VI. Read quickly through the text below, then make the summary.

In the electronic computer the state of the machine can be altered as fast as electronic storage device can be reset, at present a matter of a few nanoseconds. A nanosecond is one-billions of a second. The limitation in speed lies only in the state of the art of component and circuit development.

The sequence of operations to be carried out by the computer may be communicated to it in one of several ways. When this sequence this stored in the memory of the computer in a form acceptable to it the computer is said to be internally programmed.

Computers can be specially constructed to solve a set of similar problems – special purpose computers; or they can be designed to do many different operations and cover a large range of problems – general purpose computers. The modern computer can do many kinds of jobs. These include tasks in the commercial, scientific, industrial, communication, statistical, logical and translation areas. However, we distinguish only two kinds of computers: scientific and commercial to do these many tasks.

The scientific computer most efficiently attacks problems in which calculation predominate.

The commercial computer is most effective in doing the routine clerical problems of the business and commercial world.

Lesson 8 what is the internet?

I nternet was originally created in the mid-1960s as an informal offshoot of various federal government research programs. Researchers working at various university and government laboratories needed a convenient way to exchange research data and communications. This need first resulted in the connection of several computers into two different wide area networks known as the ARPAnet (Advanced Research Projects Agency) and the DARPAnet (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). ARPAnet and DARPAnet were later connected together, and other institutions and agencies were added to the network system now known as the Internet.

Over the ensuing years, the Internet has grown steadily so that it now includes almost every major university in the United States, many different and state government agencies, and many private businesses. The Internet isn't restricted by national boundaries: educational and governmental institutions all over the world are connected to the Internet, forming the so-called World Wide Web.

No one owns the Internet, nor is the Internet subject to any single governing or controlling agency. Rather, the various institutions that are part of the Internet own their own computers and administer whatever policies on their computers they consider prudent or desirable. Individual agencies or corporations choose to make their computers available as part of the Internet because mutual benefits involved by connecting to the Internet, you gain access to a truly stunning array of information, communication, and other resources.

The most popular Internet service is e-mail. Most of the people, who have access to the Internet, use the network only for sending and receiving e-mail messages. However, other popular services are available on the Internet: reading USENET News, using the World-Wide Web, telnet, FTP, and Gopher.