Match the words and their meanings by placing the proper letter on each blank.

__1. to calculate     a) to find the meaning of something

__2. to punch           b) to find out by working with numbers

__3. to decipher     c) to make a hole in something

__4. to process         d) to put something through the system in order to get information

__5. enormous     e) to write, record names, details into a book, etc.

__6. to enter             f) great, immense

Read the text again to decide if these statements are true or are false. Correct the false ones with the facts from the text.

1. The first automatic large-scale calculator was completed in 1946.

2. The first generation of computers was used only as a calculator.

3. The first computer was used only as a calculator.

4. The first computers were very huge, expensive and not available.

5. The invention of transistor made computers more available for everybody.

What do you think?

1. Who built the first automatic calculator?

2. When and where was the first computer put into operation? What was it used for?

3. What was the first distinction of a general-purpose computer? Who built it?

4. What new information about first computers have you learnt?

5. Can we call the man who designed the first computer a genius?

Personal Computer

I. First Thoughts

Who are Bill Gates and Paul Allan? Are these names familiar to you?

II. Study the words. Make sure you know them.

bankrupt, hobbyist, company, easy-to-use, price, fray, competitor.

III. Read the text and do the tasks following it:

In 1974, calculators were the hot item in consumer electronics. A little calculator company in Albuquerque was struggling to compete, but a price war threatened to bankrupt it. Its owner, research engineer Ed Roberts, determined to make it all or nothing. He decided to build a small computer based on the recently developed, inexpensive microprocessors from Intel, and sell it to electronics hobbyist at the amazingly low price of about $500. Roberts called his computer the Altair 8800 and offered it as a kit.

The Altair didn't actually do much as a computer. It didn't have a screen or a keyboard or any software. But it filled a hole. It was the very first personal computer on the market. The larger computer companies were busy developing mainframes and improving computer systems for industry, and couldn't really see why anyone would want a home computer. They also failed to see the implications of the new microprocessors that were small and cheap.

Users had to program Altair in machine code using toggle switches. A Harvard student and his friend, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, realized Altair would be a lot better if users could program it in BASIC, a popular, easy-to-use computer language, instead of machine code.

The enterprising pair called Roberts offered to develop a BASIC interpreter for the Altair. He agreed and within six weeks bought the program from Gates and Allen. He hired Allen as software developer. Allen and Gates later established Microsoft Corporation.

Altair sparked an entire industry, as new personal computer companies popped up in its wake. One of these companies was the creation of a hobbyist who couldn't afford an Altair kit, so he created his own from scratch. Stephen Wozniak polished up his creation in 1976. With his friend Steve Jobs, he began to sell it and then improve it. In 1977, they introduced Apple II and made Apple Computer Company the fastest growing business in American history.

In 1977 Ed Roberts sold his company. Two years later, like many others entering the volatile market, it had folded. In 1982, IBM entered the fray with its own personal computer, the PC, which became Apple's biggest competitor.

IV. Comprehension Check.

1. Match each pair of antonyms in the group by drawing a line between them:

1. expensive    a. hot

2. high            b. like

3. unreal         c. later

4. within         d. low

5. earlier         e. real

6. dislike         f. outside

7. cold             g. unexpensive

8. better          h. popular

9. the slowest i. the fastest

10.unpopular k. worse