2020-10-11
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Text 5
Types of Computers
Not long ago computers were not very reliable and comparatively slow in operation. Since then, several generations of complex electronic computing equipment have been developed, each being significantly better than the one before it.
We know a computer to be a complex electronic device that can store and process vast quantities of information. There were two main types of computing equipment – digital and analogue. They work differently and yield different results. The digital computer is performing a much broader range of functions than the analogue one.
The analogue computer, as its name implies, produces analogues or parallels of the process to be described or the problem to be solved. Both the digital and the analogue computers must be "programmed". These devices working by electronic impulses perform at fantastic speed and with great precision.
Each new generation of computers opens up new possibilities for basic and applied research. Personal computers are portable and work on built-in batteries and also called microcomputers or home computer. The most compact are called laptops. Personal computers are designed for use at homes, schools, and offices. At home they can be used for home management (balancing the family finances, for example) and for playing computer games, watching films or listening to music. Schoolchildren can use computers for doing their homework and many schools now have computers for independent learning and computer-literacy studies. In the office personal computers may be used for word processing, bookkeeping, storage and handling of necessary information.
Looking to the future, computer makers see no end to die filings they would like to accomplish. An entirely new microcomputer has been developed in our country. The microcomputer is equipped with an arithmetical logical device which carries preset programs. Because of this the microcomputer can perform various logical functions. In other words, it possesses a solving field for various commands. It is comparatively easy to change commands or add new ones.
The new computer is very small in size and weight, resistant to temperature fluctuations, reliable and easy to operate. It does not require special ventilation. It receives data, calculates the optimum conditions and supplies signals for the control of technological processes. The computer processes the data and controls the casting; i.e. keeps the temperature and the pressure within required limits, and commands the beginning of the casting operation.
The field of application of the new computer appears to be vast. It can analyze various substances in oil, gas, chemical and food industries, as well as soil and plants. It can also be used for processing information about conditions in the environment, for control of conveyors and other equipment.
The computer of the future seems to be developed by using bionics — biological functions of plants and animals — as a guide in designing electronic circuits. Nowadays computer makers are working at the problem of introducing small computers into our everyday life making them personal. They are trying to develop a computer that will understand human language.
Notes on the Text
tiny fraction of time - очень короткий период времени
data processing system — система обработки информации
accomplish — осуществлять
auxiliary — вспомогательный
data — данные, информация
describe — описывать
digital — цифровой
generation — поколение
plant — растение
precision — точность
process —обрабатывать
range — диапазон
reliable — надежный
set up (set) — организовывал
add — добавлять
entirely — совершенно
environment — окружение, среда
fluctuation — колебание
food — пища
furnace — печь
insert — вводить
pre-seta — заранее составленный
pressure-die casting — литье, полученное под давлением
soil — почва
unit — блок
unplug — отключать
vast — обширный
General understanding:
1. What were the computers like not long ago? ______________________________
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2. Have they been developed since that time? _______________________________
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3. What is a computer? _________________________________________________
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4. What calculations can a computer perform? _______________________________
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5. What two types of computing equipment do you know? _____________________
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6. Do digital and analogue computers work in the same way? ___________________
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7. How do digital and analogue computers work? ____________________________
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8. What is a personal computer? __________________________________________
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9. Is it very useful nowadays? ____________________________________________
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10. Don’t you think that the applications of computers will get wider? ____________
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Exercises
1. Complete the sentences:
1. The new computer is equipped with_____________________________________
a) various commands;
b) an arithmetical logical device;
c) special ventilation.
2. The arithmetical logical device is known to be adjusted by____________________
a) technicians;
b) the operator;
c) computers of a higher level.
3. The memory device is based on_________________________________________
a) the micro accumulator;
b) semiconductors;
c) automatic switches.
4. The memory device keeps information for several days even with the power supply unplugged because_____________________________________________________
a) it is switched over to the micro accumulator;
b) it is very small in size and weight;
c) it is adjusted by computers of a higher level.
2. Match the following:
1) __________________ doesn't come to life until it is connected to other parts of a system.
2) __________________ is the term used to describe the instructions that tell the hardware how to perform a task.
3) __________________ create the computer software instructions and respond to the procedures that those instructions present
4) Information in the form of instruction is called a ___________________________
5) The manner in which the various individual systems are connected is___________
6) ___________________ is organized, processed and useful for decision making.
7) The basic job of the computer is the_____________________________________
a) program
b) information
c) processing of information
d) software
e) connectivity
f) computer
g) people
3. Replace the words and expressions in brackets by their English analogues:
1. The term (компьютер) ___________________is used to describe a (устройство) ________________made up of a combination of (электронных) _____________ and electromechanical (part electronic and part mechanical) components.
2. (Компьютер) _______________has no (разум) ______________by itself and is referred to as hardware.
3. A (компьютерная система) _________________is a combination of five elements: Hardware, Software, People, Procedures, Data/information.
4. When one (компьютерная система) _____________________is set up to (связаться) ________________with another computer system, connectivity becomes the sixth system (элемент)__________________.
5. In other words, the manner in which the (различные разрозненные системы) ______________________________are connected — for example, by phone lines, microwave transmission, or (спутник) _______________ — is an element of the (общей компьютерной системы) ____________________________.
6. (Программное обеспечение) ___________________is the term used to describe the (инструкции) _________________that tell the (аппаратное обеспечение) ___________________how to perform a task.
7. Without software (инструкции) ________________, the hardware doesn't know what to do.
8. People, however, are (самый важный компонент) _____________________of the computer system: they create the computer software instructions and respond to the procedures that those instructions present.
9. The (основная работа) __________________of the computer is the (производство информации) ___________________________.
10. Computers (принимает) _________________information in the form of instruction called a program and characters called (данные) __________________to perform (математические и логические) ________________________operations, and then give the results.
11. The data is (сырье) _______________while information is organized, processed, refined and (полезна для принятия решений) ____________________________.
12. Computer is used to (перерабатывать данные) _________________into information.
13. Computer is also used to (хранить информацию) ________________in the (цифровой) _____________________form.
4. Which of the listed below terms have Russian equivalents:
computer, diskette, metal, processor, scanner, information, data, microphones, printer, modem, Internet.
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5. Try to explain what the following statements mean:
1. Computer is made of electronic components so it is referred to as electronic device.
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2. Computer has no intelligence until software is loaded.
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3. There are five elements of computer system: hardware, software, people, diskettes and data.
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4. The manner in which computers are connected is the connectivity.
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5. Without software instructions hardware doesn't know what to do.
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6. The software is the most important component because it is made by people.
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7. The user inputs data into computer to get information as an output.
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8. Computer is used to help people in decision making process.
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6. Translate the sentences:
1. Most electronic computers are expected to perform over ten thousand operations every second. _________________________________________________________
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2. A digital computer is supposed to produce information by some logical process.
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3. To make computers work fast and correctly is a very significant task. ___________
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4. Scientists make new electronic machines store information, handle calculations and even control production processes. _____________________________________
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5. Digital computers are likely to be wider used than analogue ones. _____________
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6. The changes in air temperature prove to have affected the operation of the computer. It yields wrong information. _____________________________________
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7. The computing equipment enabled investigators to process the received data much quicker. _____________________________________________________________
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8. It was for our engineer to decide what kind of computer to utilize for such calculations. __________________________________________________________
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9. Can these calculations have been performed in such a short period of time without a computer? __________________________________________________________
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10. These data must have been processed by the digital computer. _______________
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11. The computer may have yielded correct results. ___________________________
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12. The range of functions of this computing equipment must have been broadened.
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13. Computers process data in a matter of minutes. ___________________________
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14. This process will prevent the formation of impurities. ______________________
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15. The history of automatic computers is believed to have started with Charles Babbage who was a professor of mathematics at Cambridge University. __________
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16. Computing equipment is considered to make production process more effective.
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17. To program a computer is to analyze the problem to be solved and to make a plan for solving it. _________________________________________________________
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18. Computers permit people to perform such tasks that would otherwise be unthinkable. __________________________________________________________
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19. Mini-computers are known to be used as a part of the robots and digital program control technological equipment. _________________________________________
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20. Being comparatively young, bionics has already great significance for communication technique, for computers and other fields of radio electronics. ______
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7. Which of the listed below statements are true/false. Specify your answer using the text:
1. Computer programs only instruct hardware how to handle data storage. ________
2. System software controls internal computer activities. ____________
3. System software is very dependable on the type of application software being used. ____________
4. The information about memory capacity, the model of the processor and disk drives are unavailable for system software. ____________
5. The driver is a special device usually used by car drivers for Floppy-disk driving. ____________
6. It is very reasonable to ask for a driver when you buy a new piece of hardware. ____________
7. Software developers tend to make their products very small and with poor interface to save computer resources. ____________
8. Communication software is in great demand now because of the new advances in communication technologies. ____________
9. Application software is merely a general-purpose instrument. ____________
10. Web-browsers is the class of software for electronic communication through the network. ____________
