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I: Do you own a PC?
E: Yes, I have an Apple Macintosh.
I: Why did you c…... a Mac as opposed to an IBM or an IBM…...?
E: I think Macs are e…… to use then IBM PCs. I use the m…… feature a lot, which is s…... on all Macs. Then there’s a graphical user interface and the windows.
I: Graphical user interface? Could you explain that?
E: Well, put simple, it means that you click on i…… Instead of typing in c…...
E: Yes, but I think their windows are harder to s…... u…... In any case, I’m u….. to the Mac.
Task 2
Match each word with the correct definition.
1. mainframe
2. mouse
3. icon
4. operating system
5. software
6. hardware
7. microchip
a) the set of software that controls a computer system;
b) a very small piece of silicon carrying a complex electrical circuit;
c) a big computer system used for large – scale operations;
d) the physical portion of a computer system;
e) a device moved by hand to indicate position on the screen;
f) a visual symbol used in a menu instead of natural language;
g) data, programs, etc., not forming part of a computer but used when operating it;
B) Read the text and decide on a suitable title for it.
1. In 1952, a major computing company took a decision to get out of the business of making mainframe computers. They believed that there was only a market for four mainframes in the whole world. That company was IBM. The following year they reversed their decision.
2. In 1980, IBM decided that there was a market for 250,000 PCs, so they set up a special team to develop the first IBM PC. It went on sale in 1981 and set a worldwide standard for IBM-compatibility which, over the next ten years, as only seriously challenged by one other company, Apple Computers. Since then, over seventy million PCs made by IBM and other manufacturers have been sold.
3. Over this period, PCs have become commodity items. Since IBM made the design nonproprietary, anyone can make them.
The history of the multi-billion-dollar PC industry has been one of mistakes. Xerox Corporation funded the initial research on personal computers in their Palo Alto laboratory in California. However, the company failed to capitalize on this work, and the ideas that they put together went into the operating system developed for Apple's computers. This was a graphical interface: using a mouse, the user clicks on icons which represent the function to be performed.
4. The first IBM PC was developed using existing available electrical components. With IBM's badge on the box it became the standard machine for large corporations to purchase. When IBM were looking for an operating system, they went initially to Digital Research, who were market leaders in command-based operating systems (these are operating systems in which the users type in commands to perform a function). When the collaboration between IBM and Digital Research failed, IBM turned to Bill Gates, then 25 years old, to write their operating system.
5. Bill Gates founded Microsoft on the basis of the development of MS/DOS, the initial operating system for the IBM PC. Digital Research have continued to develop their operating system, DR/DOS, and it is considered by many people to be a better product than Microsoft's. However, without an endorsement from IBM, it has become a minor player in the market. Novell, the leaders in PC networking, now own Digital Research, so things may change.
6. The original IBM PC had a minimum of 16K of memory, but this could be upgraded to 512K if necessary, and ran with a processor speed of 4.77MHz. Ten years later, in 1991, IBM were making PCs with 16Mb of memory, expandable to 64Mb, running with a processor speed of 33MHz. The cost of buying the hardware has come down considerably as the machines have become commodity items. Large companies are considering running major applications on PCs, something which, ten years ago, no one would have believed possible of a PC. In contrast, many computers in people's homes are just used to play computer games.
7. The widespread availability of computers has in all probability changed the world for ever. The microchip technology which made the PC possible has put chips not only into computers, but also into washing-machines and cars. Some books may never be published in paper form, but may only be made available as part of public databases. Networks of computers are already being used to make information available on a worldwide scale.
C)Answer the questions on the text.
1. How many mainframes did IBM think was possible to sell in 1952?
2. How many PCs have now been sold?
3. Who paid for the initial research into PCs?
4. Which company later used the results of this research to develop their operating system?
5. What are command – based operating systems?
6. DR/DOS is an acronym. Who does it stand for?
7. Since the invention of the IBM PC, many of its features have been improved. Which of the following features does the text not mention in this respect? a) memory, b) speed, c) size, d) cost.
D)Using the line reference given, look back in the text and find words that have a similar meaning to:
1. international (lines 5 -10)
2. contested (lines 7-10)
3. errors (lines 10 – 19)
4. paid for (lines 10-19)
5. buy (lines 19-27)
6. first (lines 19-27)
7. recommendations (lines 27-33)
8. improved (lines 33-42)
IV. Speaking
A) The article states that “many computers in people’s homes are just used to play computer games”.
1. In what other ways are computers used at home, or outside work?
2. If you already have a PC, how do you use it? (If not, how would you use one?)
Unit III
Inside the system
I. Warm – up
A) Try to answer these questions. (If necessary look at the Vocabulary list below)
1. What is the main function of a microprocessor?
2. What is the unit of frequency which is used to measure processor speed?
3. What does RAM stand for?
4. What is a co – processor used for?
II. Vocabulary
A) Learn words and word combinations
nerve centre - main part
chip - a tiny piece of silicon with a complex electronic circuit
supervise - manage
cause to V - make smth do smth
components - parts
store - keep in memory
currently - at the present time
evolve - develop
address - a code number that identifies the location of stored information
load - put in
expansion slots - the connectors that allow the user to install boards to improve to improve the computer’s performance
provide - give
execute - to perform the operation specified by an instruction
rate - speed
overall - entire, all of…
B) Remember abbreviations below
CPU – Central Processing Unit
CU – Control Unit
ALU – Arithmetic Logic Unit
IR – Instruction Register
RAM – Random Access Memory
ROM – Read Only Memory
MHz – megahertz
III. Reading
A) Read the text and then sentences 1-8 below. Decide if the sentences are true or false, and rewrite the false ones to make them true.
What’s inside a microcomputer?
(1) The nerve centre of a microcomputer is the Central Processing Unit, or CPU. This unit is built into a single microprocessor chip – an integrated circuit – which executes program instructions and supervises the computer’s overall operation. The unit consists of three main parts:
(2) 1) the Control Unit, which examines the instructions in the user's program, interprets each instruction and causes the circuits and the rest of the components - disk drives, monitor, etc. - to be activated to execute the functions specified;
2) the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) which performs mathematical calculations (+,-,etc.) and logical operations (and, or, etc.);
3) the registers, which are high speed units of memory used to store and control information. One of these registers is the Program Counter, (PC) which keeps track of the next instruction to be performed in the main memory. Another is the Instruction Register (IR) which holds the instruction that is currently being executed.
(3) One area where microprocessors differ is in the amount of data – the number of bits – they can work with at a time. There are 8, 16, 32 and 64-bit processor. The computer’s internal architecture is evolving so quickly that the new 64-bit processors are able to address 4 billion times more information than a 32-bit system.
(4) The programs and data which pass through the central processor must be loaded into the main memory (also called the internal memory) in order to be processed. Thus, when the user runs an application, the microprocessor looks for it on secondary memory devices (disks) and transfers a copy of the application into the RAM area. RAM is temporary, i.e. its information is lost when the computer is turned off. However, the ROM section is permanent and contains instructions needed by the processor.
(5) Most of today’s computers have internal expansion slots that allow users to acceleration cards or co-processor. As the world implies, an acceleration card is a board – that increases the processor speed. A coprocessor is a silicon chip that performs precise tasks and mathematical operations at a very high speed.
(6) The power and performance of 4 computer is partly determined by the speed of its microprocessor. A clock provides pulses at fixed intervals to measure and synchronize circuits and units. The clock speed is measured in MHZ (megahertz) and refers to the frequency at which pulses are emitted. For example, a CPU running at 50 MHZ (50 million cycles per second) is likely to provide a very fast processing rate and will enable the computer to handle the most demanding applications.
Central Processing Unit
(CPU)
| Control Unit |
Дата: 2019-02-25, просмотров: 1416.