Unit 1
Text Study: Computer Evolution.
Additional Text: From the History of the Computers.
Grammar: The Present Indefinite Tense.
Text Study
1. Repeat the words in
chorus:
An abacus,
to arrange, a wheel, an engine, the forerunner, binary, bulky, unreliable,
thousands, frequently, a core, to squeeze, due to, to
etch, launched, fibre.
2. While reading the text you
will come across a number of international words. Try to guess what Ukrainian
words they remind of you:
Calculations, mechanical, programmer, automatically, generation,
silicon, integrated, plastic, metal, standard, graphical,
optics, experts, molecules.
3. Pay attention to some
grammatical points:
1) The abacus emerged
in
II. Reading
Read the text and be ready to
find in the text the answers to the following questions:
·
What generations of a
computer are given in the text?
·
What are the
characteristic features of the fifth generation?
Computer Evolution
2000 BC (before Christ) – The abacus emerged in
1833 – Charles Babbage started to build his Analytical
Engine, the forerunner of the modern computer. He was helped by Augusta Ada
Byron, who is considered the first female computer programmer. 1890 – Herman Hollerith used punch cards in a device
which automatically read the
1941 – Konrad Zuse built the first programmable computer,
called Z3, working on the binary system.
First generation computers (1945-1954) – The University of
Second generation computers (1955-1964) – Computers used transistors instead of vacuum tubes. So-called second
generation computers, which used large numbers of transistors
were able to reduce computational time from milliseconds to microseconds, or
millionths of seconds. Second-generation computers were smaller, faster and
more reliable than first-generation computers. Memories were made of magnetizable cores (the IBM 1401).
Third generation computers (1965-1973) – The first computers using silicon chips went on sale. Intel released the
first microprocessor. They could perform many data processing operations in
nanoseconds, which are billionths of seconds.
Fourth generation computers (1974 -2001) – Computers became smaller as more components were squeezed
onto microchips. The integrated circuits that are being developed have been greatly
reduced in size. This is due to microminiaturization, which means that the
circuits are much smaller than before; as many as 100 tiny circuits are placed
now on a single chip. A chip is a square or rectangular piece of silicon,
usually from 1/10 to 1/4 inch, upon which several layers of an integrated
circuit are etched or imprinted, after which the circuit is encapsulated in
plastic or metal.
1975 – Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft and
wrote a BASIC compiler for the Altair.
1976 – Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple
Computer, Inc. The first minicomputer was sold.
1981 – IBM sold the IBM PC, a model that became the
standard in personal computers. MS-DOS was the operating system for IBM PCs and
compatibles.
1984 – Apple produced the Macintosh, the first computer
with a mouse and a graphical user interface (GUI).
1995 – Microsoft launched Windows 95 and Sun Microsystems
created Java language.
2001 – Intel launched the Pentium 4 running at 2G Hz.
Fifth generation computers – Fibre optics and optical disks revolutionize the
world of computers. Artificial Intelligence and voice recognition are
incorporated into computer applications; experts start making tiny, superfast
computers known as nanocomputers. Some are electronics, others are biochemical,
working with bio - chips made of millions of molecules.
Vocabulary
Notes
an abacus ['xbqkqs] – рахівниця
to emerge [I'mWdZ] – виникати,
з’являтися
a bead [bJd] – буси, кружечки
а rack – рама, вішак
census ['sensqs] – перепис, збір даних
vacuum tubes['vxkjuqm 'tjub] – вакуумні
трубки
bulky ['bAlkI] – великий,
об’ємний, гнучкий
unreliable ['nrI'laiqbl] – ненадійний
a core [kL] – ядро
to release [rI'lJz] – звільняти,
полегшувати
to squeeze [skwJz] – стискати,
здавлювати
rectangular [rek'txNgjulq] – прямокутний
а piece – частинка
to encapsulate –
герметизувати
to reduce – зменшувати
tiny – крихітний
to etch [etS] – гравірувати, витравлювати (на
склі, металі)
to imprint – відштамповувати, залишати слід
to launch [lLntS] – випускати, запускати
fibre ['faIbq] – волокно, фібра
incorporate – з’єднуватись,
змішуватись, включати в себе
Comprehension
1.
Tell what sentences are true and what are false.
1) The
abacus emerged in
2.
Choose the right answer:
1) Ada Byron is considered the first … .
a) male computer programmer;
b) female computer
programmer;
c) computer user.
2) Konrad Zuse
built the first … .
a) programmable computer;
b) big computer;
c) desk
computer.
3) The thousands of … of the
first computers emitted large amounts of heat and burned out frequently.
a) operations;
b) functions;
c) vacuum tubes.
4) Third generation computers used … .
a) silicon chips;
b) petrol;
c) light.
5) Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft and wrote a BASIC compiler for
the Altair in … .
a) 1965;
b) 1975;
c) 1955.
6) … revolutionize the world of computers.
a) disks;
b) fibre elements;
c) fibre optics and
optical disks.
3.
Complete the sentences.
1) In 1941
Konrad Zuse built the first programmable computer, called Z3, working on … . 2) The
4.
Answer the questions:
1)
When did the abacus emerge? 2) Who designed ENIAC
(UNIVersal
Automatic Computer), an electronic computer which
used vacuum tubes and was able to calculate at electronic speeds? 3) What did
the second generation computers use? 4) What could the third generation
computers perfom? 5) Why did fourth generation computers
become smaller in size? 6) What did revolutionize the world of computers?
5.
Find as quickly as possible and read out the sentences containing the following
important information:
- first and second generation computers
- third and fourth generation
computers
- fifth generation
computers
*6.
Try to tell the gist of the text.
Word Study
1. Give Ukrainian equivalents of the
following.
To make calculations, mechanical adding machine, a numerical wheel,
the binary system, to emit large amounts
of heat, magnetizable cores, to perform many data
processing operations, to be squeezed onto microchips, to be reduced in size, a square or rectangular piece of silicon, revolutionize the world of computers, computer
applications, voice recognition, integrated circuits, tiny circuits.
2. Give English equivalents of the
following.
Розпізнавання
голосу, інтегровані схеми, виділяти велику кількість тепла, виконувати
обчислення, механічні машини додавання, застосування комп’ютера, числове
колесо, двійкова система, намагнічені ядра, квадратні чи прямокутні куски
силікону, виконувати велику кількість операцій над даними, бути стиснутим у
мікрочіпи, бути зменшеним у розмірі, зробити революцію у світі комп’ютерів,
крихітні схеми.
3. Match the words in A with
their synonyms in B:
A B
to emerge small
bulky to
lessen
core to
appear
to release heavy
to squeeze to
compress
tiny to
free
to reduce heart
4. Fill in the gaps
with the words from Vocabulary Notes in the appropriate form.
to design / rectangular / to imprint /the abacus / bulky / vacuum tubes / cores / to reduce / to squeeze / launch / to etch
1) … allowed people to make calculations using moving beads arranged on a
rack. 2) ENIAC … at
the
5. Translate sentences into English using
words and word combinations from the Vocabulary Notes.
1) Рахівниці
дозволяли людям робити обчислення, використовуючи рухомі кружечки на рамі. 2)
Перший програмований комп’ютер виник у 1941 році і працював на двійковій
системі числення. 3) Перші комп’ютери були не лише об’ємні, але й ненадійні. 4)
Велика кількість вакуумних трубок виділяли багато тепла і часто згоряли. 5)
Комп’ютери другого покоління використовували транзистори замість вакуумних
трубок, що дозволяло дуже скоротити обчислювальний час. 6) Комп’ютери третього
покоління використовували силіконові чіпи. 7) Комп’ютери четвертого покоління
стали значно меншими, і відповідно інтегровані схеми також зменшились у
розмірі. 8) Розпізнавання голосу та штучний розум були включені до комп’ютері
п’ятого покоління.
Grammar in Use
The Present Indefinite
Tense
1. Fill in the blanks with the
following verbs in the Present Indefinite Active.
to
express; to compute; to receive; to perform; to store; to calculate; to put
out; to take in; to do; to display
1) A computer ... or ... . 2) Modern automatic digital computers ... more than
100 mln. additions, subtractions, multiplications, or
divisions in each second. 3) A computer ... information or data,
... a sequence of reasonable operations on information and ... answers.
4) The hardware inside the computer ... arithmetical or logical relations
such as adding
or subtracting, comparing or selecting. 5) When computers ... results, they ... them.
2. Put the verbs in brackets in the proper
tense form.
1) An operating system (to provide) the basic
instructions that tell the computer how to handle certain tasks necessary for
it to work. 2) A microcomputer’s operating system (to be) simple by comparison.
3) Suppose you (to have) a computer with no operation system. 4) You (to ask)
to write a program – a very complex program – in order to get the computer to
do anything. 5) Such a computer (to provide) good training for a computer
scientists, but it (to be) of little value to most ordinary users. 6) An
operating system (to get) you over that hurdle. 7) It (to consist) of a set of
prewritten instructions. 8) The operating system (to be) the program that (to
make) it possible for you to run all other programs that (to be) available or
can (to write) for your computer. 9) Also the operating system program may (to
exist) just in ROM. 10) It may (to exist) partly in ROM and partly on a disk or
tape.
3. Put the verbs in brackets in the proper
tense form.
1) All computers (to have) four basic units:
ALU, a control unit, a memory unit and input/output unit. 2) There (to exist) a
tight interconnection of these units forming a basic computer system. 3) The
ALU and the control unit (to refer) to as the CPU. 4) The memory unit (to
serve) as an area to store instructions and data. 5) Instructions (to be) the
binary-coded pieces of information. 6) The control unit (to oversee) the
operation of the memory unit. 7) The CPU (to consist) of the ALU and the
control unit. 8) The ALU (to be) the area of the computer where arithmetic and
logic operations are performed on data. 9) The control unit (to have) the
functions of controlling. 10) The input/output unit (to consist) of all devices
that (to allow) the computer to communicate with the outside world. 11) The
greatest majority of microcomputers (to use) an eight-bit word size, indicating
that the CPU (to deal with) eight-bit transfers or manipulations of
information. 12) Each memory location (to hold) an eight-bit piece of
information or one computer word.
Additional Text
(for
individual work)
Read and translate the text.
From the History of the
Computers
Let us take a look
at the history of the computers that we know today. The first calculating
devices used were ten fingers of a man’s hand. The ancient Babylonians, as
traders, needed a quick and easy way of working with high numbers, and so they
developed a decimal system of writing numerals.
They were also the first to use a symbol for zero.
The decimal system
depends on the position of each digit. Ten was taken as the basis of the system
because men used to count on their fingers. Not all ancient peoples used a
decimal system, however, and there are still some primitive tribes who can
count no further than three.
Even the Romans, who were so advanced
in many ways, were poor mathematicians.
They were held back by inefficient system of writing numbers, which
included no symbol for zero. The circuits in an electronic computer can either
be on or off, according to the impulse they receive. Thus a binary or
‘two-based’ system of counting is needed to suit the on/off pulses. This is why
binary mathematics is now taught in many schools, medicine, trade, science,
etc.
Then the abacus was
invented. People used some form of abacus till the 16th century and
it is still used in some parts of the world because it can be understood
without knowing how to read. During the 17th and 18th
centuries many people tried to find easy ways of calculating. Napier, a Scotsman, developed a mechanical
way of multiplying and dividing which is how the modern slide ruler works.
Henry Briggs used Napier’s ideas to produce logarithm tables which all
mathematicians use today. Calculus, another branch of mathematics, was independently
invented by Sir Isaac Newton, an Englishman, and Leibniz, a German
mathematician. The first calculating machine appeared in 1820. This machine
saves a great deal of time and reduces the possibility of making mistakes.
Most people think
of computers as very modern inventions, products of our new technological age.
But actually the idea for a computer was worked out over two centuries ago by
Charles Babbage, a brilliant mathematician. Babbage was born in 1791. He worked
out plans for several calculating machines which he called ‘engines’. But he
never finished any of them. Recently, however, the
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.
