1.Use a good chair with dynamic chair back that is angled slightly to the rear.
IV. Ask and answer the questions (Work in pairs).
1. Do you have your own study in your flat?
2. What are there in your study? Is there a computer or a notebook?
3. Do you have a table and a chair designed for a comfortable work on your computer?
4. Have you adjusted your chair to create a better fit?
5. Is the top of your monitor 2–3 above eye level?
6. How much do you usually spend on working with your computer a day?
7. Do you like your ‘working place’ at home? Why?
Text 14
Reading and Speaking
COMPUTERS CAN DO WONDERS
Microcomputer technology is already being applied in areas that only some decades ago were impossible. For example, severely handicapped people with cerebral palsy, who have very little limb control, can now use the Blisstern, a computerized version of the 500-symbol Bliss system. Because of their handicap, these people can hear but can’t respond. Now, with the Blisstern, it is possible to extend their skills. In addition to the Blisstern, other devices have been designed to aid the handicapped who are confined to wheel-chairs and have no control, or virtually no control, of their limbs. A special microcomputer that responds to eye movement has been developed which, when attached to a wheelchairs mechanism, allows the person to move about independently. By opening and closing the eyes and blinking, the person can make the wheelchairs start or stop; and when the eyes move left or right, so does the wheelchair. Similarly, there are other devices that have been developed to help severely handicapped people employ the limited use of their fingers or toes to type. Furthermore, such people can now type with their eyes, by simply focusing on the letter to be typed. Attached to the eyeglasses is a small device that responds to the eye and transmits the signal to a typewriter. It takes time to write a letter this way, but it’s better than not being able to write at all. Another example of electronic development in computer technology is the voice box. Until now, people with heavily restricted vision have had to rely on Braille or sighted people to pick out mistakes on the computer screens or printouts. Now, errors shown on the screen are duplicated audibly through a voice synthesizer. This new simpler voice correction system is a boon to all visually-handicapped students.
Moreover, the nature of work is changing in some areas because of the revolution brought about by computers. More and more police departments are now using sophisticated devices to help control the increasing crime rate. Some of these devices are: firstly, a computer terminal inside a police vehicle to answer an officer’s questions; secondly, a computer-controlled display unit for displaying fingerprints; and thirdly, educational systems for police officers such as terminals, enabling them to verify changes in laws, rules and regulations.
The computer memory of many law enforcement systems contains all kinds of information. First and foremost, it has data on stolen items such as cars, license plates and property. Second, it has information on political extremist groups and their activities.
It goes without saying that computers have certainly revolutionized police work by providing access to millions of items of information with the least possible delay and speeding up the process of apprehending suspicious-looking characters.
I. Match the words (1– 5) with their definitions/explanations (a– e):
| a handicapped person | a | advantage, blessing, comfort | |
| a boon | b | something with the latest improvements | |
| sophisticated devices | c | people having power of seeing | |
| sighted people | d | a man suffering from some disability | |
| computer terminals | e | devices to input data to the computer or to output results onto a screen or paper |
II. Decide if the following statements are true or false (T/F) by referring to the information in the text.
1. Microcomputer technology cannot be used for disabled people with cerebral palsy to develop their skills.
2. A special microcomputer attached to a handicapped person confined to wheel-chairs allows him/her to move about independently.
3. Severely handicapped people can now write with a small device attached to their eyeglasses.
4. People with heavily restricted vision have only to rely on Braille or sighted people to correct mistakes on the computer screens or printouts.
5. Computers have changed police work by speeding up the process of getting information and verifying it.
III. Work in pairs. Tell your partner about the most surprising facts from the article.
IV. Search for information about ‘computer wonders’ on the Internet and give a presentation about new computer developments (e.g. Robots).
Part IV Watching ‘How did Mathematics begin?’
WATCHING ‘HOW DID MATHEMATICS BEGIN?
(CARTOON)
Before you watch
1. Do you know when counting first began?
2. What did early people use for counters?
Key words:
| Tally | Одиниця рахунку, відмітка рахунку |
| To cave | Видовбувати, поглиблювати |
| To stand for | Означати |
| Eventually | З часом, врешті |
| Amount | Кількість |
| To inscribe | Надписувати |
| Renaissance | Ренесанс |
| Palate | Інтерес, схильність |
| Records | Записи |
| Nail-shaped | У формі цвяха |
| Cattle | Велика рогата худоба |
| Rod | Прут, стрижень |
| Efficiently | Доцільно |
| Mentally | Рахувати (лічити) про себе, усно |
| Reliably | Надійно |
| Cowriе shells | Тропічні мушлі, що замінювали гроші на деяких територіях Африки та Азії |
| Knots | Вузли |
| Strings | Мотузка |
| Place value | Розряд числа |
| Dramatically | Вражаюче |
| Gradually | Поступово |
| To emerge | З’являтися |
| Computations | Розрахунки, обчислення |
| Merchants | Купці |
| money lenders | Кредитори |
Translate the following expressions:
large amounts of objects, to cut tally marks, a small clay column, a large clay ball, to rely on fingers and toes, a hallmark in education, a hand-held calculator.
While you watch
Watch and make notes of the following information:
1. What inventions do the following years refer to?
30000 years ago, 4 millennium BC, 300 BC, 3rd century BC, 12th century BC.
2. What were the following objects used for?
Each tally, a small clay column, a large clay ball, a large clay column, clay tablets, a cattle hobble, nine rods, nail-shaped weed.
3. The developments of what civilizations/cultures were shown in the cartoon?
After you watch
I. Answer the following questions:
1. Did early human being’s remark begin in order to search solutions to basic problems?
2. What did they do to represent the passing of time?
3. What did each tally stand for?
4. What did early people use to represent a group of objects?
5. What did the ancient Babylonians use to represent ones and tens?
6. What did the ancient Egyptians use for numbers? (e.g.: What did a rod (a cattle hobble, a corn flower) stand for?
7. Did the early Romans create a number system showing groups of objects as well as individual objects?
8. Were the oldest human counting systems of Zulu created relying on fingers and toes?
9. Did early people in Nigeria have a complex number system based on 20? What operations did they have?
10. Did Incas like Persians use tied knots and strings for numbers?
11. Were the symbols from 0 to 9 invented in India in the third century BC?
12. What idea had dramatically changed the face of Mathematics?
13. Did fractions gradually emerge when early cultures shared their food and water, their lands?
14. What number system of fractions did the ancient Babylonians have?
15. How did Chinese Societies name numerators and denominators?
16. Did learning algorithms become a hallmark in education in Europe and the North America over a century ago?
17. What computations can be done mentally using today’s
strategies? What computations can be done with a hand-held calculator today?
Give examples.
II. Tell the class about the most interesting facts you have learned from the cartoon. Do you agree with the information mentioned in the cartoon? Add more information about the development of numbers.
Appendix A
Дата: 2016-10-02, просмотров: 265.
