IV. Find the sentence expressing the main idea in each paragraph.

V. Match the headings to the correct paragraph:

1.The possibility to refocus eyephones to a new viewpoint.

2.A new form of freedom for the disabled.

3.Eyephones as individual computer screens for eyes.

4.The first virtual reality computer game.

5.A new style of computer interface.

VI. Put the following sentences logically in the right order according to the text:

1.Virtual reality is a good possibility for invalids to take part in different games.

2.The first virtual reality computer game was created in 1991.

3.Virtual reality is sometimes called cyberspace.

4.The illusion of being in a fantasy world is created by computers.

5.Virtual reality lets you travel to places you have never been.

VII. True or false?

1.Virtual reality is a computer-built fantasy world.

2.Virtual reality is also called cyberspace.

3.There are no limits to virtual reality.

4.Virtual reality is created by being in a special room.

5.Virtual reality is available only on expensive computer systems.

6.Virtual reality is the leading edge of the computer technology.

7.Eyephones are the 3DFX fiber-optic glasses.

8.Eyephones are not the only virtual reality gear.

9.Virtual reality might be misused.

10.Virtual reality can return the disabled to the full-fledged life.

11.Virtual reality was designed by the military to guide robots.

12.One can not only see or hear virtual reality, but also feel and smell it.

13.Virtual reality is only a type of computer interface.

VIII. Read the words as they are used in the following sentences and try to come up with your own definition:

1.Using computers to create graphics and sounds, virtual reality makes the viewer believe he or she is in another world.

2.Three-dimensional images are created using technology that fools the viewers’ mind into perceptive depth.

3.Plug a terminal directly into the brain via a prepared skull and you can enter cyberspace.

4.I’ve got a set of eye phones, 3D goggles, a fiber optic glove and the rest of the gear.

5.There are many word substitutes for invalids, e.g. the handicapped, challenged by birth or by accidents, disabled people.

6.The bowman took a deep breath, aimed at the target and shot, but the arrow went astray.

a.Virtual reality —__________ ____________

b.Three-dimensional (3D) — ________________

c.Cyberspace — __________________________

d.Gear — ________________________________

e.Disabled — _____________________________

f.To go astray — __________________________

IX. Put the proper words into sentences:

a)fiber-optic, swoop, go astray, clutching, gear, to one’s mind content, enhance, cyberspace, eye phones.

1.Virtual reality is sometimes called...

2.3-D ... are really individual computer screens for the eyes.

3.Virtual reality can ... possibilities of the disabled.

4.The manual ... box allows you to slow down without braking, while the automatic one doesn’t.

5.Cyberspace allows everybody to change it...

6.The letters wrongly addressed...

7.... unknown things may cause an accident.

8.By the end of the 20th century metal wires had been replaced by ... ones.

9.In one of the s the ... the NATO has lost their most expensive fighter.

b)be, have, see, do, leave, write, tell.

1.It was more than a hundred years ago that Lewis Carroll ... about Alice’s trip through the looking glass.

2.Now that fiction ... became a reality ... or you might say, a virtual reality ... because that’s the name of a new computer technology that many believe will revolutionize the way we live.

3.Trainees fighting in virtual battles often cannot ... a man from a machine.

4.Virtual reality lets you travel to places you’ve never do things you’ve never — without ... the room.

5.Someday, you will ... that virtual reality makes other forms of entertainment, such as TV and movies, obsolete.

X. Guess the meaning of the italicized words:

1.Virtual reality straddles the foggy boundary between fantasy and fact.

2.Imagine a place and you’ll be able to step into it. Conjure up a dream and you’ll be able to fly through it.

3.He’s launched one of the first computers to mass-produce virtual reality systems.

4.Virtual reality techniques have been used to make a 3D model of the planet Mars. There are, of course, more down-to-earth applications. Virtual reality models of urban landscapes are allowing urban planners to redesign Main Street without leaving the room.

5.We’re now reaching a point where the simulations are so realistic that the line between playing a game or a simulation and actually blowing people up is becoming blurred.

XI.Answer the questions:

1.What is virtual reality?

2.How have some home entertainments (television, video records, video games) affected people’s life?

3.How can virtual reality benefit society?

4.How can virtual reality harm society?

5.Which uses of virtual reality appeal to you most?

6.It has been said that technology is a double-edged sword. What does that statement mean?

7.Who can use virtual reality?

XII. Give the synonyms of the following words:

Goggles; gear; combat; sitcom; voyage; to strap; to feature; to blast; to bind; to clutch; to swoop; to slip on (off).

XIII. Give the opposites of the following words:

to refocus; to allow; incredible; ambitious; virtual; disabled; to lift; to send; freedom; benefit; advances; to create.

XIV. Are you up to giving a right explanation?

It's a sort of a game, the game that develops student's abilities to express themselves. In some ways it helps students to plunge into English.

One of the students, a volunteer, is invited to take place at the teacher's table. He is facing the class and mustn't turn back and look at the blackboard. The other student with the rest of the company picks secretly out one of the statements given in this book and writes it on the blackboard.

Now the volunteer after getting some information from his colleagues tries to restore the statement.

The information concerns:

• the number of words;

• the main idea of the statement, if possible;

• the meaning of each word of the statement. It is strictly prohibited to use the words written on the blackboard, but it is quite well to use synonyms and antonyms.

It's extremely desirable that everybody takes part in this game.

TEXT 14

COMPUTER SYSTEMS

(1) Computers can be divided into three main types, depending on their size and power. Mainframe computers are the largest and most powerful. They can handle large amounts of information very quickly and can be used by many people at the same time. They usually fill a whole room and are sometimes referred to as mainframes or computer installations. They are found in large institutions like universities and government departments.

(2) Minicomputers, commonly known as minis, are smaller and less powerful than mainframes. They are about the size of an office desk and are usually found in banks and offices. They are becoming less popular as microcomputers improve.

(3) Microcomputers, commonly known as micros, are the smallest and least powerful. They are about the size of a typewriter. They can handle smaller amounts of information at a time and are slower than the other two types. They are ideal for use as home computers and are also used in education and business. More powerful microcomputers are gradually being produced; therefore they are becoming the most commonly used type of computers.

(4) A computer can do very little until it is given some information. This is known as the input and usually consists of a program and some data.

(5) A program is a set of instructions, written in a special computer language, telling the computer what operations and processes have to be carried out and in what order they should be done. Data, however, is the particular information that has to be processed by the computer, e.g. numbers, names, measurements. Data brought out of the computer is known as the output.

(6) When a program is run, i.e. put into operation, the computer executes the program step by step to process the data. The same program can be used with different sets of data.

(7) Information in the form of programs and data is called software, but the pieces of equipment making up the computer system are known as hardware.

(8) The most important item of hardware is the CPU (Central Processing Unit). This is the electronic unit at the center of the computer system. It contains the processor and the main memory.

(9) The processor is the brain of the computer. It does all the processing and controls all the other devices in the computer system.

(10) The main memory is the part of the computer where programs and data being used by the processor can be stored. However it only stores information while the computer is switched on and it has a limited capacity.

(11) All the other devices in the computer system, which can be connected to the CPU, are known as peripherals. These include input devices, output devices and storage devices.

(12) An input device is a peripheral, which enables information to be fed into the computer. The most commonly used input device is a keyboard, similar to a typewriter keyboard.

(13) An output device is a peripheral, which enables information to be brought out of the computer, usually to display the processed data. The most commonly used output device is a specially adapted television known as a monitor or VDU (Visual Display Unit). Another common output device is a printer. This prints the output of the CPU onto paper.

(14) A storage device is a peripheral used for the permanent storage of information. It has a much greater capacity than the main memory and commonly uses magnetic tape or magnetic disks as the storage medium. These are the main pieces of hardware of any computer system whether a small "micro" or a large mainframe system.

EXERCISES

I. Define the main idea of the text:

1.Microcomputers.

2.The types of computers.

3.The main pieces of hardware of a computer system.

4.The components of a computer system and their functions.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 2845