English for Technical Students. Part 1

Laptop

1. A laptop is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the components of a desktop computer including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device (a touchpad, also known as a trackpad or a pointing stick) and speakers into a single unit. A laptop is powered by mains electricity via an AC adapter or can be used away from an outlet using a rechargeable battery. A laptop battery stores enough energy to run the laptop for three to five hours. When the laptop is plugged into the mains, the battery charges whether or not the computer is running.

2. A personal, portable information manipulator the ‘Dynabook’ was imagined by Alan Kay in 1968. The first commercially available portable computer the IBM 5100 appeared in September 1975. In 1981the first laptop-sized portable computer the Epson HX-20 was announced. The Epson had a LCD screen, a rechargeable battery, and a calculator-size printer. The Gavilan SC, released in 1983, was the first computer described as a "laptop" by its manufacturer. From 1983 several new input techniques were developed and included in laptops: the touchpad, the pointing stick and the handwriting recognition. Optical storage, read-only CD-ROM followed by writeable CD and later read-only or writeable DVD and Blue-Ray, became common in laptops soon in the 2000s.

3. The term "laptop" can refer to a number of classes of small portable computers. A desktop-replacement computer is a laptop that is usually larger and heavier than a standard laptop. It contains more powerful components and has a 15" or larger display. A subnotebook is a laptop designed with an emphasis on portability: small size – less than 13" screens, low weight – between 0.8 and up to 2 kg and longer battery life – 10 hours. A netbook is a cheaper and lighter than a fullsize laptop, but smaller keyboards can be more difficult to operate and CDs cannot be used. A tablet PC is a convertible laptop with a complex joint between the keyboard and the touch-screen. A rugged laptop is designed to reliably operate in harsh usage conditions such as strong vibrations, extreme temperatures, and wet or dusty environments.

4.Portability is usually the first advantage mentioned in any comparison of laptops versus desktop PCs because a laptop can be used in a lot of places. Productivity: a laptop can work in places where a desktop PC cannot be used. Immediacy: people can have instant access to various personal and work files. Up-to- date information: using a single laptop at different places avoids the problem of synchronization files. Connectivity: remaining mobile a laptop can have easy Internet and local network connectivity. Size: laptops are smaller than desktop PCs. Low power consumption: a typical laptop uses 20–90 W, compared to 100–800 W for desktops. Quiet: laptops are often quieter than desktops. Battery: a charged laptop can continue to be used in case of a power outage and is not affected by short power interruptions and blackouts. All-in-One: laptops have everything in a single unit.

5.Compared to desktop PCs, laptops have some disadvantages. Performance: laptops remain more expensive at the same performance level. Upgradeability: numerous peripherals usually impair the laptop's portability. Health: small and flat

keyboard and trackpad pointing devices cause wrist injuries and hunching over the screen often causes neck or spinal injuries; heat from using a laptop on the lap can cause skin discoloration on the thighs and have a negative effect on male fertility. Equipment wear: laptops are subject to more wear and physical damage. Parts replacement: original external components are expensive, and inexpensive but fragile parts often cannot be bought separate from larger more expensive components. Heat cooling: extremely compact cooling systems can fail due to clogging by dust. Battery life is limited because the capacity drops with time. Security and privacy: laptops are easy targets for thefts.

10. Answer these questions.

1.What is a laptop?

2.What are the main laptop components?

3.How can a laptop be powered?

4.Can a laptop work 6 hours?

5.What happened from the year of 1983 in the development of laptops?

6.What became common in laptops in the 2000s?

7.There are different classes of small portable computers. Which one is the most convenient? Why?

8.What is better to have a desktop PC or a laptop? Prove your answer.

11. Are the statements true (T) or false (F)? Prove your answer.

1.A laptop is a personal computer only for home use.

2.A laptop battery stores energy to run the laptop for twenty-four to forty-eight hours.

3.The Dynabook was imagined by Alan Kay in 1968.

4.The Epson HX-20 was the first laptop-sized portable computer.

5.There exist a number of classes of small portable computers.

6.A desktop replacement is designed to operate in harsh usage conditions.

7.A laptop can be used in a lot of places.

8.In comparison with desktop personal computers laptops have no advantages.

9.Compared to desktop personal computers laptops have disadvantages in the following fields: portability, connectivity and quiet.

10.Battery life is limited because the capacity drops with time.

12. Complete the table. Use the information about laptops above.

Date	Computer		Extra Information
		a	personal,	portable	information
		manipulator
		the first commercially available portable
		computer

the first laptop-sized portable computer

the first computer described as a ‘laptop’ by its manufacturer

13. Match the pictures and the names of the laptops.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

a) desktop-
replacement	b) subnotebook	c) netbook	d) tablet PC	e) rugged
computer				laptop

14. These are examples of advantages and disadvantages of laptops. Can you separate them into two groups?

1.Most laptops do not have any sort of removable dust collection filter; they start to overheat and run louder as the years pass.

2.Wi-Fi networks and laptop programs are especially widespread at university hostels.

3.Laptops are several times more power-efficient than desktops.

4.One study found that a laptop is three times more likely to break during the first year of use than a desktop PC.

5.The upper limits of performance of laptops remain much lower than the highestend desktops.

6.A student does his / her homework at the university coffee shop during a break between lectures.

7.Devices such as sound cards, network adapters and others are available, but these upgrades add cables and boxes to the setup and often have to be disconnected and reconnected when the laptop is on the move.

8.The files exist in a single location and are always up-to-date.

9.The battery is often easily replaceable, and one may replace it on purpose with a higher capacity model to achieve better battery life.

10.Usage of separate, external ergonomic keyboards and pointing devices is recommended to prevent injury when working for long periods of time.

11.For desktop PCs this is divided into the desktop, keyboard, mouse display and optional peripherals.

12.A problem or a solution can be presented anytime and anywhere.

13.Some components of a laptop are non-interchangeable. The repair costs of a failed motherboard or LCD panel often exceed the value of a used laptop.

14.People use laptops almost everywhere – at home and at the office, during commuting and flights, in lecture halls and libraries, in coffee shops and at a meeting room.

15.This is beneficial when space is at a premium; for example, in small apartments and student hostels.

16.Physical protection of laptops and the safeguarding of data contained on them are both of great importance.

Vocabulary.

15. Find English equivalents in the information above about laptops.

1. устройство, прибор	24. переносный
2. единственный, обособленный	25. воображать, представлять
3. через	26. появляться
4. хранить, вмещать	27. объявлять, сообщать
5. работать	28. описывать
6. соединять	29. изготовитель
7. заряжать	30. развивать
8. следовать	31. периферийное устройство
9. содержать в себе	32. являться причиной
10. особое значение	33. запястье
11. сложный	34. повреждение
12. управлять, приводить в действие	35. сгибаться, горбиться
13. резкий, жесткий	36. позвоночник
14. упоминать	37. тепло
15. сравнение	38. бедро
16. против	39. хрупкий, ломкий
17. производительность	40. ослабевать, слабеть
18. оставаться	41. благодаря
19. потребление, расход	42. засоряться
20. тихий	43. падать, опускаться
21. продолжать(ся)	44. безопасность
22. воздействовать	45. цель
23. помеха	46. кража
16. Match the words with a similar meaning.
1. fragile	a) to include
2. to purchase	b) injury
3. instant	c) performance
4. separate	d) to lose

5. input	e) breakable
6. to contain	f) to weaken
7. damage	g) embedded
8. up-to-date	h) to contain
9. to fail	i) to run
10. effectiveness	j) to buy
11. to operate	k) safe
12. reliable	l) substitution
13. replacement	m) different
14. to impair	n) last

17. Match the words with an opposite meaning.

1. easy	a) expensive
2. cheap	b) similar
3. internal	c) difficult
4. light	d) to reinforce
5. small	e) external
6. less	f) more
7. quiet	g) heavy
8. to impair	h) short
9. long	i) to unplug
10. different	j) noisy
11. to plug	k) large
12. strong	l) weak

18. Complete the tables. Translate all words.

Noun	Adjective
1	powerful
2	conditional
portability	3
4	electrical
5	immediate
input	6
7	local
mobility	8
9	numerous

Noun	Verb
10	compare
11	compute
12	connect
13	consume
14	inform
input	15
16	interrupt
power	17
18	recognize
reference	19
conversion	20

19. Complete the sentences with the following words and expressions.

integrates

outlet

available

released

joint

avoid

upgradeability

wear

refer

access

1.Carrying a laptop means having instant … to various information, personal and work files.

2.The IBM 5 100 was the first … portable computer.

3.Using more than one desktop PC at different location doesn’t … the problem of synchronization.

4.A laptop … a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit.

5.Typical modern convertible laptops have a complex … between the keyboard and the display.

6.A laptop can be used away from an … using a rechargeable battery.

7.The term ‘laptop’ can … to a number of classes of small portable computers.

8.The Gavilan SC was … in 1983.

9.… of laptops is very limited compared to desktops.

10.Equipment … is one of the disadvantages of laptops.

Writing.

20. Write the Russian translation of paragraph 4 or 5.

LESSON 6. PERIPHERALS

Lead-in.

1. Name these peripherals and divide them into input and output devices. What other devices can you add to both lists?

Reading and Vocabulary.

2. You are going to read the text about peripheral devices. These are some words and expressions you may not know.

to attach	field
to be dependent on sth	majority
to expand	as well as
core	to incorporate
to improve	establishment
quality	flexibility
feature	transducer
common	in response to
distortion	reinforcement
to record	voice
main	transmitter

3. Read and decide which type of peripherals you would advise in each situation shown below the text.

Peripherals

A peripheral is a device, which is attached to a host computer but not part of it, and is more or less dependent on the host. It expands the host's capabilities, but does not form part of the core computer architecture. The examples of peripheral are computer printers, image scanners, digital cameras, webcams, loudspeakers, and microphones.

A printer is a peripheral which produces a text and/or graphics of documents, which is stored in electronic form, usually on paper. A lot of printers are primarily used as local peripherals and are attached by a printer cable or, in most new printers, a USB cable to a computer which serves as a document source. Printers are often slow devices (30 pages per minute is considered fast), and the cost per page is high. However, as printers have improved in quality and performance a lot of jobs which used to be done by professional print shops are now done by users on local printers. Printers which include non-printing features are sometimes called multifunction printers (MFP). Most MFPs include printing, scanning, and copying among their many features. The world's first computer printer was a 19th century mechanically driven apparatus invented by Charles Babbage.

An image scanner (often abbreviated to just scanner) is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting, or an object, and converts it to a digital image. Common examples found in offices are variations of the desktop (or flatbed) scanner where the document is placed on a glass window for scanning. These scanners still have some disadvantages such as distortion, reflections, shadows, low contrast.

A digital camera (or digicam) is a camera that takes video or still photographs, or both, digitally by recording images via an electronic image sensor. It is the main device used in the field of digital photography. Most 21st century cameras are digital. Digital cameras can do things film cameras cannot: showing images on a screen immediately after they are recorded, storing thousands of images on a single small memory device, and deleting images to free storage space. The majority, including most compact cameras, can record moving video with sound as well as still photographs. Digital cameras are incorporated into a lot of devices; for example, in mobile phones.

A webcam is a video camera which feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, Ethernet or Wi-Fi. Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, allowing computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations. This common use as a video camera for the World Wide Web gave the webcam its name. Webcams are known for their low manufacturing cost and flexibility, making them the lowest cost form of video telephony.

A loudspeaker (or "speaker") is an electro acoustic transducer that produces sound in response to an electrical audio signal input. Non-electrical loudspeakers were developed as accessories to telephone systems, but electronic amplification by vacuum tube made loudspeakers more generally useful. Miniature loudspeakers are found in devices such as radio and TV receivers, and a lot of forms of music players.

Larger loudspeaker systems are used for music, sound reinforcement in theatres and concerts, and in public address systems.

A microphone (colloquially called a mic or mike) is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1876 Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter. Microphones are used in a lot of applications such as telephones, karaoke systems, hearing aids, radio and television broadcasting and in computers for recording voice.

	1. inputting printed graphics
	2. controlling the screen cursor in a fast action game
	3. making choices on a screen in a public information terminal
	4. recording moving images
	5. printing very high quality text and graphics
	6. creating drawings
	7. printing building plan drawings
	8. recording sound
	9. listening to music without disturbing others
	10. storing programs and data
	11. backing up large quantities of data
4.	Read the information again and answer the questions in pairs.
1.	What is a peripheral?
	What is its function?
	How many examples of peripherals do you know?
2.	What is a printer?
	What are its advantages and disadvantages?
	What does MFP mean?
3.	What is an image scanner?
	How does it work?
	What are its disadvantages?
4.	What is a digital camera?
	What are its advantages?
5.	What is a webcam?
	What is its etymology?
	What are its advantages?

6.What is a loudspeaker? Where are they used?

7.What is a microphone? Who invented it? Where are they used?

8.Which peripheral do you use more than the others?

5. Read the statements and decide if they are true (T) or false (F). Prove your answer.

1. A peripheral isn’t dependent on the host.

2.A scanner, a mike, a speaker and a digicam are peripherals.

3.MFP means multifunction peripheral.

4.The printer was invented by Charles Babbage in the 19th century.

5.Reflection is one of the advantages of scanners.

6.A digital camera records images via an electronic image sensor.

7.A webcam is a video camera which feeds its images in unreal time to a computer or a computer network.

8.A webcam doesn’t allow computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations.

9.Loudspeaker systems are used in theatres and concerts.

10.A microphone converts sound into an electrical signal.

6.	Find English equivalents in the information above.
1.	главный ЭВМ	23. век, столетие
2. архитектура ЭВМ		24. немедленно, тотчас же
3. пример		25. единственный
4. производить		26. память
5. хранить, запасать		27. удалить
6. источник		28. пространство
7. 30 страниц в минуту		29.	неподвижный
8. быстрый		30.	универсальная	последовательная
9. высокий			шина
10. однако, тем не менее		31. сетевая плата
11. эффективность		32. беспроводная точность
12. включать		33. видеосвязь
13. прибор, аппарат		34.	распространенный
14. изобретать		35. развивать
15. зрительно, оптически		36. аксессуар
16. изображение		37. усилие
17. рукописный материал		38. электронная		лампа, вакуумная
18. отражение			трубка
19. тень		39. полезный
20. низкая контрастность		40. применение
21. снимать на видео		41. слуховой аппарат
22. фотографировать		42. радио- и телевещание

7. Match the words from the two columns to have the word combinations. They all are in the information about peripherals.

1. to expand	a) a device to a host computer
2. core	b) computer architecture
3. to incorporate	c) low contrast