Computer Engineering

1. Computers have evolved over hundreds of years. The modern computer is the product of many people's ideas blended over time. This process of development is still going on.

2. Improvements in electronic circuitry made possible increasingly powerful computers. First-generation, vacuum-tube computers gave way to second-generation, transistor-powered computers. Third-generation computers used tiny silicon chips engraved with integrated circuits. Then fourth-generation computers were built using large-scale integrated circuits — thousands of ICs squeezed onto single chips. Soon, one superchip will hold millions of ICs.

3. Computers became more powerful, smaller, and easier to use. They are versatile electronic tools that can store information and instructions and process data with remarkable speed and reliability. Unlike other tools and machines, computers allow for interactive, or two-way, communication.

4. All computers can be divided into following ways. Analog computers calculate by measuring the continuous change in some physical quality. Digital computers calculate by counting numbers.

5. Mainframe computers are large, powerful, and expensive. Minicomputers are smaller than mainframes and not as powerful. Microcomputers, the smallest computers, are also known as personal computers, home computers, and desktop computers.

6. General-purpose computers can perform a variety of tasks. Special-purpose, or dedicated, computers are designed for one particular purpose.

7. The computer is a universal information processing machine. The installation of computers in certain organizations has already greatly increased the efficiency of these organizations because computers are a million times faster than humans in performing computing operations. A computer receives, stores, compares, changes, and manipulates data instantaneously.

8. A computer starts working when it is given some information in the form of a computer program which is a set of instructions or software that tells a computer what to do.

9. There are three basic steps in handling data: input — entering data and instructions that enable the computer to do a specific job; processing — sorting data and doing calculations; and output — sending the results of processing to a storage or display device.

10. A computer receives your input through the keyboard, disk drive, and other parts that you use to give it data or instructions. This is called hardware – the physical parts of a computer, including peripherals. The central processing unit belongs hardware. CPU is the computer's "brain". It has a control unit and an arithmetic/logic unit. The control unit determines whether the arithmetic/logic unit will add, subtract, or compare the numbers it was given. A single silicon chip can be the entire CPU of a microcomputer. A chip contains thousands of tiny, interconnected electrical circuits.

11. Processing includes sorting, calculating, and other steps involved in following your instructions.

12. The information that results from the processing is called output. The computer displays output on its screen and can print the output or store it on disks.

13. A computer's ROM is not affected when you turn off the computer. ROM includes built-in instructions that tell the machine what to do whenyou turn it on and how to perform calculations. RAM is a temporary memory that holds your input while you are working with it.

3. Перепишите и письменно переведите 6 – 11 абзацы.

4. Переведите письменно вопросы и ответьте на них:

1. What made possibleincreasingly powerful computers?

2. What kind of communication do computers allow?

3. The computer is a universal information processing machine, isn’t it?

4. Is software a set of instructions?

5. How many steps are in handling data?

6. What is the “brain” of any computer?

7. Where does a computer display its output?

5. Выпишите из 10, 11 и 12 абзаца слова, оформленные окончаниями -s, и объясните значение употребления окончания –s:

А. – множественное число существительного;

Б. – притяжательный падеж существительного;

В. – глагол 3 лица ед. числа, время Present Simple.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20