The Internet

Read and translate the text.

The Internet is a worldwide information system consisting of countless networks and computers, which allow millions of people to share information and data. Thanks to the Internet it is now possible for people all over the world to communicate with one another in a fast and cheap way.

The Internet was first invented in the 1960s in the USA by the Department of Defence as an internal project to link computers. The Department wanted an extremely safe way of sending messages in case of nuclear attack. It was a British physicist, Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, who used it to make information available to everyone and created the most important media of the 21st century. In 1 980 while working at CERN in Geneva - the largest particle physics laboratory in the world - he first thought of using hypertext to share and update information among researchers. Then in 1989-90 he produced a plan to link hypertext to the Internet to create the World Wide Web. He designed and built the first site browser and editor, as well as the first web server called httpd (Hypertext Trasfer Protocol Deamon). Hypertext are the words or chains of words in a text we can click on to be linked to new sites whose content is related to the words. But how does this global system work? It is a network of people and information linked together by telephone lines which are connected to computers. The applications are based on a client/server relationship, in which your computer is the client and a remote computer is the server. All you need to join this system is a computer, a normal telephone line, a modem and an account with an Internet Service Provider (ISP), a company that provides access to the Internet. A user buys a subscription to a service provider, which gives him/her an identifying username, a password and an email address. With a computer and a modem, the user can connect to the service provider's computer which gives access to many services, such as WWW (world wide web), emails and FTP (file transfer protocol).

Complete the sentences with the missing information.

1 The Internet allows people to…

2 In the 1960s, the Internet was used…

3 Thanks to Sir Timothy Berners-Lee….

4 He created the World Wide Web by linking…

5 All you need to access the Internet is…

6 The ISP is…

Text 9.5

Read and translate the text.

Dial-up.

It used to be the most common way to access the Internet. This type of connection requires you to use a landline telephone connection and a modem connected to your computer. In order to establish the connection, you must dial a telephone number provided by the ISR Nowadays it represents the cheapest but slowest way to connect to the Internet. Another disadvantage of this type of connection is that you cannot make or receive phone calls while connected to the Internet.

DSL.

A digital subscriber line is another way to connect to the Internet through a telephone connection, but the quality and speed of the connection is significantly greater than a dial-up connection. Moreover, unlike a dial¬up connection, this connection is always on, which means you can still make and receive telephone calls with your landline telephone.

Cable.

In order to have this type of connection you must subscribe to an account with a local cable television provider and connect a cable modem to your computer. This connection is very fast and doesn’t interfere with your telephone line.

Wireless.

This is one of the newest Internet connection types. This connection does not require your computer to be connected to telephone or cable wires, as it uses radio frequency bands. You simply need a modem and an account with an Internet provider. Nowadays, many coffee shops, restaurants, public libraries and schools offer this type of connection for free. However, it is typically more expensive and mainly available in metropolitan areas.

Satellite.

This type of connection allows a user to access the Internet via a satellite that orbits the earth. Because of the enormous distances signals must travel, this connection is slightly slower than terrestrial connections through cables. It represents an excellent option for people living in rural areas where other types of connections are not available.