Information systems in the global economy

I. Memorize the following words:

a canal - канал

irrigation - орошение

reclamation works – мелиоративные работы

water supply - водоснабжение

a water turbine - гидротурбина

tо harness – обуздать, использовать

to provide - обеспечивать

to relieve - облегчать, освобождать

adequate -достаточный

an arduous task- трудная задача

Read the text

Why Man Builds

In his never-ending struggle lo tame nature, man has been driven by four basic needs: agriculture, building, communications, and power. The practical art and science of civil engineering arose and grew lo meet these needs.

When primitive men gave up their life of wandering, they became tillers of fields, settling in small communities. To find shelter from the weather and storage for his harvest, man became a builder. In the course of time, different settlements came to depend on each other for the ex­change of goods. And so there had to be links between settlements to provide passage for men and materials. Eventually, men learned lo harness the power of nature to relieve them of some of the arduous tasks of everyday life.

Agriculture gave rise to hydraulic engineering, which developed from the irrigation basins and canals of ancient people, from their transient reclamation works to the vast irrigation and reclamation projects of today. Building gave rise to structural engineering, which developed from the monumental architecture of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, to the great framed structures of today. Communications gave rise to the widest variety of civil engineering works. From the curliest times man has used tracks, mountain passes, rivers and sea for transport, and now, in the 20th century he also uses the air. As his civilization became more intricate, so the need for safe and speedy passage for himself and his material goods began to grow. In time, his tracks developed from the jungle path lo the paved Roman road, and lo the great concrete highways of today.

Power was first derived from the ox trudging in a circle, and man treading a wheel, from primitive capstan and rope pulley block; then from the windmill, and finally from today's water turbine at the foot of a massive dam. As world population increases, so the provision of adequate water and power supply grows-more urgent.

II. Answer the questions:

1.Whid basic needs forced primitive men to tame nature?

2. Why did man become a builder?

3. What works did hydraulic engineering develop from?

4. Where did the widest varied of civil engineering works derive from?

5. How did ancient people get power?

6. What engineering problems do people have to solve nowadays?

III. Match the words with their definitions:

1. Civil engineering a) The design construction and maintenance of bridges roads, aqueducts and related public works

2. Structural engineering b) The design construction and maintenance of irrigation and reclamation project, canals, dams

3. Hydraulic engineering c) The design and construction of all kinds of buildings.

IV. Complete the sentences:

1. Hydraulic engineering developed

It deals with ...

2. Structural engineering derived from..

It covers ...

3. Civil engineering appeared as …
It concerns...

V. Match the pairs of synonyms:

1. to increase a) lo reduce

2. to develop b) sufficient

3. to decrease c) to advance from one stage to another

4. to derive d) to grow

5. to relieve e) pressing

6. adequate f) to free

7. urgent g) to originate

8. intricate h) complicated

VI. Fill in the gap with an appropriate word.

to rise

to raise

to arise

1. The science of civil engineering ____ and grew lo meet the needs of man.

2. The number of irrigation basins and canals ______ rapidly.

3. Building gave _____to gave to structural engineering.

4. Ancient people__________ the first dams to harness the power of water.

5. Nature _______the task for people to develop hydropower engineering.

The growth of population ______ the problem of adequate water supply.

VII. Speak on the topic "I've chosen civil engineering as a career because ... Highlight at least 5 points; which make the profession so attractive".

VIII. Read the following text and name some striking constructions, which you know

Master builder

Strength in stone

Stonehenge, England was begun nearly 5.000, years ago. The builders
had no machines, or even wheels lo help them. They Had to drag huge
blocks of stone, each weighing as much as 13 hippos, from 40km (25-
miles) away. The total hours worked by the builders of Stonehenge adds
up to 30 million hours.

Canal fever

The Panama Canal, which links the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, was built, between 1904-1014. To build the 82km (51 mile) long canal. 43,000 men dug up enough soil to cover over 14.000 soccer fields. Many workers died from yellow fever and malaria and two whole years were spent clearing the swamps where disease-carrying mosquitoes bred.

Marble marvel

The Taj Mahal in India look 20.000 labourers 20 years to complete. It is made of while marble inlaid with precious stones. The Taj was built by Emperor Shah jahan as a lomb lor his wife. On its completion, the emperor had the architect's head cut off to stop him designing a more beautiful building.

Roads for Romans

The Romans began building roads across their empire in about 312BC By AD200 they had built about 85,000 km (53.000 miles) of roads, enough to run twice around the world. The roads were so well built that some have lasted for over 2 000 years. Most modern roads last for less than 50 years.

Channel tunnel

In December 1990 French and British miners became the first people to walk

between the two countries since the Ice Age, 19.000 years ago when the Channel was dry land. To bore the Channel Tunnel deep under the sea between Britain and France, enough chalky soil was dug up to make a medium-sized town.

Volcano challenge

The 11 ер century chapel of Saint-Michel-d'Aiguilhe stands on an ancient extinct volcano near Le Puy France. Its builders had to haul their material and tools up to the top of the 79m (260ft) high cone in baskets.

Up, up in the air

Many of the steel frames for skyscrapers in the USA are put up by Mohawk Indians from Montreal, Canada. They walk across beams just wider than your foot, over 244m (800 ft) above ground.

At a gallop

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the USA was one of the worst ever engineering feats. In high winds, its deck swung up and down in giant waves. The bridge was intended to withstand winds of 190kph (120mph). Four months alter it opened, though, it collapsed in winds of 67kph (42mph).

Information systems in the global economy

Boehringer Ingelheim, GmbH, Germany

Task 1. What do you think about the following ideas?

1. What is the role of information systems in the global economy?
2. What problems do many businesses face nowadays? What kind of solution do information systems provide?
3. What did the top managers of Boehringer Ingelheim decide to do in order to improve the employees work?
4. How are hardware, software, databases, telecommunications used in Boehringer’s information systems to provide valuable data?
5. Can you give examples of any other companies which invested millions in all the components of an information system to facilitate their work and achieve greater success?

Task 2. Read the text carefully. Say whether the sentences below the text are true or false.

1. As businesses grow and diversify, it becomes increasingly easy to access current information on which to base decisions.

2. With each of the company’s segments using diverse information systems, it took a significant amount of time to collect and combine all of the financial records.

3. Information systems provide a solution – opening lines of communication between several business units and providing a continuous stream of up-to-the-second information to support fast strategic decision making.

4. The new system has made the accounting department much more productive, allowing staff to run up-to-date reports whenever needed.

5. The software from BackWeb Technologies doesn’t provide employees with access to current sales information through a Web portal and a custom Web interface, wherever they travel.

Task 3. Choose the words from the box and put each of them in the correct place of the sentence.

1. By the time Boehringer was finished with its …, the company had implemented over seven new interconnected information systems.

2. Boehringer has diversified into … that include manufacturing and marketing pharmaceuticals (such as prescription medicines and …), products for industrial consumers (such as chemicals and biopharmaceuticals), and animal health products.

3. For a small business owner, one who is involves in every …, staying abreast of the state of the business is fairly straightforward.

4. If a business owner could … the future, decisions would be easy to make and involve little risk.

5. As businesses grow and diversify, it becomes increasingly difficult … current information on which to base decisions.

6. Top managers decided to totally … the company’s systems with … information system from SAP.

7. Boehringer is committed to providing employees at all levels of the company with access to the … and information they need to meet their objectives.

8. But the investment has …

9. Boehringer’s employees can access and change information presented in the portal when they are offline, with … later when they log on.

10. To provide its mobile workforce with up-to-the-minute data, the company … software from BackWeb Technologies.

Task 4. Find the words according to their definitions in the marked paragraph of the text.

1. A person who decides things, especially at a high level in an organization (p. 1);

2. to put a plan or system into operation (p. 6);

3. to unite or to join together to make a single thing or group (p. 3);

4. a part of a company that operates as a separate part of the whole business (p. 1);

5. a computer program that is designed for a particular purpose (p. 5).

Task 5. Discuss the following questions:

1. Give reasons why information systems are so important for business today.
2. What are the differences between a system and an information system?
3. What is an information system and how does it differ from an information technology?
4. What are the examples of an information system?
5. Enumerate the components of information systems?

Task 6. Read the key terms carefully and find the best explanation.

Date: 2014-12-29; view: 1489