Computer Engineering (English for Special Purposes). Андриенко А.С. - 50 стр.

UptoLike

ВУЗ: 

ТТИ ЮФУ | Таганрог

Составители: 

Рубрика: 

50
h) What are the basic recreational applications of WWW?
What is the Internet?
What is this computer phenomenon called the Internet, or the
Net? Do you personally have need of it? Before you decide to get "on"
the Internet, you may want to know something about it.
Millions of people around the world use the Internet to search
for and retrieve
1
information on all sorts of topics in a wide variety
2
of
areas including the arts, business, government, humanities
3
, news,
politics and recreation
4
. People communicate through electronic mail
(e-mail), discussion groups, chat channels and other means of
informational exchange. They share
5
information and make
commercial and business transactions
6
. All this activity is possible
because tens of thousands of networks
7
are connected to the Internet
and exchange information in the same basic ways.
Using the Internet, David, a teacher in the United States,
acquired course materials. A Canadian father accessed
8
it to stay in
contact with his daughter in Russia. A housewife used it to examine
scientific research on the early beginnings of the universe. A farmer
turned to it to find information about new planting methods that make
use of satellites. Corporations are drawn to it because of its power to
advertise their products and services to millions of potential
customers. People around the globe read the latest national and
international news by means of its vast reporting and information
services.
The World Wide Web
9
(WWW) is a part of the Internet. But
it's not a collection of networks. Rather, it is information that is
connected or linked
10
together like a web. You access this information
through one interface or tool called a Web browser
11
. The number of
resources and services that are part of the World Wide Web is growing
extremely fast. In 1996 there were more than 20 million users of the
WWW, and more than half the information that is transferred across
the Internet is accessed through the WWW. By using a computer
terminal (hardware) connected to a network that is a part of the
Internet, and by using a program (software) to browse
12
or retrieve
information that is a part of the World Wide Web, the people
connected to the Internet and World Wide Web through the local
providers
13
have access to a variety of information. Each browser
provides
14
a graphical interface. You move from place to place, from
site
15
to site on the Web by using a mouse to click on a portion of text,
icon or region of a map. These items are called hyperlinks
16
or links.
Each link you select represents a document, an image, a video clip or
an audio file somewhere on the Internet. The user doesn't need to
know where it is, the browser follows the link.
63
The baby computer, is called Maddam, a name derived from
Macro-Module and Digital Differential Analyzer Machine.
The scientists indicate that the Maddam is a special purpose
computer to be used only for military requirements as they develop.
The working model was built to show that existing electronic
components can be used in shrinking a commercial computer from a
room size to size of a desk, and that military electronic equipment can
be compressed to a convenient size for aircraft, spacecraft, and
missiles.
The computer has 5,500 components housed in a space
measuring three inches by six inches by 11 inches, and a component
density of 69,000 components per cubic foot. It weighs 12 pound and
can perform 33,000 mathematical calculations per second.
TEXT 4
Pre-reading task
1. Read the first part of the text ‘What is a Microprocessor”?
2. Study the definition of terms given below the text.
3. Discuss the following questions in group:
a) What is a microprocessor? Try to give your own definition
of this term.
b) What is a microcomputer based on?
What is a Microprocessor?
Part I
A microprocessor
1
is a programmable logic device. That is,
the function of logical operation that the device accomplishes may be
altered by applying instructional "words" at its input.
The above definition, although correct, is somewhat broad.
Technically, the term microprocessor has come to mean the central
processing unit (CPU)
2
of a small computer system. By itself, the
microprocessor cannot function; but when it is combined with a
relatively small number of support circuits, it has most of the
characteristics included in the classic definition of a computer. The
microprocessor has traded the greater speed and word length of a
computer for compact size and low cost.
A microcomputer is a fully operational system based upon a
microprocessor chip
3
which in itself contains a large percentage of the
computer capability. The system possesses all of the minimum

Страницы