Identification of words

Match the words in the left-hand column with their expla­nations in the right-hand column, e.g. 1-7.

Taking Computer for Granted

2. Useful expressions

Try to understand and translate the following expressions, using the explanation of the words. Then invent sentences using these expressions.

1. Plummeting costs; plummet - weight of lead hung on a line, for taking depths at sea.

2. To spark an interest in; spark - a small red-hot part thrown off from something burning, fiery particle.

3. Speaking of profound; profound - showing great knowledge or understanding.

4. Is the game worth the candle? (Proverb) Worth - value, price; candle - a stick of wax enclosing a wick, which is burnt to give light.

5. The tear-drop sized computer; tear - a drop of liquid from the eye; drop - a small rounded mass of liquid.

6. To have advantages in comparison with; advantage - supe­riority, gain or benefit.

7. On the other hand.

3. Reading comprehension

Read the text, try to understand the topic, look for the logical sequence of the items and put them in the proper order. The first item is in the right position.

1. You turn the computer on and it loads data from ROM and performs a power-on self test (POST) to make sure all the components are functioning properly.

UNIT 4

2. When you open an application, it is loaded into RAM. To conserve RAM usage, many applications load only the es­sential parts of the program initially and then load other pieces as needed.

3. The computer loads the basic input / output system (BIOS) from ROM. The BIOS provides the most basic information about storage devices, boot sequence, Plug and Play (auto device recognition) capability and other items.

4. After an application is loaded, any files that are opened for use in that application are loaded into RAM.

5. The computer loads the OS from the hard drive into the sys­tem's RAM. Generally, the critical parts of the OS are main­tained in RAM as long as the computer is on. This allows the CPU to have immediate access to the operating system.

6. When you save a file and close the application, the file is written to the specified storage device, and than it and the applications are purged from RAM.

4. Computer terms in use

Match the terms in the left-hand column with their defini­tions in the right-hand column.

Taking Computer/or Granted

B. Find out Russian equivalents of the computer terms given below.

If it is beyond your grasp, give at least Russian explanation.

Disk drive Itis a machine that reads data from and

writes data onto a disk. A disk drive rotates the disk very fast. It has one or more heads that read and write data. There are different types of disk drives for different types of discs. A hard disk drive (HDD) reads and writes hard disks, and a floppy drive (FDD) reads and writes floppy disks.

Disk cashing Itis a method to improve the performance of

the file system. A section of memory is used as a temporary holding place for frequently ac­cessed file data.

Mass storage Itrefers to various techniques and devices for

storing large amount of data. Mass storage de­vices retain data even when the computer is turned off. Usually refers to a hard disk, al­though it could refer to a floppy disk, CD-ROM disk or DVD disk.

UNIT 4

Keyboard

Function keys

A keyboard on a computer is almost identical to a keyboard on a typewriter. Computer key­boards will typically have extra keys, however. Some of these keys are meant to be used in con­junction with other keys just like shift on a regu­lar typewriter. Other keys (Insert, Delete, Home, End, function keys etc) are meant to be used in­dependently and often perform editing tasks. Keyboards on different platforms will often look slightly different and have somewhat different collections of keys. Smaller keyboards with only math-related keys are typically called Keypads. On a computer keyboard, the keys that start with an «F» and are usually (but not always) found on the top row. They are meant to per­form user-defined tasks.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 974