Exercises

• Read the text and find the words that sound similar to Russian ones.

• Make derivatives from the following words.

To combine, to represent, to process, to calculate, to move, to inform, to perform, to include, to print, to use, to scan, to instruct, to store, to provide, to drive, to program, to manipulate.

• Find in the text the following words and word combinations.

Посредством лазера, различные части аппаратного обеспечения, сенсорный экран, световое перо, гибкий диск, изменять содержание, отключать от источника питания, устройства ввода/вывода, встроенные инструкции, содержать операционную систему, хранить все системы, выполнять математические и логические задачи.

• What do the following abbreviations mean? Say what functions these devices perform.

CPU, ALU, RAM, ROM, HD, FD.

• Use the most appropriate word in the following sentences.

• Hard disks can …, so it is better to back up their data onto floppy disks.

• operate b) process c) malfunction

• Input in microcomputers is usually performed by means of a … .

• mouse b) keyboard c) light pen

• A personal computer uses … disk as input and output media.

• hard b) floppy c) fixed

• Output devices allow the computer to … with its external environment.

• compute b) command c) communicate

• The various pieces of … of a computer system are used to input, process and output data.

• hardware b) the CPU c) software

• The … itself houses the processing devices, electronic circuits and other components.

• reading unit b) unit of data c) system unit

• The board that contains the CPU is known as … .

• system board b) chip board c) keyboard

• When entered, data is moved to memory for … .

• storing b) processing c) retrieving

• Processing is controlled by the … .

• output device b) central processing unit c) keyboard

• … , where the data has been burnt onto the disc by means of a laser, is another storage device.

• optical discs b) hard discs c) floppy discs

• Describe various pieces of microcomputer in the Russian language.

Computer programming Working with Word Processing

As you have learned in thin chapter, word processor is an automated writing tool — a program that lets users enter and edit text quickly and efficiently.

Word processing is the most universal of all microcomputer applications, and the one that justifies buying the computer for many people. Those who use word processing programs range from students to lawyers, to corporate executives, to scholars, to scientists, to writers and artists. Choosing which word processing program is right for you, depends on the type of documents you’re likely to create.

Word processors vary in specific features and working styles, but all share a core of common functions. They all let you inter text, edit it, format it, save it to disk, and print it.

Entering text is done through the keyboard: the text you type shows up at the cursor. Computer keyboards have many specialized keys, which are programmed to perform different functions.

Setting up your document consists of specifying its margins and justification, hyphenation, spacing, tabs, columns, headers and footers, and/or page numbers.

Although text can be edited easily at the cursor using the backspace or delete leys, and insert or type over mode, the real editing power of a word processor lies in manipulating text bocks. Once a group of text is selected as a block, it can be deleted, moved, copied, or formatted as you wish. Spelling and grammar checkers are useful utilities for catching typing errors and grammatical mistakes.

Word processors offer many choices for formatting text: paragraphs can be aligned left, right, or centered within the margins; characters can be boldface, italic, underlined, or set in other special formats. Using fonts can give your document a professional look. Special character sets let you type symbols and other special characters.

Many word processors offer special features to improve the utility of the software, including macros, indexes, and tables of contents, footnotes, and references, and the ability to work with graphics and data imported from other programs. The merge function of many word processors lets you print form letters and other documents based on database information.

Saving your work is of paramount importance. Save often to avoid losing your data, and keep your information organized by using meaningful file names. Keep backup copies of all your work.

There are many options for printing your document. Most word processors let you print any portion or all of your document, and any number of copies; the quality of your printout depends on the quality of your printer.