- •Vocabulary 253
- •Information for study
- •If it keeps up, man atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger.
- •1. Read and translate the text.
- •2. Check up your understanding.
- •3. Retell the text briefly using the following expressions:
- •4. What's missing? You can help yourself referring to the text.
- •7. There are two words given in each item. You must explain
- •8. Give the opposites of the following words.
- •9. Give the synonyms of the following words:
- •10. What verbs frequently precede these words?
- •11. Supply the articles where necessary:
- •5. Rearrange the words and get the right sentences.
- •6. Put the letters in order to make words, then use the words to complete the sentences.
- •12. Translate into English:
- •13. Are you up to giving a right explanation?
- •Who can express the most precise meaning of the word? Are you getting on well with your English? Try to do your best!
- •14. Fairly and rather
- •1. Match the words given in the left column with their definitions in the right column, e.G. 1-21:
- •2. Invent sentences using the expressions from the list below:
- •3. Reading comprehension
- •Computer terms in use
- •If it’s beyond your reach, give Russian explanations at least.
- •Information for study
- •We live in a time when automation is ushering in a second industrial revolution.
- •1. Read and translate the text.
- •2. Are you an experienced person?
- •3. Retell the text briefly using the following words and expressions:
- •4. What’s missing? You can help yourself referring to the text.
- •5. Rearrange the words and get the right sentences.
- •6. Put the letters in order to make words, then use the words to complete the sentences.
- •11. Supply the articles where necessary:
- •12. Translate into English.
- •13. Are you up to giving a right explanation?
- •3. Vocabulary training
- •Identification of words.
- •4. Computer terms in use
- •1. Read and try to understand the given above text.
- •2. No doubt, a person who is willing to establish a new business must have certain skills, such as:
- •Phrasal verbs
- •If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.
- •If anything just cannot go wrong, it will anyway.
- •If everything seems to go well, you have obviously overlooked something.
- •Information for study
- •1. Read and translate the text.
- •2. Check up your understanding. Give full answers:
- •3. Retell the text briefly using the following expressions and terms:
- •4. What’s missing? If you are in doubt refer to the text.
- •5. Rearrange the words and get the right sentences:
- •6. Put the letters in order to make words, then use the words to complete the sentences:
- •12. Translate into English:
- •13. Are you up to giving a right explanation?
- •If you’re in doubt we can help you.
- •He did his best and won the prize.
- •3. Vocabulary training
- •1. Identification of words
- •2. Useful expressions
- •Invent sentences using the expressions from the left column:
- •3. Reading comprehension
- •4. Computer terms in use
- •If it is beyond your grasp give at least Russian explanation:
- •Information for study
- •3. Vocabulary training
- •Fig. 1 Basic Computer Architecture
- •Moor’s law
- •1. Information for study
- •3. Vocabulary training
- •Inflation
- •Infidelity
- •1. Information for study
- •If builders built buildings the way the programmers wrote programs, the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization.
- •1. Read and translate the text.
- •2. Check up your understanding. Give full answers:
- •3. Retell the text briefly using the following terms and expressions:
- •4. What is missing? If you are in doubt refer to the text. Take it into account that in each item the first letter of the missing word is used:
- •5. Rearrange the words and get the right sentences:
- •6. Supply the preposition if one is missing. If necessary refer to the text:
- •12. Translate into English.
- •13. Are you up to giving a right explanation?
- •3. Vocabulary training
- •Identification of words
- •2. Useful expressions
- •3. Phrasal verbs
- •If necessary use the dictionary at the end of this book.
- •4. Reading comprehension
- •5. Computer terms in use
- •Read and try to understand the given above text.
- •What’s your opinion concerning software piracy? Will it exist always?
- •It is a rather pleasant experience to be alone in a bank at night.
- •1. Information for study
- •Information.
- •1. Read and translate the text.
- •2. Check up your understanding. Give full answers.
- •3. Retell the text briefly using the fallowing expressions and terms:
- •4. What’s missing? If you are in doubt refer to the text. Take it into account that in each item the first letter of the missed word is used.
- •5. Rearrange the words and get the right sentences.
- •6. Supply the preposition if one is missing.
- •12. Are you up to giving a right explanation?
- •Identification of words
- •Useful expressions
- •Invent sentences using the following expressions and words:
- •Reading comprehension
- •3. Vocabulary training
- •4. Each sentence contains a word that is wrong.
- •5. Fill the gaps with the appropriate word. Then refer to the text.
- •Give the explanation to the following acronyms and abbreviations (p. 223 will help you):
- •Multimedia
- •Programming languages and functions
- •Real-Time Communication
- •I give myself sometimes admirable advice, but I’m incapable of taking it.
- •Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
- •It is a human zoo.
- •I’ve had three wives, six children, six grandchildren, and I still don’t understand women.
- •Vittorio Gassman
- •I prefer the company of women. I’m buzzed by the female mystique.
- •If Restaurants Function Like Microsoft
- •I don’t know why women want any of the things men have when one of the things that women have is men.
- •Fairly, rather
- •Vocabulary training
- •1. Match the words with their definitions:
- •3. Reading comprehension
- •Vocabulary training
- •1. Identification of words
- •3. Reading comprehension
- •4. Computer terms in use
- •Do and make
- •3. Vocabulary training
- •1. Identification of words
- •2. Reading comprehension
- •4. Computer terms in use
- •Vocabulary training
- •Verb study practice
- •Vocabulary training
- •Vocabulary training
- •Vocabulary training
- •Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language.
- •Vocabulary
- •I. Funk, n. Lewis
- •Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary Of the English Language
3. Vocabulary training
Identification of words
Match the words in the left-hand column with their equivalents in the right-hand column, e.g. 3-5:
1. advent |
1. ability to do something well |
2. conventional |
2. ability to see; foresight |
3. crunch |
3. above the level |
4. found |
4. acceptability |
5. foundry |
5. an arrangement of straps etc attaching something to the body |
6. goal |
6. ancestor |
7. grasp |
7. chief office |
8. harness |
8. coming, arrival |
9. headquarter |
9. crush noisily with the teeth |
10. incredible |
10. done by habit or custom |
11. interact |
11. establish |
12. overhead |
12. have an effect upon each other |
13. predecessor |
13. impossible to believe |
14. shrink |
14. make easy to do or understand |
15. simplify |
15. make or become smaller |
16. skill |
16. not much |
17. slight |
17. object |
18. tremendous |
18. understand |
19. validity |
19. very great or strong |
20. vision |
20. workshop |
Useful expressions
Try to understand, give an English explanation, if possible, and translate the following expressions, using the given meanings of the words. Then invent sentences using these expressions.
Be well-grounded in; ground – give basic training in.
Have tremendous grasp in; tremendous – (colloq.) excellent, grasp – understand.
Be private man; private – not open to the public, secluded.
Part way; part – separate, divide.
File for bankruptcy; file – start action in law towards smth.
Break barrier; the context will help you to understand.
In particular; particular – relating only to one person or thing.
Such computers are used for number crunching; crunch – consult the previous exercise.
His mission throughout his life; mission – task assigned to a person, throughout – from start to finish.
Use on the mobile basis; not fixed, changing quickly, portable, not relying on fixed cables etc; basis – foundation.
3. Reading comprehension
Read the text, try to understand the topic, look for the logical sequence of the items and put them in the proper order. The first item is in the right position.
How to begin memory upgrade
Turn the computer off. Disconnect all of the cables and other connections into the computer, including the telephone line connection for the modem, the printer connection, the monitor connection, and everything else.
Each connection should only connect one way, so there is no need to remember how the connection was oriented before it was disconnected. But chances are you’ve got a nice little collection of connections into your computer, so you don’t want to be looking at a confused pile of disconnected wires when you’re installing the memory.
It’s not uncommon for a computer to draw a little bit of electrical current while it is plugged in, even when it has been powered off, so that’s why it is important to unplug the power connector, too.
Set the computer in a nice comfortable work space and remove the computer case cover.
Also unplug the power connector from PC. It’s important that nothing external to the computer be connected before you start the upgrade so that nothing outside of the computer can provide any kind of electrical current to the computer while you are working on it.
If you are not used to disconnecting everything then you will want to at least carefully note where each connection was attached. In this case a short strip of masking tape is used to scribble a little note for each connection and then it must be wrapped around the cord before it is disconnected.
3. Computer terms in use
Match the terms in the left-hand column with their definitions in the right-hand column.
1. free-hand computing |
1. wireless control |
2. head-mounted display |
2. a display screen on which the user can make selections by touching the screen |
3. touch-screen |
3. a display that is attached to a hat or helmet etc |
4. parallel processing |
4. characteristics and possibilities |
5. portable device (computer) |
5. computing without using a keyboard |
6. power and functionality |
6. device (computer) that is able to be lifted and carried |
7. wireless capabilities |
7. a computer that fits in one’s hand |
8. handheld computer |
8. processing data through the use of many CPUs; each of them may be used for processing one part of a program, which provides much more faster processing |
4. A bit of reading practice
The IBM PC
In July of 1980, IBM (International Business Machines) representatives met for the first time with Microsoft’s Bill Gates to talk about writing an operating system for IBM’s new hush-hush «personal» computer. IBM had been observing the growing personal computer market for some time. They had already made one dismal attempt to crack the market with their IBM 5100. At one point, IBM considered buying the fledgling game company Atari to commandeer Atari’s early line of personal computers. However, IBM decided to stick with making their own personal computer line and developed a brand new operating system to go with. The secret plans were referred to as «Project Chess». The code name for the new computer was «Acorn». On August 12, 1981, IBM released their new computer, re-named the IBM PC. The «PC» stood for «personal computer» making IBM responsible for popularizing the term «PC».
The first IBM PC ran on at 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 microprocessor. The PC came equipped with 16 kilobytes of memory, expandable to 256 k. The PC came with one or two floppy disc drives and an optional color monitor. The price tag started at $1,565, which would be nearly $4000 today. What really made the IBM PC different from the previous IBM computers was that it was the first one built from off the shelf parts (called open architecture) and marketed by outside distributors. The Intel chip was chosen because IBM had already obtained the rights to manufacture the Intel chips.
Less than four months after IBM introduced the PC, Time Magazine named the computer «man of the year».
From HP to Agilent Technology & HP
Following graduation from Stanford University in 1934, electrical engineers Dave Packard and Bill Hewlett went on a two-week camping and fishing trip in the Colorado mountains. On this trip, they discovered strong similarities in their attitudes toward many things and became close friends. After graduation, Bill continued graduate studies at Stanford and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) while Dave took a job with General Electric in New York state. Within a few years, and with the encouragement of one of Stanford professors, the two decided to start a business «and make a run for it».
In 1938 Dave Packard moved back to California, Palo Alto. Bill Hewlett rented the cottage behind the Dave’s house and they began part-time work in the garage with $538 in working capital. Their first product was an electronic instrument used to test sound equipment.
On the 1st of January, 1939 they formed partnership. Coin toss decided company name – HP (Hewlett-Packard).
In the 40s test and measurement products of HP won widespread acceptance among engineers and scientists. The start of World War II turned a trickle of US government orders for electronic instruments into a stream and then a flood. New products were added and HP built its first corporate headquarters, manufacturing plants and research-and-development facilities. Production moved from garage to rented building in Palo Alto. The company gave its first bonus to employees, a $5 Christmas bonus. This later became a production bonus and – later still – company-wide profit-sharing plan. Net Revenue: $34,000; employees: 3; products: 8.
As a result – in 1942 – construction of the first company-owned building, a 10,000-square foot of office / laboratory / factory premise. Bill and Dave designed it as an open system – without interior walls – the space could be flexible.
In the 50s Bill and Dave, with the help of their management team, developed the company’s corporate objectives – the basis of its special management philosophy – and the company embarked upon a path toward globalization.
1957-1959. First public stock offering. Net Revenue: $30 million; employees: 1,778; products: 373. Following the signing of the Treaty of Rome, the company established its presence outside of California with European Marketing Organization in Geneva (Switzerland) and first manufacturing plant in Boeblingen (Germany).
In 60s test and measurement field continued its steady growth. Company branched out into related fields such as medical electronics and analytical instrumentation and began to be noticed as a progressive, well-managed company and a great place to work.
These years the following events happened:
HP’s first listing on Fortune magazine’s list of the top 500 US companies.
First joint venture was formed with Yokogawa Electric Works in Tokyo (Japan).
Company celebrated its 25 anniversary. Dave Packard elected chairman; Bill Hewlett elected president.
The company’s first computer was designed.
Net Revenue: $165 million; employees: 9000.
In the 80’s the massive impact of computer technology on all product lines resulted not only in products with higher performance at lower cost, but also in radical changes in processes and the organization as a whole.
The stunning development of HP is illustrated by the data given below:
Year |
Net revenue $ |
Employees |
1940 |
34,000 |
3 |
1951 |
5,5 million |
215 |
1965 |
165 million |
9,000 |
1970 |
365 million |
16,000 |
1980 |
3 billion |
57,000 |
1985 |
6,5 billion |
85,000 |
1990 |
13,2 billion |
91,500 |
1997 |
42,9 billion |
121,900 |
These data are in sharp contrast to the $538 in working capital that founders Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard began with in 1938.
David Packard died on March 26, 1996; Bill Hewlett died on January 12, 2001.
Initial public stock offering raised on Nov.18, 1999 up to $2,1 billion and broke records at the largest IPO ( Initial Public Offering) in Silicon Valley history. In this year HP announced strategic realignment to create an independent measurement company composed of test and measurement components, chemical analysis and medical businesses (the name of it is Agilent Technologies), and a computing and imaging company that includes all of HP’s computing, printing and imaging businesses (named HP).
Let’s discuss
Be so kind as to answer the following questions.
Why do you think the project of IBM PC was «hush-hush» and why the company decided to make its own computer line?
What made the IBM PC different from the previous computers?
Can you characterize Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard?
How were they acquainted and what were their first steps?
What event stimulated almost from the very beginning fast development of the HP?
What was the main tradition of the HP. Why?
How can you explain the successful and extremely fast development of the HP?
Why did the HP announce in 1999 strategic realignment to create an independent company?
5. Relax a bit
A
Do you know where to put quotation marks?
1
Teacher: A preposition is not a good word to end a sentence with.
Student: You have just ended the sentence with with!
Teacher: But do you know what did I end the sentence with with for?
Student: No, and I also do not know what you ended that one with with with for for!
2
The teacher said that that that that was written on the blackboard was written wrong.
Life is what happens when you are making other plans.
J. Lennon
Happiness is the only thing we can give without having.
Experience is the name everyone gives to his mistakes.
Oscar Wild.
Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you.
Huxley
A
Dummies
Customer: My computer won’t work. You, guys, must have broken it when you installed the modem.
Tech. Support: What happens when you turn it on?
Customer: It won’t turn on anymore!
Tech. Support: So, you don’t see any lights or hear any noise?
Customer: I’m telling you it won’t turn on.
Tech. Support: Is it plugged in?
Customer: Of course, it’s plugged in, you moron!
Tech. Support: When you push the power button it turns on.
Customer: Power button? This computer doesn’t have a power button.
Tech. Support: Sir, all computers have power buttons. Look at the front of the case, find the word «power», and push the button.
Customer: YOU FIXED IT! Thanks!!!
Tech. Support: What happens when you turn the computer on?
Customer: The screen just stays black.
Tech. Support: Is the computer plugged in?
Customer: I took it to a repair shop last week, and they apparently fixed it, so it doesn’t need a power cord anymore.
Tech. Support: Is the computer a laptop computer?
Customer: No, but they never gave me back the power cord, so they must have fixed it, so it didn’t need it.
Tech. Support: Go back to the repair store and get your power cord back. They just forgot to give it to you.
Tech. Support: Ok sir, let’s press the ctrl and esc keys at the same time. That brings up a task list in the middle of the screen. Now type the letter ‘P’ to bring up the ‘Program Manager’.
Customer: I don’t have a ‘P’.
Tech. Support: On your keyboard, sir.
Customer: What do you mean?
Tech. Support: ‘P’ on your keyboard, sir.
Customer: I’m not going to do that!!!
Tech. Support: You need to pick a password. It should contain a combination of numbers, symbols, and upper and lowercase letters.
Customer: Upper and lowercase? I don’t understand.
Tech. Support: You know, big letters and little letters.
Customer: Oh, of course! But I have to say, you must avoid that technical language with me!
B
Life experience