Unit 4

Text Study: Input Devices.

Additional Text: "Seeking" for Tracks.

Grammar: Types of questions. Word Order.

Text Study

I. Pre-reading Exercises

1. Repeat the words in chorus:

A keyboard, to coordinate, numerical, advanced, design representation, interface, to simplify, to require, double-click, to issue, application, quality.

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

A manipulator,  popular, indicators,  graphics,  representation, display,  to control, the cursor,  orientation,  to press,  commands,  vertical, horizontal,   manuscript,  special,  photos.

3. Pay attention to some grammatical points:

1) There are several devices used for inputting information into the computer. 2) It enables inputting numerical and text data. 3) Later when the more advanced graphics became to develop, user found that a keyboard did not provide the design capabilities of graphics and text representation on the display. 4) There appeared manipulators, a mouse and a track ball. 5) The mouse provides the cursor control thus simplifying user's orientation on the display. 6) The mouse's primary functions are to help the user draw, point and select images on his computer display by moving the mouse across the screen. 6)  When you move the mouse across a flat surface, the ball located on the bottom side of the mouse turns two rollers. 7) The quality of graphical plotting tables is characterized by permitting capacity. 8) Digital video cameras have been spread recently.

II. Reading

Read the text and be ready to find in the text the answers to the following questions:

·         What devices are there for inputting information?

• Where do graphical plotting tables find their application?

Input Devices

There are several devices used for inputting information into the computer: a keyboard, some coordinate input devices, such as manipulators (a mouse, a track ball), touch panels and graphical plotting tables, scanners, digital cameras, TV tuners, sound cards etc.

When personal computers first became popular, the most common device used to transfer information from the user to the computer was the keyboard. It enables inputting numerical and text data. A standard keyboard has 104 keys and three more ones informing about the operating mode of light indicators in the upper right corner.

Later when the more advanced graphics became to develop, user found that a keyboard did not provide the design capabilities of graphics and text representation on the display. There appeared manipulators, a mouse and a track ball, that are usually used while operating with graphical interface. Each software program uses these buttons differently.

The mouse is an optic-mechanical input device. The mouse has three or two buttons which control the cursor movement across the screen. The mouse provides the cursor control thus simplifying user's orientation on the display . The mouse's primary functions are to help the user draw, point and select images on his computer display by moving the mouse across the screen.

In general software programs require to press one or more buttons, sometimes keeping them depressed or double-click them to issue changes in commands and to draw or to erase images. When you move the mouse across a flat surface, the ball located on the bottom side of the mouse turns two rollers. One is tracking the mouse's vertical movements; the other is tracking horizontal movements. The rotating ball glides easily, giving the user good control over the textual and graphical images.

In portable computers touch panels or touch pads are used instead of manipulators. Moving a finger along the surface of the touch pad is transformed into the cursor movement across the screen.

Graphical plotting tables (plotters) find application in drawing and inputting manuscript texts. You can draw, add notes and signs to electronic documents by means of a special pen. The quality of graphical plotting tables is characterized by permitting capacity, that is the number of lines per inch, and their capability to respond to the force of pen pressing .

Scanner is used for optical inputting of images (photographies, pictures, slides) and texts and converting them into the computer form.

Digital videocameras have been spread recently. They enable getting videoimages and photographs directly in digital computer format. Digital cameras give possibility to get high quality photos.

Sound cards produce sound conversion from analog to digital form. They are able to synthesize sounds. Special game-ports and joysticks are widely used in computer games.

Vocabulary Notes

a keyboard – клавіатура

a key – клавіша; кнопка; перемикач; ключовий, основний; головний; переключати; набирати на клавіатурі

a manipulator – маніпулятор; блок обробки

a trackball – трекбол

a touch [tAC] panel – сенсорна панель

graphic plotting tables – графічні планшети

a sound card – звукова карта (плата)

to enable – дозволяти; допускати; робити можливим

an operating mode – режим роботи

to press a button – натиснути на кнопку

to keep buttons depressed – утримувати кнопки натиснутими

double-click – подвійне натискання

to erase images – видалити, стерти зображення (об’єкт)

a roller – ролик

track – слідкувати; прослідковувати; проходити; слід; траєкторія; шлях; доріжка

by means of – за допомогою, за посередництвом

to simplify ['sImplIfaI] – спрощувати

Comprehension

1. Tell what sentences are true and what are false.

1) There are several devices used for inputting information into the computer: a keyboard and sound cards. 2) When personal computers first became popular, the most common device used to transfer information from the user to the computer was the mouse. 3) A standard keyboard has 104 keys. 4) The mouse is an optic-mechanical output device. 5) Software programs require to press one or more buttons, sometimes keeping them depressed or double-click. 6) Scanner is used for optical inputting of images and texts and converting them into the computer form. 7) Digital cameras enable to get low quality photos.

2. Choose the right answer:

1) The keyboard  enables inputting … .  

a) numerical and text data;

b) the instructions for processing the data;

c) numerical data.

2) The mouse is an …  input device.

a) optic;

b) optic-mechanical;

c) mechanical.

3) The mouse's … functions are to help the user draw, point and select images on his computer display by moving the mouse across the screen.

a) main;

b) secondary;

c) auxiliary.

4) In portable computers touch panels or touch pads are used instead of … .

a) keyboard;

b) mouse;

c) manipulators.

5) … find application in drawing and inputting manuscript texts.

a) scanner;

b) plotters;

c) digital videocameras.

3. Complete the sentences:

1) There are several devices used for inputting information into the computer: … . 2) The keyboard  enables … . 3) The mouse is … . 4) In portable computers touch panels or touch pads are used … . 5) Scanner is used for … . 6)  Digital cameras give possibility to get … . 7) Sound cards are able to … .

4. Answer the questions:

         1) What devices are used for inputting information into the computer? 2) What was the most common device in early personal computers? 3) What is the function of a keyboard? 4) Why do many users prefer manipulators to keyboard? 5) How does the mouse operate? 6) What is its function? 7) What role does the ball on the bottom of the mouse play? 8) What is used in portable computers instead of manipulators? 9) What is the touch pad's principle of operation? 10) Where do graphical plotting tables find application?

5. Find as quickly as possible and read out the sentences containing the following important information:

• keyboard
• graphical plotting tables
• sound cards

*6. Try to tell the gist of the text.

Word Study

1. Give Ukrainian equivalents of the following.

To input information, TV tuners, scanners, graphical interface, text representation on the display, software, an optic-mechanical input device, to coordinate input devices, manipulators,  a mouse, a flat surface, to rotate ball glides,  a track ball,  touch panels, graphical plotting tables, digital cameras, buttons, the cursor control,  to simplify user's orientation on the display,  to point and select images,  on his computer display by moving the mouse across the screen, keeping buttons depressed, double-click,  to erase images, easily, to glide easily,  a portable computer,  a manuscript text, by means of.

2. Give English equivalents of the following.

Введення інформації; координатні пристрої вводу; маніпулятори; миша; трекбол; сенсорна панель; графічні планшети; цифрові камери; сканери; ТВ тюнери; стандартна клавіатура; числова і текстова інформація; світлові індикатори; клавіші; режим роботи; презентація тексту на моніторі; графічний інтерфейс; програмні засоби; оптико-механічний пристрій вводу; керувати рухом курсору; спрощувати орієнтацію користувача на екрані; вказувати і вибирати зображення; утримувати кнопки натиснутими; подвійне натискання; стирати об’єкти; рівна поверхня; обертати ролики; слідкувати за вертикальним рухом; легко ковзати; портативний комп’ютер; рукописний текст; за посередництвом.

3.  Match the words in A with their synonyms in B:

A                                 B

key                              a path

to enable                     removable

to press                                    primary          

to erase                                   to sanction

a roller                         to delete

a track                         to propel

portable                       a cylinder

4. Fill in the gaps with the words from Vocabulary Notes in the appropriate form.

sound cards / inputting / software programs / keyboard / the mouse / to simplify / drawing

1) There are several devices used for … information into the computer. 2) A standard … has 104 keys and three more ones informing about the operating mode of light indicators in the upper right corner. 3) … has three or two buttons which control the cursor movement across the screen. 4) The mouse provides the cursor control thus … user's orientation on the display. 5) In general … require to press one or more buttons. 6)  Plotters find application in … and inputting manuscript texts. 7) … produce sound conversion from analog to digital form.

5. Translate sentences into English using words and word combinations from the Vocabulary Notes.

1) Клавіатура, сенсорна панель, цифрові камери, сканери, телетюнери і т. п. – це все пристрої для введення інформації. 2) На перших етапах розвитку комп’ютера найосновнішим пристроєм вводу була клавіатура. 3) Стандартна клавіатура має 104 знаки. 4) Мишка допомагає контролювати рух курсору по екрані і спрощує орієнтацію користувача на дисплеї. 5) Основною функцією мишки є допомогти користувачеві малювати, вибирати та вказувати на образи на дисплеї комп’ютера. 6) Сканер – це оптичний пристрій вводу, який перетворює образи чи тексти згідно комп’ютерної форми. 7) Звукові карти мають здатність синтезувати звуки.

The Grammar in Use

Types of Questions. Word Order.

1. Transform the following sentences into general questions introducing the necessary changes.

1) The Internet is a computer network made up of thousands of networks world wide. 2) No one knows how many computers are connected to the Internet. 3) There are organizations which develop technical aspects of this network. 4) The Internet backbone, through which Internet traffic flows, is owned by private companies. 5) All computers on the Internet communicate with one another using the Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol suite. 6) An Internet user has access to a wide variety of services.

2. Put all types of questions to the following sentences.

1) Printers provide information in a permanent, human-readable form. 2) Printers vary greatly in performance and design. 3) We will classify printers as character printers, line printers and page printers in order to identify three different approaches to printing, each with a different speed range. 4) Nonimpact printers do not hit or impact a ribbon to print. 5) A typewriter is an example of a character printer. 6) A letter-quality printer is a character printer which produces output of typewriter quality. 7) Letter-quality printers typically have speeds ranging from 10 to 50 characters per second. 8)The magnetic fields cause the ink to take the shape of a character as the ink approaches the paper. 9) Drum printers use a solid, cylindrical drum, rotating at a rapid speed. 10) Page printers are high-speed nonimpact printers.

Additional Text

(for individual work)

Read and translate the text.

"Seeking" for Tracks

Before data blocks can be read or written, the read/write head mechanism must be moved to the correct track. The read/write head contains the coil that detects or induces magnetism. It is moved by a stepping motor that can align it accurately over a specific track. Movements of the read/write heads are, in computer terms, relatively slow – it can take a hundredth of a second to adjust the position of the read/write heads. (The operation of moving the heads to the required track is called "seeking"; details of disk performance commonly include information on "average seek times".) Once the head is aligned above the required track, it is still necessary for the spinning disk to bring the required block under the read/write head (the disk controller reads its control information from the blocks as they pass under the head and so "knows" when the required block is arriving). When the block arrives under the read/write head, the recorded 0/1 bit values can be read and copied to wherever else they are needed.

The read circuitry in the disk reassembles the bits into bytes. These then get transferred over the bus to main memory (or, sometimes, into a CPU register). Disks may have their own private cache memories. Again, these are "hidden" stores where commonly accessed data can be kept for faster access. A disk may have cache storage sufficient to hold the contents of a few disk blocks (i.e. several thousand bytes). As well as being sent across the bus to memory, all the bytes of a block being read can be stored in the local disk cache. If a program asks the disk to read a block of data that is in the cache, the disk unit doesn't need to seek for the data. The required bytes can be read from the cache and sent to main memory. Commonly, hard disks have several disk platters mounted on a single central spindle. There are read/write heads for each disk platter. Data can be recorded on both sides of the disk platters (though often the topmost and bottommost surfaces are unused). The read/write heads are all mounted on the same stepping motor mechanism and move together between the disk platters.

1. Divide the text into the logical parts and give a title to each one.

2. Put questions to the text.

3. Discuss it with your groupmates.