Exercises

I. True or false?

1. The Intelligent Computer is a myth.

2. It were actually Deep Blue's designers, programmers, and builders who had beaten Kasparov, not the machine itself.

3. The world will be overtaken by silicon-based life forms.

4. Chess playing is to logic and calculation what intelligence is to relationships and negotiations.

5. Chess is social; intelligence is abstract.

6. The Deep Blue has inhuman logico-mathematical capability.

7. There are 7 dimensions of intelligence: linguistic, logico-mathemati­cal, spatial, musical, kinesthetic, intrapersonal, and interperson­al.

8. The Deep Blue has all these dimensions.

9. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". (A.C. Clarke)

II. Find an article about a business venture. Prepare to describe that 'venture in class.

III. Read the following paragraph as many times as you can in 3 minutes. Then rewrite as much info as you can remember.

By 1987 the computer market on American college campuses was thriving. Sales people from all the personal computer companies were actively pursuing the business of college administrators, professors and officials. They were selling computers less than half price and were adding attractive bonuses such as free software and support services. They were willing to venture a great deal of time and money in this market because they foresaw that it would thrive for a long time. There are 14 million people who provide or receive education on campuses, including 12.5 million new freshmen every year. Students who also buy computers are likely to become lifetime customers who may enter business after graduation and influence corporate buying decisions.

Topics for Essays, Oral or Written reports

1. Describe a kitchen gadget that you think should be invented. What would it do? Who would buy it? How should it be marked?

2. How has the world benefited from the invention of the PC? What problems have accompanied the computer revolution?

3. Of all advantages that the computer has brought to the modern world, which is the most beneficial?

4. Describe the invention that has had the greatest effect on the 20th century.

Lesson three

Prereading Discussion

1. What do computers-biz futurists say?

2. You start with the computer and end with the media, don't you?

3. What is multimedia?

4. Are the humans manipulated by the media in the same way as by reading?

5. Will every cycle of processor power and every byte of memory be sucked by new, larger software programs (Gate's law)?

6. The amount of info is said to be doubling every six to seven years. Can we keep up?

7. How might other humans use computers to control you?

8. When and how do you spend your time on the Internet?

Reading analysis

Vocabulary list

Nouns: census, anarchy, lingo, prerogative, humiliation, transgression, junk, moderation, cornerstone, vehicle, abdication, over-reliance.

Verbs: to mature, to approach, to roam, to browse, to surf, to reveal, to obscure, to hinder, to enhance.

Adjectives: crucial, instant, dismissive, entrepreneurial, voluminous, incredible.

Word combinations: back and forth, file transfer protocol (ftp), to filter out, to make sense, stress relievers, invasion of privacy.