 12. This equation seems to have no solutions. We (to perform) calculations for an hour. 13. She (to discuss) some questions with her instructor now. 14. Before the design (to be) ready they (to work) on it for 3 hours.

 

Text for reading.

Computers.

A computer is really a very specific kind of a counting machine. It can solve mathematical problems faster than any person alive. By means of electric processes it can find the answer to a very difficult and complicated question in a few seconds.

A computer can “remember” information you give it. It keeps the information in its “memory” until it is needed.

There are different kinds of computers. Some of them can do only one kind of job. These are special-purpose computers. Each specific problem requires a specific computer. One kind of a computer can help us build a spaceship, an other kind can help us navigate it. A special-purpose computer is built for this purpose alone and cannot do anything else.

But there are some computers that can do many different jobs. They are called the general-purpose computers. These are the big “brains” that solve the most difficult problems of science.

We used to think of a computer as a large machine that took up a whole room. But today computers are becoming smaller and smaller. Though these small devices are called microcomputers or minicomputers, they are still true computers.

The most important parts of a general-purpose computer are as follows: 1) memory, where information is kept; 2) an arithmetic unit for performing calculations; 3) a control unit for the correct order of operations; 4) input devices; 5) output devices for displaying the results of calculations. The input and output devices are called peripherals.

There are several advantages in making computers as small as one can. Sometimes weight is particularly important. A modern plane carries many heavy electronic apparatus. If it is possible to make any of them smaller, it can carry a bigger weight. But weight is not the only factor. The smaller the computer, the faster it can work. The signals go to and from at a very high but almost constant speed.

Some of the first computers cost millions of dollars, but people quickly learned that it was cheaper to let a million dollar computer make the necessary calculations than to have a hundred clerks trying to do the same by hand. Scientists found that computers made fewer mistakes and could fulfill the tasks much faster than almost any number of people using usual methods.The computers became popular. As their popularity grew the number of factories producing them also grew.