Theme: “Everyday Uses of Computers”

1. Introductory reading and talk

1. Many common English words have different meanings when they are used to talk about computers. Look at the pictures and study the words.

mouse

icon

menu

window

address

crash

surf

hardware

2. Use the correct forms of the words in the pictures to complete the sentences. Use each word twice.

Common usage 1. Could you open the window? It’s hot in here. 2. My __________ is 223 Oak Street. 3. I went to the _________ store to buy a hammer. 4. The _________ ran into its hole. 5. I’m hungry, but I don’t see anything I like on the _________ . 6. Marilyn Monroe is a movie _________ from the 1950s. 7. When I was in California, I went _________ every day. 8. He accidentally _________ his car into a tree.

Computer usage 1. My computer _________ . Can you fix it? 2. Plug the _________ into the keyboard. 3. He is always _________ the net for the later news. 4. Open the other web page in a new _________ . 5. An _________ is a small picture on a computer screen. 6. The _________ is the machinery inside a computer. 7. First, click on an item in the _________ . 8. Do you know her e-mail _________ .

3. Match the computer terms (1-8) with their meanings (a-h).

1. surf ______ 2. window ______ 3. hardware ______ 4. icon ______ 5. mouse ______ 6. menu ______ 7. address ______ 8. crash ______

a. a list of choices b. [e-mail], for example c. a square area on a computer screen d. when a computer stops working e. a picture symbol f. explore the Internet g. move this with your hand to move the arrow on the screen h. computer parts

4. A) Read and translate the following text.

b) Answer the following questions:

1) How do we call the work the computer does?

2) What does data processing include?

3) What do we call the CPU?

4) What do we call a computer program?

5) What kinds of terminals do you know?

6) What is the difference between input and output?

Text a. Computers

Many companies have now computerised their work because computers can do it more quickly than people. The work the computer does is called data processing. It includes storing information, finding the right information and doing calculations. The part of the computer that processes the information is called the CPU (central processing unit). It contains only electronic components which are called microchips. A computer can only do what is instructed to do. The instructions that are stored in a computer are called the computer program. The people who write these instructions and put them in the computers are called computer programmers.

The parts of the computer that people use are called terminals. The terminals are usually a keyboard which looks like a typewriter or a printer, a VDU (visual display unit) which looks like a television and information which is put into the computer on the keyboard is called input. When the computer shows the results of the data processing on the VDU this is called output. When computers go wrong it is usually because there is something wrong with the input. It is a mistake which is made by a person, but not by the computer.