1. Work in pairs. Find out as much as you can about your partner's computer by asking questions about the features in the table and complete it. Whose computer is more powerful?

Feature	Student A	Student B
processor type
processor speed
bus speed
memory (RAM)
memory type
hard disk capacity
hard disk type
monitor size
monitor resolution
CD-ROM drive speed

2. Role-play “At an it shop”.

Work in pairs. Student A wants to buy a computer, Student B is the shop assistant. Use the prompts and product descriptions below to role play the conversation. Be ready to act it out in front of the class.

Shop assistant	Customer
- Greet the customer and offer help. - Show the customer two possible models. - Give technical specs (describe the processor, RAM and storage capacity). Compare the two different models. - Give the information required. Compare the two models. - Answer, and mention any final details that might persuade the customer to buy the computer.	- Explain what you are looking for. Ask for some technical specs. - Ask about any further technical specs (DVD drive, monitor, communications, etc.). - Ask the price. - Decide which computer to buy or leave the shop.

Gateway C-120 convertible notebook	Intel Core 2 Duo ULV processor at 1.06GHz; 12.1" WXGA TFT touch screen; Gateway Executive stylus pen 1024MB; DDR2 SDRAM 80GB serial ATA hard drive DVD-ROM drive (optical DVD burner); Integrated modem and Bluetooth Windows Vista Home Premium; Thin and lightweight (1.17”, 2.4 kg)
Sony Vaio AR laptop	Intel Core 2 Duo Processor at 2GHz; 2GB DDR2 SDRAM; 200GB hard drive; DVD+/-RW optical drive; 17” WXGA high-definition LCD screen; Memory Stick slot; Three USB 2.0 ports; Integrated wireless LAN; Built-in ‘Motion Eye’ digital camera; Lithium-ion battery; Windows Vista Ultimate
Acer Aspire X3200 desktop PC	AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor; 3072MB DDR2 SDRAM; Dell 22” Wide Flat Panel; 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT video card; 1.0TB Hard Drive; 16x DVD+/- RW Drive; Integrated 7.1 Channel High Definition Audio; Windows Vista Home Premium; Optional features: Windows Media Center, integrated TV Tuner, and a Blu-ray disc drive for high-definition content

Unit 3. Programming languages

COMPUTER TALKING

1. Work in groups of three. Discuss your answers to the questions with the partners:

1) What programming languages should you know in order to be a good specialist? 2) Are you good at using programming languages? 3) At what point can you say you've "learnt" a programming language? 4) What programming languages do you consider to be popular? Why (job marketability, wide use, convenience)?

Report the results to the group.

2. Look at the picture. Do you know specific features of the given programming languages which allowed the creators to make such a parody? What are they? Explain the parody. Do you agree with the order of development which is offered by the creators? Why?

READING

1. Work in pairs and find out if your partner knows …

• what can be called a programming language?

• how many programming languages there are in the world?

• when the first of programming languages were created?

• what programming languages are preferred by top-ranked programmers?

2. Read Text 1 and say which paragraphs these first sentences belong to:

1) Lying above high-level languages are languages called fourth-generation languages (usually abbreviated 4GL).

2) A programming language is a notation for writing programs, which are specifications of a computation oralgorithm.

3) In the early days of programming, all programs were written in assembly language.

4) The term "computer language" is sometimes used interchangeably with programming language. 

5) The term "programming language" usually refers to high-level languages, such asC,C++,COBOL,FORTRAN, andPascal.