Hardware & Software

Hardware is a term for the physical components of a computer when you purchase it. They include the system unit, different boards and chips, monitor, keyboard and mouse. You can purchase additional hardware items such as modems, scanners CD-ROM and DVD drives, video cameras and whatever else the computer gurus invent. So, hardware refers to objects that you can actually touch. By itself, hardware is not capable of doing anything. Look at your stereo. It sits there looking nice, without emitting sounds until the hardware pieces are given the sounds to play. Your computer needs something to make it work. That something is software.

In contrast, software is untouchable. Software exists as ideas, concepts, and symbols, but it has no substance. Software tells the hardware how to work, what to do, and when to do it. Software is what gives your computer its identity. It includes the basic operating system, utility, or application programmes, all expressed in a language your hardware understands.

Books provide a useful analogy. The pages and the ink are the hardware, while the words, sentences, paragraphs, and the overall meaning are the software. A computer without software is like a book full of blank pages – you need software to make the computer useful just as you need words to make a book meaningful.

There is software to tell your computer to do just about any task. Think about when you first checked your account on a plastic card. Either someone showed you how to do it or you followed the instructions on the screen of an automatic cash terminal. Those instructions “programmed” you on how to do the task in order to check your account. Those instructions were your “software” and you were the “hardware” that did the work.

12. Find the correct answer.

A) What is a monitor?

1. A programme which keeps your computer working.

2. The screen you look at when you are working on your computer.

3. The person who shows you how to use a computer.

B) What does a mouse do on a computer?

1. It helps you find your way around.

2. It switches your computer on.

3. It designs pages and artwork.

C) What is a floppy disk?

1. Something which plays music on your computer.

2. Something which cleans your computer.

3. A square piece of plastic (with a round piece of film in it) which stores information and files.

D) What is system box?

1. Special basic element of the computer.

2. Unit of measurement of systematic work of the computer.

3. A body of a personal computer, which contains power supply unit, system board, bays for disk drives and other devices.

E) What are computer chips?

1. Potatoes fried by computer programme.

2. Common name of integrated circuit.

3. Money paid for purchases in small Internet-shops.

13. Are these sentences true or false? If false, give the correct version.

1. Hardware is a term for the chemical components.

2. These components include the system mouse, keyboard unit, different monitors, boards and chips.

3. You can purchase additional hardware items.

4. Sometimes, hardware is capable of doing something.

5. Your computer needs someone to make it work.

6. Software tells the hardware how to work, what and when to do.

7. Software includes the basic application programmes, operating utility, or system.

8. You need hardware to make the computer useful just as you need slang to make your phrases meaningful.

14. Make up a short story answering the questions.

1. What are the main hardware components of any computer?

2. What hardware do you use if you have a PC at home? If not, what would you buy?

3. What is software and what is it used for?

4. What software do you often use when you work?

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20