УРАЛЬСКИЙ СОЦИАЛЬНО-ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКИЙ ИНСТИТУТ АКАДЕМИЯ ТРУДА И СОЦИАЛЬНЫХ ОТНОШЕНИЙ
Кафедра иностранных языков
COMPUTER ENGLISH
Сборник текстов по домашнему чтению для студентов 1 курса специальности «Прикладная информатика (в экономике)»
Челябинск
2009
COMPUTER ENGLISH: сборник текстов по домашнему чтению для студентов 1 курса специальности «Прикладная информатика (в экономике)» / сост. О.Н. Бурлакова; УрСЭИ АТиСО. – Челябинск, 2009 – 28 с.
Сборник текстов для домашнего чтения предназначен для студентов I курса специальности «Прикладная информатика (в экономике)» включает тексты для внеаудиторного чтения и задания для самостоятельной работы студентов. Тексты рассчитаны на студентов, изучающих язык на начальном
исреднем уровнях, содержат компьютерную терминологию и компьютерную лексику, способствуют развитию и закреплению навыков ознакомительного
иизучающего чтения.
Составитель Бурлакова О.Н., старший преподаватель кафедры иностранных языков УрСЭИ
Рецензент Кислицына С.В., канд. филол. наук, доцент кафедры иностранных языков УрСЭИ
Рекомендовано к изданию редакционно-издательским советом УрСЭИ
© Уральский социально-экономический институт (филиал) Академия труда и социальных отношений, 2009
© Бурлакова О.Н., 2009
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Предисловие
Данное пособие предназначено для студентов 1 курса специальности «Прикладная информатика (в экономике)», содержит тексты для внеаудиторного чтения и задания для самостоятельной работы студентов с предложенным материалом.
Регулярные задания по домашнему чтению являются программным требованием при изучении иностранного языка. Самостоятельная работа с текстами данного пособия поможет овладеть компьютерной терминологией и профессиональной лексикой, развить и закрепить навыки ознакомительного и изучающего чтения, а также повысить интерес к самостоятельному поиску новой информации по теме.
Тексты подобраны в соответствии с тематикой курса, что позволяет сочетать домашнее чтение с аудиторной работой, а также получать дополнительный (лексический и содержательный) материал по изучаемой теме. Сборник состоит из 4 тематических блоков: «Информатика в современной повседневной жизни», «Английский – язык для общения», «Новые технологии» и «Истории успеха». В каждой из частей представлено несколько текстов, соответствующих тематике блока. Так, в первом блоке содержатся следующие тексты: «Повышение интереса к информатике», «Реальное применение информатики в жизни», «История компьютерной науки», «Области компьютерной науки», «Интересные факты о компьютерах». Цель текстов данной части – познакомить с основами изучаемой дисциплины – информатики, показать ее присутствие в повседневной окружающей жизни, тем самым повысить интерес к изучению. Тексты второй части: «Кому нужно изучать английский?», «Английский как иностранный в Интернете», «Интересные факты о языке» – подчеркивают важность изучения английского языка при овладении компьютерной специальностью и для общения в целом. Из третьей части можно узнать о некоторых новейших компьютерных изобретениях и технологиях, прочитав тексты: «Роботы в повседневной жизни», «Компьютеры «все-в-одном»», «Веб-конференции». Истории создания ведущих всемирно известных компьютерных корпораций и поисковых систем (Microsoft, IBM, Apple, Google), а также информация об их знаменитых и успешных создателях представлены в четвертой части пособия.
Все материалы подобраны с учетом профессиональной направленности обучения, являются аутентичными, но частично сокращены. Предложенные тексты рассчитаны на студентов, изучающих язык на начальном и среднем уровнях.
Автор сборника надеется, что чтение предложенных текстов принесет удовольствие и практическую пользу студентам в овладении языком.
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Part 1
Computer Science in Modern Everyday Life
Stimulating interest in Computer Science
When I was a teenager, I was fairly proficient at using computers, but I had no idea what Computer Science was like as a field of study. Neither of my parents were computer experts, and I had no older role models to stimulate my interests. The only introduction I had to Computer Science prior to college was the AP 'Computer Science' class in my high school. I really enjoyed the class, but it only covered introductory programming, which was quite fun to learn but didn't at all give me any sense of the broad scope and important real-world applications of Computer Science. It wasn't until over halfway through college (as a supposed Computer Science major!) that I began to really gain a passion for the field, mainly through reading books, online articles, writing programs, and talking with more experienced peers.
I would have definitely been motivated to learn more about Computer Science at a younger age if someone had given me a connection between my computerrelated hobbies (web browsing, online gaming, digital image editing) and Computer Science as an academic field of study.
“Wait, but isn't Computer Science just programming?” some of you may ask. No. That's one of the most pervasive misnomers regarding Computer Science.
Programming is an (important) engineering tool; Computer Science is an
academic field of study like Physics or Mathematics. Programming is the act of writing code to instruct a computer to perform a sequence of actions. Computer Science is a broad academic field that deals with taming complexity in both the real world and the abstract mathematical world.
It's true that to actually do Computer Science, you often need to program computers (rather than, say, simply sketch out ideas on a whiteboard). Then again, to do chemistry, you need to mix solutions in beakers, but nobody says that Chemistry only consists of mixing solutions in beakers. As a corny analogy, programming is to Computer Science like telescopes are to astronomical science.
by Philip Guo
Task 1. Say if the following sentences are true or false. Correct the false ones:
1.Being a teenager I didn’t know how to switch on the computer.
2.My father was a computer expert.
3.I liked attending Computer Science classes at high school.
4.Computers have never been my hobby.
5.Computer Science and Programming mean the same.
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Task 2. Find the following words and word-combinations in the text, reproduce
the situation, make your own sentences using them:
1. |
to be proficient at |
6. |
a major |
2. |
a field of study |
7. |
to gain a passion for |
3. |
to be fun to learn |
8. |
an experienced peer |
4. |
to give a sense of |
9. |
computer related hobby |
5. |
a broad scope application |
10.a persuasive misnomer |
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Real-world everyday applications of Computer Science
Here are some activities that young people might be familiar with, listed alongside some associated challenges and what concepts in Computer Science address these challenges:
Surfing the web
∙When you type in words on a search engine's web page, how does it give you back the results so quickly? (search algorithms, parallel computing)
∙How does a search engine company go about indexing and storing information about the billions of webpages online at a given time, especially when pages are constantly being created and deleted? (web crawling, data mining, databases, parallel computing)
Playing computer games
∙How come modern games look so rad, with all of their cool 3-D effects, and how can it all be rendered in real-time as you are playing and constantly changing the in-game environment? (computer graphics)
∙How come the in-game enemies seem to be 'smart' andable to learn from your actions? (artificial intelligence)
∙How is it possible for you and dozens of other people to play online simultaneously and still have the game feel responsive most of the time? (networking, client-server architecture)
Downloading music and movies (legally, of course)
∙How come filesharing programs like BitTorrent can perform so much faster than simply downloading from a website? (networking, distributed algorithms)
∙Isn't it astounding that when you download a file, it always arrives at your computer intact in pristine condition, even though it had to travel through thousands of miles of unreliable copper wires? (reliable networking protocols, error detection and correction)
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∙How can high-quality photos, audio, and video be compressed so much (1/10 to 1/100 of original size) without losing much quality? (lossy compression algorithms)
Shopping online
∙How can you be reasonably confident that nobody will steal your credit card number while you are shopping online? (network security, cryptography)
∙How can the retailer keep track of what items are in stock and report the results in real-time on their website? (databases, web programming)
∙How can the retailer accurately predict what other items you might like to buy based on what you've recently bought? (artificial intelligence, machine learning)
Using your latest awesome cell phone
∙How come cell phones can now be used for so much more than simply making phone calls ... back in my day, we just used cell phones as, well, phones (programming for embedded devices, networking and communications protocols, wireless networking)
∙How can you effectively navigate around the options and even browse the web on that tiny screen on your phone? (user interface)
Neurotically updating your MySpace and Facebook pages and stalking other
people's profiles
∙How come it's so easy and enjoyable to simply browse around and get lost for hours on these sites? (user interface)
∙How can these sites recall, store, and visualize interesting social networking relationships? (databases, search, visualization)
∙What steps do these sites take and what options do they provide to you to ensure that your privacy is maintained? (security models)
Traveling on an airplane
∙As modern planes become more and more automated, with more of their subsystems being controlled by software components, how can you feel safe flying on a machine where a single software bug could jeopardize hundreds of lives? How can we find difficult-to-squash bugs and give guarantees that software is functioning correctly? (software reliability, program analysis)
∙How do air traffic controllers manage to constantly direct hundreds of planes while under high-stress conditions? How can computers aid them in doing
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their jobs so that passengers can enjoy safe and timely flights? (user
interface, communications, networking)
∙When purchasing tickets online, how is it possible for the computer system to search through millions of possible combinations of routes to give me the best deal on my tickets? (algorithms, search, parallel computing)
∙How come the self-check-in kiosks are so easy to use and much more efficient than waiting in line for people to check you in? You just swipe a credit card, and you're all set! (user interface, networking, databases)
by Philip Guo
Task 1. Answer the following questions:
1.What concepts in Computer Science address the following activities: a) playing computer games; b) surfing the Web; c) shopping online?
2.How can you be confident that nobody will steal your credit card number while you are shopping online?
3.How can high-quality photos, audio, and video be compressed so much without losing quality?
4.How can you feel safe traveling on an airplane concerning automated plane control?
5.How do computers aid air traffic controllers in doing their jobs so that passengers can enjoy safe and timely flights?
Task 2. Find the following words and word-combinations in the text, reproduce the situation, make your own sentences using them:
1. |
to be familiar with |
6. |
a pristine condition |
2. |
a challenge |
7. |
an awesome cell phone |
3. |
a search engine |
8. |
to give the best deal on |
4. |
to look rad |
9. |
a self-check-in kiosk |
5. |
an artificial intelligence |
10.to browse around |
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History of computer science
The early foundations of what would become computer science predate the invention of the modern digital computer. Machines for calculating fixed numerical tasks, such as the abacus, have existed since antiquity. Wilhelm Schickard built the first mechanical calculator in 1623. Charles Babbage designed a difference engine in Victorian times helped by Ada Lovelace. Around 1900, punch-card machines were introduced. However, all of these machines were constrained to perform a single task, or at best some subset of all possible tasks.
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During the 1940s, as newer and more powerful computing machines were developed, the term computer came to refer to the machines rather than their human predecessors. As it became clear that computers could be used for more than just mathematical calculations, the field of computer science broadened to study computation in general. Computer science began to be established as a distinct academic discipline in the 1950s and early 60s, with the creation of the first computer science departments and degree programs. Since practical computers became available, many applications of computing have become distinct areas of study in their own right.
Although many initially believed it impossible that computers themselves could actually be a scientific field of study, in the late fifties it gradually became accepted among the greater academic population. It is the now well-known IBM brand that formed part of the computer science revolution during this time. IBM (short for International Business Machines) released the IBM 704 and later the IBM 709 computers, which were widely used during the exploration period of such devices. "Still, working with the IBM [computer] was frustrating... if you had misplaced as much as one letter in one instruction, the program would crash, and you would have to start the whole process over again". During the late 1950s, the computer science discipline was very much in its developmental stages, and such issues were commonplace.
Time has seen significant improvements in the usability and effectiveness of computer science technology. Modern society has seen a significant shift from computers being used solely by experts or professionals to a more widespread user base.
Task 1. Find the words with similar meanings:
1) |
to precede |
6) |
set up |
2) |
compelled |
7) |
separate |
3) |
strong |
8) |
investigation |
4) |
to direct |
9) |
dissapointing |
5) |
forerunner |
10) questions |
|
Task 2. Put the devices in order according to their historical development:
1)computer
2)abacus
3)punch-card machine
4)difference engine
5)mechanical calculator
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Fields of computer science
As a discipline, computer science spans a range of topics from theoretical studies of algorithms and the limits of computation to the practical issues of implementing computing systems in hardware and software. The Computer Sciences Accreditation Board (CSAB) – which is made up of representatives of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society, and the Association for Information Systems – identifies four areas that it considers crucial to the discipline of computer science: theory of computation, algorithms and data structures, programming methodology and languages, and computer elements and architecture. In addition to these four areas, CSAB also identifies fields such as software engineering, artificial intelligence, computer networking and communication, database systems, parallel computation, distributed computation, computer-human interaction, computer graphics, operating systems, and numerical and symbolic computation as being important areas of computer science.
Despite its name, a significant amount of computer science does not involve the study of computers themselves. Because of this, several alternative names have been proposed. Certain departments of major universities prefer the term computing science, to emphasize precisely that difference. Danish scientist Peter Naur suggested the term datalogy, to reflect the fact that the scientific discipline revolves around data and data treatment, while not necessarily involving computers. The first scientific institution to use the term was the Department of Datalogy at the University of Copenhagen, founded in 1969, with Peter Naur being the first professor in datalogy. The term is used mainly in the Scandinavian countries. Also, in the early days of computing, a number of terms for the practitioners of the field of computing were suggested in the Communications of the ACM – turingineer, turologist, flow-charts-man, applied meta-mathematician, and applied epistemologist. Three months later in the same journal, comptologist was suggested, followed next year by hypologist. The term computics has also been suggested. Informatik was a term used in Europe with more frequency.
Task 1. Answer the following questions:
1)What terms were suggested for “Computer Science”?
2)Why all these different terms were proposed?
3)What do acronyms CSAB, ACM, IS stand for?
4)What are 4 basic areas of computer science?
5)What are additional areas computer study deals with?
Task 2. Write out the definition of “Computer Scien ce”, give the summary of the text.
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Interesting Computer Facts
1)Another name for a Microsoft Windows tutorial is 'Crash Course'!
2)Bill Gates' house was designed using a Macintosh computer.
3)By the year 2012 there will be approximately 17 billion devices connected to the Internet.
4)E-mail has been around longer than the World Wide Web.
5)MySpace reports over 110 million registered users. Were it a country, it would be the tenth largest, just behind Mexico.
6)One of every 8 married couples in the US last year met online.
7)The average 21 year old has spent 5,000 hours playing video games, has exchanged 250,000 e- mails, instant and text messages and has spent 10,000 hours on the mobile phone.
8)The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute, less than half the normal rate of 20.
9)The first banner advertising was used in 1994.
10)The first computer mouse was invented by Doug Engelbart in around 1964 and was made of wood.
11)The first domain name ever registered was Symbolics.com.
12)The world's first computer, called the Z1, was invented by Konrad Zuse in 1936. His next invention, the Z2 was finished in 1939 and was the first fully functioning electro-mechanical computer.
13)There are approximately 1,319,872,109 people on the Internet.
14)There are approximately 1.06 billion instant messaging accounts worldwide.
15)While it took the radio 38 years, and the television a short 13 years, it took the World Wide Web only 4 years to reach 50 million users.
Part 2
English is the language for communication
Who Needs to Learn English?
Let's face it. In today's world, the ability ot fluently speak English and understand it is almost a necessity, no matter your goals or ambitions. But for some people, it is an absolute requirement.
Frankly speaking, it is highly essential to know the language for communication. In general, the most popular language is English. In this computer age, English is the only language that any one can understand. So to say, it has become as an ideal language for expressing our feelings.
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