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Task 15

Word-play

Solve the crossword puzzle using the clues below.

1

5

7 9

10

2 3 4 6 8

Across

The means of communication between a human and a computer. (4,9)

To load software on to a computer, ready for use. (7) To transmit a message to all nodes on a network. (9) and 3 down Usually found in one building or a group of buildings close

together. (5,4,7)

This kind of network often uses a telephone exchange to connect different

devices directly. (8)

Down

Taking place at exactly the same time as something else. (11)

See 9 across.

An board may be inserted into a computer to give it added features. (9)

The opposite of 9 across and 3 down. (3)

The network configuration in which all devices are linked through the central

computer. (4)

Language focus F

Time sequence

In activities such as scheduling, doing routine activities, and conducting and describing experiments, it is important to recognize the sequence of events. As we know, events do not simply occur in isolation, they occur either before, during, or after other events. This time sequence may be chronological, logical, or causal. The following tables show examples of time relaters.

1 Before given time-references:

	Time relaters
Adjectives	earlier former	preceding previous
Adverbials	already prior before	earlier first formerly originally	previously so far yet
	before that - before then	up to now/then until now/then	in the beginning (long) ago

Examples:

1. The memory storage capacity of earlier computers was not as large as those of today.

2. When the first digital computer was developed, the first analog computer had already been in use for some time.

3. Up to now, voice recognition technology has not been developed for mass marketing.

2 Simultaneous with given time-references:

T ime relaters

Adjectives Adverbials

contemporary

at present

at this point

now/then

today

for the time being

at the moment

at that time

simultaneous

meantime

meanwhile

in the meantime

when

at the same time

75

Examples:

1. At that time many new computer programs were being developed for use in businesses.

2. Computers may soon take over many daily tasks, but in the meantime ordinary people must continue to do them themselves.

3. Computer magazines keep us informed about contemporary issues in the computing world.

3 After given time-references:

Time relaters

A djectives following later next

Adverbials afterwards since by the end

after that by the time soon

eventually next

Examples:

1. Since the development of the chip, computers have become cheaper and more compact.

2. You should have a good idea of the various applications of computer software by the time you finish reading this book.

3. Although initial versions of word-processing programs were not very complex, later versions were much more sophisticated.

Sample paragraph:

Computers, as we know them today, have not been around for a long time. It was not until the mid-1940s that the first working digital computer was completed. But since then, computers have evolved tremendously. Vacuum tubes were used in the first-generation computers only to be replaced by transistors in the second-generation computers at the beginning of the earlyl960s. By the end of the 1960s, transistors themselves were replaced by tiny integrated circuit boards and, consequently, a new generation of computers was on the market. Fourth-generation computers are now produced with circuits that are much smaller than before and can fit on a single chip. Even now, new technologies are being developed to make even better machines.

E xercise 1 Read the following paragraph and, as you read, underline the time relaters.

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, many easy ways of calculating were devised. Logarithm tables, calculus, and the basis for the modern slide rule were invented during this period. It was not until the early 1800s that the first calculating machine appeared and, not too long after, Charles Babbage designed a machine which became the basis for building today's computers. A hundred years later, the first analog computer was built, but the first digital computer was not completed until 1944. Since then, computers have gone through four generations: digital computers using vacuum tubes in the 1 950s. transistors in the early 1960s, integrated circuits in the mid-60s, and a single chip in the 1970s. In the 1980s, we saw computers become smaller, faster, and cheaper. Earlier this decade, computers became portable, fr-,^ Hntnoe tp n"ln'!nm 4* the* vMe computer technology is growing now, we . , \ ■ " ■.■,•; •■r-.i-.i.ni:. bclv ■-. _s.■••■■■ •

the century.

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Exercise 2

E xercise 3

Read the following sentences which come from previous units. Underline the time relaters and indicate whether they refer to before, during, or after the given time reference. The first one has been done for you. after Since then, over seventy million PCs made by IBM and other

manufacturers have been sold. (Unit 1)

Over this period, PCs have become commodity items. Since IBM

made the design non-proprietary, anyone can make them. (Unit 1)

_.- Ten years later, in 1991, IBM were making PCs with 1 6Mb of

memory, expandable to 64Mb, running with a processor speed of 3 3MHz. (Unit 1)

_ - Large companies are considering running major applications on

PCs, something which, ten years ago, no one would have believed possible of a PC. (Unit 1)

When the computer finds the closest match, it encodes the

character in memory and displays it on the screen as if it has been typed. (Unit 2)

Enter the clipboard computer, a technology that has been in

development for the last 20 years but took hold in the mass market only this year. (Unit 2)

Eventually, we're all going to be interlinked, no matter which

service we use, in what DIALOG'S Richard Ream calls a 'network of networks'. (Unit 3)

Until then, most of us have to go to more than one service to

find everything we need. (Unit 3)

Now refer back to paragraphs 1,2,4, and 5 of the texf entitled Computer networks (page 67, Unit 6). Underline all the time relaters and indicate whether they refer to before, during, or after the given time reference.

77

_I

1	a detonator	a
2	an infector	b
3	to boot	c
4	to trigger	d
5	to erase	e
6	pirated	f
7	a shield	g
8	to detect	h

Computer viruses

Start-up

Try to answer these questions

1. What is a computer virus?

2. How does a virus work?

Reading

Taski

T ask 2

Before reading the text, match the words and definitions listed below.

a protective device

to remove all traces of something

a device used to set off an explosion or other destructive

process

to discover or recognize that something is present

to set a process in motion

something which transmits a disease or virus

stolen, obtained without the owner's consent

to load the operating system into memory

₄

7cS

Task 3

Now read the text to check your answers to Task 1.

How computer viruses work

A computer virus - an unwanted program that has entered your system without you knowing about 55

5 it - has two parts, which I'll call the infector and the detonator. They have two very different jobs. One of the features of a computer 60

10 virus that separates it from other kinds of computer program is that it replicates itself, so that it can spread (via floppies transported 65

15 from computer to computer, or networks) to other computers.

After the infector has copied the virus elsewhere, 70

20 the detonator performs the virus's main work. Generally, that work is either damaging data on your disks, altering what you see on your 75

25 computer display, or doing something else that interferes with the normal use of your computer. Here's an example of a 80

30 simple virus, the Lehigh

virus. The infector portion of i Lehigh replicates by attaching a copy of itself to COMMAND.COM (an 8£

35 important part of DOS), enlarging it by about 1000 bytes.

So let's say you put a floppy containing 90

40. COMMAND.COM into an infected PC at your office - that is, a PC that is running the Lehigh program. The infector portion of Lehigh 95

45 looks over DOS's shoulder, monitoring all floppy accesses. The first time you tell the infected PC to access your floppy drive, the Lehigh 100

50 infector notices the copy of C0MMAND.COM on the

floppy and adds a copy of itself to that file.

Then you take the floppy 105 home to your PC and boot from the floppy. (In this case, you've got to boot from the floppy in order for the virus to take effect, since you may 110 have many copies of C0MMAND.COM on your hard and floppy disks, but DOS only uses the C0MMAND.COM on the 115

boot drive.)

Now the virus has silently and instantly been installed in your PC's memory. Every time you access a hard disk 120 subdirectory or a floppy disk containing C0MMAND.COM, the virus sees that file and infects it, in the hope that this particular C0MMAND.COM 125 will be used on a boot disk on some computer someday.

Meanwhile, Lehigh keeps a count of infections. Once it has infected four copies of 130 C0MMAND.COM, the detonator is triggered. The detonator in Lehigh is a simple one. It erases a vital part of your hard disk, 135

making the files on that part of the disk no longer accessible. You grumble and set about rebuilding your work, unaware that Lehigh is 140 waiting to infect other unsuspecting computers if you boot from one of those four infected floppies.

Don't worry too much U5

about viruses. You may never see one. There are just a few ways to become infected that you should be aware of. The sources seem 150 to be service people, pirated games, putting floppies in publicly available PCs

without write-protect tabs, commercial software (rarely), and software distributed over computer bulletin board systems (also quite rarely, despite media misinformation).

Many viruses have spread through pirated - illegally copied or broken - games. This is easy to avoid. Pay for your games, fair and square.

If you use a shared PC or a PC that has public access, such as one in a college PC lab or a library, be very careful about putting floppies into that PC's drives without a write-protect tab. Carry a virus-checking program and scan the PC before letting it write data onto floppies.

Despite the low incidence of actual viruses, it can't hurt to run a virus checking program now and then. There are actually two kinds of antivirus programs: virus shields, which detect viruses as they are infecting your PC, and virus scanners, which detect viruses once they've infected you.

Viruses are something to worry about, but not a lot. A little common sense and the occasional virus scan will keep you virus-free. Remember these four points:

• Viruses can't infect a data or text file.

• Before running an antivirus program, be sure to cold- boot from a write- protected floppy.

• Don't boot from floppies except reliable DOS disks or your original production disks.

• Stay away from pirated software.

► Vocabulary

fair and square (I. 113) - honestly

it can't hurt (1. 126) - it's probably a good idea

79

ask 4 Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F) in relation to

the information in the text. If you feel a statement is false, change it to make it true.

1 LJ Viruses cannot be spread through a computer network, only via floppies

transported from computer to computer.

2. LJ The virus will spread as soon as you put the infected floppy in your PC.

3. D The infector works by interfering in some way with the normal use of

your computer.

4. LJ The detonator in Lehigh works by altering what you see on your screen.

5. LJ Most viruses spread through pirated games.

6. ED You should run an antivirus program every time you use your computer.

7. LJ There are not very many viruses in circulation.

8. LJ Virus shields are more effective than virus scanners.

n sk 5 Indicate the line reference where the following ideas are found in the text.

	line
1	1
2
^	1
4	1

The Lehigh virus must infect four copies ofC0MMAND.COM before damage is done to data.

Always boot your computer from dependable DOS disks or your original disk.

The infector part of a virus must first copy itself somewhere before the detonator part damages the data on your disks.

•Virus scanners discover viruses after the infection and virus shields discover viruses during the infection process.

ask 6 These are answers to questions about the text. Write the questions.

1. Two, one that infects and one that does the damage.

2. By interfering in some way with the normal use of the computer.

3. After it has infected four copies of C0MMAND.COM.

1. Every time you access a hard disk subdirectory or a floppy disk containing C0MMAND.COM.

4. Yes, by using your common sense and by occasionally scanning for them.

Using the line reference ;^ivei), look back in the text and find the reference for the words in italics.

1. They have two very (line 7)

2. is that it replicates itself (line 12)

3. enlarging it by about (line 36)

4. of itself to that file (line 5 3)

5. and infects it (line 73)

6. This is easy to (line 112)

7. which detect viruses (line 131)

8. once they've infected (line 134)

SO

_r

Task 8 Using the line references given, look back in the text and find words or phrases

with a similar meaning to:

1. reproduces (lines 10-15)

2. infect (lines 12 17)

3. changing (lines 20-25)

4. immediately (lines (S5-7O)

5. complain (lines SS 90)

Using the line references given, look back in the text and find words or phrases that ha^e an opposite meaning to:

6. reducing (lines 5 5-40)

7. removed from (lines 65-70)

8. records (lines 80-8 5)

9 ignorant (lines 9 5-100) 10 frequently (lines 100-105)

Computer security

Security breach blamed on 'hacker'