- •Unit. Information technology. Text 1. What is information technology? Active vocabulary.
- •Text 2. Internet and World Wide Web. Active vocabulary.
- •Active vocabulary.
- •Unit. Applied informatics. Text 1. Computer literacy. Active vocabulary.
- •Text 2. Application of personal computers. Active vocabulary.
- •Text 3. Computer programming and programming languages. Active vocabulary.
Unit. Applied informatics. Text 1. Computer literacy. Active vocabulary.
computer literacy – компьютерная грамотность.
problem-solving device – устройство, обеспечивающее решение задачи.
to be aware of – понимать, сознавать.
opportunity – возможность.
basics – основы.
application – применение, использование.
to restate – пересмотреть, переосмыслить.
significant – значительный.
achievements – достижения.
computing – вычисление, счёт, работа на компьютере.
to embrace – охватывать.
dimension – измерение.
instruction – команда, инструкция, указание.
to direct the operation – направлять работу.
subscription magazine – журнал по подписке.
data processing system – система обработки данных.
to have much in common – иметь много общего.
intricate – сложный, запутанный.
electronic circuit – электронная цепь, схема.
to store numbers – запоминать числа.
to manipulate – управлять, обращаться, преобразовывать.
to input / to feed in (information) – вводить информацию.
addition – сложение.
subtraction – вычитание.
division – деление.
multiplication – умножение.
exponentiation – возведение в степень.
input device – устройство ввода.
to make decisions – принимать решения.
instantaneously – мгновенно, немедленно.
Ex. 1. Read and translate the text.
Informed citizens of our information-dependent society should be computer-literate, which means that they should be able to use computers as everyday problem-solving devices. They should be aware of the potential of computers to influence the quality of life.
There was a time when only privileged people had an opportunity to learn the basics, called the three R’s: reading, writing and arithmetics. Now, as we are quickly becoming an information-becoming society, it is time to restate this right as the right to learn reading, writing and computing. There is a little doubt that computers and their many applications are among the most significant technical achievements of the century. They bring with them both economic and social changes. “Computing” is a concept that embraces not only the old third R, arithmetics, but also a new idea – computer literacy.
In an information society a person who is computer-literate need not be an expert on the design of computers. He needn’t even know much about how to prepare programs which are the instructions that direct the operations of computers. All of us are already on the way to becoming computer-literate. Just think of your everyday life. If you receive a subscription magazine in the post-office, it is probably addressed to you by a computer. If you buy something with a bank credit card or pay a bill by check, computers help you process the information. When you check out at the computer of your store, a computer assists the checkout clerk and the store manager. When you visit your doctor, your schedules and bills are special services, such as laboratory tests, are prepared by computer. Many actions that you have taken or observed have much in common. Each relates to some aspect of a data processing system.
Computers are firmly rooted in nearly all areas of life nowadays. In company life, documents and products are produced by using computers, communication is by e-mail, companies present their commodities and services in the Internet and copious amounts of data are stored in databases. Different application programs are required for all of these processes.
In the Applied Informatics degree course, students learn how efficient, user-friendly, secure and upgradeable information technology systems can be designed, built and meaningfully used and operated in practice. To achieve this, the degree course combines subjects from the core fields of Information Systems and Software Engineering, Manufacturing and Automation Engineering, Computer-based Signal Processing and Image Processing as well as Communication Technology.
Career prospects for graduates can be described as being full of promise in view of the major deficit of IT-specialists.
Career prospects:
Graduates will be able to pursue multidisciplinary careers. They will be qualified for a variety of positions such as:
information specialist / advisor
business application consultant / architect
information resource manager / consultant
project manager
knowledge management specialist
IT operations manager
systems analyst / developer
business analyst in various specialist areas (e.g. biodiversity, business process modelling, construction management, enterprise modelling, healthcare)
software engineer
quantitative analyzer
researcher / educator / trainer
A computer can solve a series of problems and make thousands of logical decisions without becoming tired. It can find the solution to a problem in a fraction of the time it takes a human being to do the job.
A computer can replace people in dull, routine tasks, but it works according to the instructions given to it. There are times when a computer seems to operate like a mechanical “brain”, but its achievements are limited by the minds of human beings. A computer cannot do anything unless a person tells it what to do and gives it the necessary information; but because electric pulses can move at the speed of life, a computer can carry out great numbers of arithmetic-logical operations almost instantaneously. A person can do the same, but in many cases that person would be dead long before the job was finished.
Ex. 2. Answer the following questions.
What does “a computer-literate person” mean?
Are you aware of the potential of computers to influence your life?
What do the people mean by “the basics”?
What is the role of computers in our society?
What is “computing”?
What is a program?
Prove that we all are on the way to becoming computer-literate.
Give examples of using computers in everyday life.
What is applied informatics?
Ex. 3. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Explain why.
Informed citizens of our information-dependent society should be computer-literate.
In an information society a person who is computer-literate need not be an expert on the design of computers.
Now, as we are quickly becoming an information-becoming society, it is time to restate this right as the right to learn reading, writing and computing.
Computers can find solutions to many problems.
Every person should study The Applied Informatics degree course nowadays.
The basic job of computers is processing of information.
The basic idea of a computer is that we can make the machine do what we want.
Ex. 4. Read, translate and remember the following word-combinations:
An information-dependent society; a computer-literate citizen; an everyday problem-solving device; to be aware of; to influence the quality of life; to have an opportunity; to learn the basics; to learn computing; the most significant technical achievements; to embrace computer literacy; to prepare programs; to direct the operations of a computer; to be on the way of becoming computer-literate; to process information; to have much in common; a data processing system.
Ex. 5. Translate the following terms into English (use the dictionary):
Bar-code scanner; run-time version; remote control program; storage of characters; off-line storage; on-line storage; reset key; justification; home key; shift key; data language; software level; hardware level; link; software engineering; memory service; word processing program.
Ex. 6. Make up 10 English sentences with the words from your active vocabulary and with the word-combinations from ex. 4 in written form.
Ex. 7. What new information have you learnt from this text? Have you got anything to add? Discuss it in groups.
Ex. 8. Give a summary of the text.