Упражнения по теме Computer / Компьютер

2. Solve the Computer quiz.

3. Match the words with their definitions

4. Fill in all the gaps using the words from the box.

Tim: Hey! What are you looking at, Barbara?

Barbara: I am taking a class called 21st Century Advertising. The teacher wants us to study different web sites to learn about web page _______.

Tim: That sounds like a great class for people who are studying business.

Barbara: It is. The _______ is the future of business. And the ______ is going to be the storefront of the next century. To be competitive, businesses have to adapt their current advertising techniques. However, creating a good web site is much more difficult than most people think.

Tim: Have you discovered anything interesting which you consider to be well designed?

Barbara: Yeah, this site is fantastic. Take a look. It’s very artistic and the technical ______ is convenient and very logical. It also looks good in different _______. I have already viewed it in Microsoft Explorer and Firefox. The ________ is also fantastic; the size and shape of the text are perfect. I am going to borrow some of their techniques when I make my own web page for class.

Tim: Borrowing ideas is OK, but you have to remember that the _______ of all web pages is legally protected.

Barbara: I know. Our professor taught us about intellectual rights. He told us that _______ infringement is a real concern for people who publish on the Web.

Tim: That’s right. Hey, that picture says “continue on”. Why don’t you _______ there so we can see the next page.

Barbara: OK.

5. Fill in all the gaps using the words from the Exercise 3.

1. I don’t like the _______ of that building. The entrance is too small, and there are no windows in the lounge.

2. They cannot simply reproduce that book without his permission. The _____ legally protects it from unauthorized reproduction.

3. When you ______ a document in a word processing program, you change the size, shape and font of the words.

4. The book which Richard wrote is fascinating. The ______ is both thought-provoking and educational.

5. When I pressed that button, I heard a loud _______. I hope I didn’t break the computer.

6. Internet Explorer and Firefox are ________.

7. She attended a school for fashion ________.

8. The Web is an international collection of commercial and educational sites on the ________.

9. The “www” in an Internet address stands for _______.

6. Read and make the exercise below.

Computer Games

Nowadays computer games gain more and more popularity all over the world, especially among teenagers, and get increasingly available. They are a comfortable and inexpensive sort of relaxation, rest and entertainment. It sometimes costs nothing at all: after downloading slot machines to your computer for free, you can test them even without access to the Internet.

Those who are fond of those games, claim that they get lots of benefits from them. Their opponents, in turn, argue that youngsters should spend leisure time in a healthier manner, such as doing sports. So let’s try and comprehensibly discuss the given phenomenon, its advantages and disadvantages.

On the one hand, computer games help to develop memory. In fact, while playing you try to remember as much information as possible, which enables to achieve better results and eventually win the victory. They also enhance rapid reaction and improve motorics. Moreover, those games develop your logical thinking, computer skills and, last but not least, your command of the English language. 

During a chat you can get acquainted with new people and make virtual friends. If you like each other, you date and consequently become close friends in the real life.

On the other hand, computer games may negatively affect your health. First, your eyesight can deteriorate. Second, if you sit without moving for long periods, you may gain weight and run a risk of obesity. Addicted gamers tend to neglect regulars meals and end up with junk food, thus harming their stomach. 
Furthermore, numerous people spend too much time on playing, which can ruin human relationships. Another aspect is that such games include aggressive elements, which makes participants nervous and even cruel, causing violence and other forms of anti-social behaviour. 

To sum up, the issue in question has nearly as many strong points as weak ones. After all, everyone makes one’s own decisions.

As for me, I prefer to spend evenings and weekends with my relatives and friends (real, not virtual ones!). Frankly speaking, from time to time I attempt to involve them into my favourite computer games, although the latter are far from being my only hobby.

Exercise 1. Write in pros and cons of playing computer games.

Exercise 2. Make up your own video review on the game.

7. Read the text and make the exercises below.

The History of Computer Development

The rapidly advancing field of electronics led to construction of the first general-purpose electronic computer in 1946 at the University of Pennsylvania. It was Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer or ENIAC, the device contained 18,000 vacuum tubes and had a speed of several hundred multiplications per minute. Its program was wired into the processor and had to be manually altered.

Later transistors appeared. The use of the transistor in computers began in the late 1950s. It marked the advent of smaller, faster elements than it was possible to create with the use of vacuum-tube machines. Because transistors use less power and have a much longer life, computers alone were improved a lot. They were called second-generation computers.

Components became smaller and the system became less expensive to build.

Modern digital computers are all conceptually similar, regardless of size and shape. Nevertheless, they can be divided into several categories on the basis of cost and performance.

The first one is the personal computer or microcomputer, a relatively low-cost machine, usually of desk-top size. Sometimes they are called laptops. They are small enough to fit in a briefcase. The second is the workstation, a microcomputer with enhanced graphics and communications capabilities that make it especially useful for office work. And the server computers, a large expensive machine with the capability of serving the needs of major business enterprises, government departments, scientific research establishments. The largest and fastest of these are called supercomputers.

A digital computer is not actually a single machine, in the sense that most people think of computers. Instead it is a system composed of five distinct elements: a central processing unit, input devices, memory storage devices, output devices and a communications network, called a «bus» that links all the elements of the system and connects the system itself to the external world.

Talking about a central processing unit or the heart of computer; I would like to add that there were several generations of microprocessors. The first generation was represented by processing unit Intel 8086. The second generation central processing unit was represented by processing unit Intel 80286, used in IBM PC AT 286. In the end of 80s such computer costs about 25-30 000 rubles in the former USSR. The third generation is represented by Intel 80386, used in IBM PC AT 386. The microprocessors of the fourth generation were used in computers IBM PC AT 486. There are also central processing units of the fifth generation, used in Intel Pentium 60 and Intel Pentium 66, central processing units of the sixth generation, used in computers Intel Pentium 75,90,100 and 133. Few years ago appeared central processing units of seventh and eighth generations.

Computer speeds are measured in gigahertz today. Recently, an optical central processing unit has been invented, which is capable of executing trillions discrete operations per second or it is as fast as the speed of light. No man alive can do 500000 sums in one second, but a computer can. In fact, computers can do many of the things we do, but faster and better. They can predict weather, and even play chess, write poetry or compose music. Just as television has extended human sight across the barriers of time and distance, so the computers extend the power of the human mind across the existing barriers.

So, we are at the threshold of new computer era, when artificial intelligence could be invented. There are no questions with «if», the only question is «when». And time will show us either computers become our best friends or our evil enemies as it is shown in some movies.

Vocabulary

Exercise 1. Find the following words and expressions:

Exercise 2. Fill in the table about the history of computer development

Exercise 3. Make up 10 questions to the text.

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