Translate the following quotes of Marshall McLuhan about IT. Comment them. What quotes do you agree with and why?

 

1.We become what we behold. First we shape our tools, thereafter they shape us

2.Our technology forces us to live mythically, but we continue to think fragmentarily, and on single, separate planes.

3.In this electronic age we see ourselves being translated more and more into the form of information, moving toward the technological extension of consciousness.

4. As the age of information demands the simultaneous use of all our faculties, we discover that we are most at leisure when we are most intensely involved.

5. The global village is a place of very arduous interfaces and very abrasive situations.

6. Technologies themselves, regardless of content, produce a hemispheric bias in the users.

7. The most human thing about us is our technology.

8. The new electronic independence recreates the world in the image of a global village.

9. Computers can do better than ever what needn’t be done at all. Making sense is still a human monopoly.

10. Electronic man has no physical body.

11. Television is teaching all the time. Does more educating than the schools and all the institutions of higher learning.

12. We are all robots when uncritically involved with our technologies.

5.2. Discuss these questions with your partner:

1. How one can avoid the Internet-addiction?

2. Do you personally use Internet reasonably?

3. What is your personal attitude to the different forms of plagiarism?

4. Do you think people who plagiarize should be punished?

5. Have you ever used online services to check your term papers or other works for the purpose of plagiarism?

TEXT 2. SILICON VALLEY

 

Рис

I. Warm-up activities

1.1. Pronounce the following words properly and state the part of speech:

To specialize, to revolutionize, formerly, proximity, physicist, largely, nonunion, aggressively, employee, survey, to reenergize, susceptible, valuation, congestion, immediate.

 

Find the Russian equivalents

1. Silicon Valley	1. полупроводник
2. semiconductor	2. Кремниевая долина
3. from the proximity to smth.	3. в интересах, в пользу чего-л.
4. business acumen	4. пример, образец мобильности в работе
5. to defect to smb.	5. игнорировать, избегать
6. a pattern of job mobility	6. деловые качества
7. to shun	7. перейти, перебежать на сторону кого-л.
8. corporate loyalty	8.корпоративная лояльность
9.in favor of smth.	9. из-за соседства,близости с чем-л.
10. personal fulfillment	10. материальная выгода
11. financial reward	11. умеренный климат
12. moderate climate	12. самореализация
13. nonunion workforce	13. не состоящие в профсоюзе сотрудники, работники
14. alike	14. появляться, возникать
15. to emerge	15. подобно, точно так же, одинаково
16. to urge bilateral agreements	16. превышать
17. ascent	17. вынуждать к заключению двусторонних соглашений
18. traffic congestion	18. недавно созданная, новая компания
19. startup company	19. скопление транспорта; транспортная пробка
20. to exceed	20. появление

 

 

1.3.Match the words with their definitions:

 

1.pattern	1. the strongly attractive quality of a person or thing
2. semiconductor	2. to recommend something strongly
3.to urge	3. a solid substance that has a conductivity between that of an insulator and that of most metals
4. increasingly	4.to an increasing extent; more and more
5.lure	5. a business enterprise involving considerable risk
6. layoff	6. to organize and carry out
7. venture	7. an arrangement or design regularly found in comparable objects
8. bilateral	8. happening in a short time or at a fast pace
9. rapid	9. involving two parties, usually countries.
10.to conduct	10. a discharge, especially temporary, of a worker or workers

 

II. Reading

 

Located around Santa Clara and San Jose in California, Silicon Valley is the home of many key U.S. corporations that specialize in advanced electronic and information technologies. First called «Silicon Valley» in 1971 by a local newsletter writer, Donald C. Hoefler, the Valley became the center of newly developing technologies that many believed would revolutionize computers, telecommunications, manufacturing procedures, warfare, and even U.S. society itself. The Silicon part of the name refers to the high concentration of companies involved in the making of semiconductors (silicon is used to create most semiconductors commercially) and computer industries that were concentrated in the area. The location of such high-tech research, development, and manufacturing in a formerly agricultural area grew mainly from its proximity to Stanford University in nearby Palo Alto. Stanford, a research-oriented institution with active departments in engineering and electronics, decided in 1951 to establish a «research park», a place where companies could build facilities and conduct research in cooperation with the university, the first such enterprise in the country.

If there was a single founder of Silicon Valley it was William Shockley, an English-born physicist who worked on early concepts of the transistor at Bell Laboratories before World War II and who went on to become the director of Bell’s Transistor Physics Research Group. In 1955 he founded Shockley Semiconductor Laboratories just south of Palo Alto in the north end of Silicon Valley. Shockley’s business acumen did not equal his skills in science and engineering, however, and in 1957 eight of his engineers defected to create Fairchild Semiconductor, supported by Fairchild Camera and Instrument.

Their departure established a pattern of job mobility that came to characterize careers in Silicon Valley in particular and in the electronics companies in general, with employees shunning ties of corporate loyalty in favor of personal fulfillment and financial reward. Reinforcing this pattern, Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andrew Grove left Fairchild Semiconductor in 1968 to establish Intel. Another Fairchild employee, W. J. Sanders III, founded Advanced Micro Devices soon thereafter. In the early 1970s one survey found forty-one companies in Silicon Valley headed by former Fairchild employees. This pattern continued into the 1980s with such companies as National Semiconductor, Atari, Apple Computer, LSI Logic, and Cypress Semiconductor having all or part of their origins in Silicon Valley.

The moderate climate of Silicon Valley, combined with the educated talent from California universities and a largely nonunion workforce, attracted investors and corporations alike.

During the 1950s and early 1960s, much of the valley relied on military contracts, but this dependence declined as commercial and then personal markets for computers emerged. Investors hoping for a very high rate of return increasingly were willing to risk supporting the new electronics companies even though as many as 25 percent of them failed within a few years. By the late 1980s companies estimated that they needed as much as $1 billion to establish a manufacturing facility for the latest generation of semiconductors. Silicon Valley’s success attracted such states as Oregon, Michigan, Texas, Colorado, New York, and Minnesota to invite or promote advanced electronic firms. In the 1990s, companies in Silicon Valley remained the major indicator of the health of the industry.

Foreign competition, especially from Japan, caused perhaps the greatest problems for Silicon Valley. Business and political leaders debated whether or not trade policy needed to defend the interests of U.S. electronics firms more aggressively and whether U.S. companies should receive government funding to make them more competitive in the international market. Silicon Valley had begun to worry about Japanese competition by the late 1970s. In 1981, U.S. companies controlled 51.4 percent of the world’s semiconductor market; Japan’s share was 35.5 percent. Within seven years the figures had virtually reversed themselves, with Japan at 51 percent and the United States 36.5 percent. U.S. companies charged their Japanese counterparts with dumping semiconductors onto the U.S. market at low prices to undercut U.S. manufacturers while Japan kept much of its home market closed. The Semiconductor Industry Association, which represented many companies in Silicon Valley, urged bilateral agreements to open Japan’s market. By the early 1990s it appeared that U.S. industry had started to recover some of the ground lost to Japan. A boom cycle began in the mid-1990s with the emergence of the Internet and electronic commerce leading to the rapid rise of new businesses in the software and electronics industries.

Several factors reduced the lure of Silicon Valley as the center of the electronics and computer industry, among them new technologies, the ascent of successful electronic-component manufacturing elsewhere in the United States, and foreign competition. People learned that the manufacturing of electronic components was not as environmentally clean or safe as some thought, and the growth of the Valley led to traffic congestion and air pollution. However, Silicon Valley continues to maintain its status as one of the top research and development centers in the world. It is also home to a significant number of «Unicorn» ventures, referring to startup companies whose valuation has exceeded $1 billion dollars.

Many more jobs (400 000 during the period 2010 to 2015) are created in Silicon Valley. Thousands of high technology companies are headquartered in Silicon Valley. Among them there are the following:

Adobe Systems

Apple Inc.

eBay

Facebook

Google

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Intel

Tesla Motors

Visa Inc.

Western Digital Corporation

Yahoo!

Twitter

YouTube

Logitech

National Semiconductor

NetApp

Netflix

Nvidia

 

III. Comprehension Check:

 

3.1. Answer the following questions:

1. Where does Silicon Valley located?

2. Who gave this name to this place?

3. How is the «Silicon part» of the name explained in the text?

4. What field do companies of Silicon Valley specialize in?

5. Who founded Semiconductor Laboratories?

6. What event did cause a pattern of job mobility in Silicon Valley?

7. Why the period during the 1950s and early 1960s was considered to be a decline for Silicon Valley?

8. What country was the greatest problem for Silicon Valley?

9. What events did boost to the rapid rise of new businesses in the software and electronics industries?

10. Is Silicon Valley one of the top research and development centers in the world?

11. How many more jobs were created in Silicon Valley during the period 2010 to 2015?

12. What famous high technology companies are headquartered there?

 

3.2. Decide whether these statements are true, false or information is not available:

 

1. Silicon Valley is located in California.

2. All companies of Silicon Valley produce the semiconductors.

3. Silicon Valley is situated in a formerly agricultural area.

4. William Shockley created Fairchild Semiconductor.

5. Job mobility is the usual practice in Silicon Valley.

6. In the early 1970s one survey found forty-one companies in Silicon Valley headed by former Fairchild employees.

7. During the 1950s and early 1960s revenues from Silicon Valley began a long-term decline.

8. Foreign competitors, especially from China, caused the serios problems for Silicon Valley.

9. The emergence of the social networks brought about the rise of new businesses in the software and electronics industries.

10. The growth of the Valley led to traffic congestion and air pollution.

11. A lot of computer engineers from Russia got a job in Silicon Valley during 2000s.

12. The well-known companies Samsung and Sony are located in Silicon Valley.

IV. Grammar in Focus

4.1. Read and translate the sentences with the Abverbial Clause. State the types of the sentences with the Abverbial Clause:

1. I’ll stay with you till your mother comes.

2. If he came now, we would discuss all the problems.

3. The countryside was so beautiful that we decided to stay there longer.

4. We decided to stay there longer because the sights were very wonderful.

5. Begin to read from where you stopped.

6. We came half an hour earlier so that you could speak to him.

7. Provided he had been given more time, he could have solved this difficult task.

8. If you ever need me, I shall be always around.

9. Most laboratories have small machines which are being used for demonstration purposes.

10. Professor N. hadn’t had a competent assistant since Alex moved to another city.

4.2. Read, translate and analyze the sentences with the Clause
paying attention to the word that:

1. There is no doubt that old age comes to everybody.

2. Anyone that took part in the defence of Leningrad received the
«Defence of Leningrad Medal».

3. One of the self-evident truths is that every change or new existence requires a cause.

4. That honey is heavier than sugar is a fact.

5. It was so hot and stuffy that it was difficult to breathe.

6. It is observed that great strength and good nature commonly go together.

7. Repeat this word again that you may remember it better.

8. It was at this moment that the idea came to him.

4.3. Match the two parts of the sentences:

1. He wouldn’t have become so strong...

2. They would have come...

3. If they had been ready the day before...

4. If I hadn't needed the book...

5. If they had had a city map...

6. If you had warned us...

7. He wouldn’t know much...

8. We wouldn’t have wasted so much time...

9. If you had sent me a telegram...

10. We had never done this...

a)... 1 wouldn’t be worried now.

b)... I wouldn’t have gone to the library.

c)... we wouldn’t have come so early.

d)... unless he had done sports.

e)... they wouldn’t have been lost.

f)... if Jane had invited them.

g)... unless you had agreed with us.

h)... unless he read much.

i)... they would have taken their exam.

j)... if you had bought everything beforehand.

V. Speaking

5.1*. Discuss these questions with your partner:

1. Which of the popular search engines do you use more often: Google, Yahoo or Yandex? Why? Use your personal experience.

2. Social Networking: pros and cons.

3. Bad sides of IT.

5.2*. Role-play the following situation:

 

Suppose you are applying to work for a computer software company. What qualifications and skills would be needed in different positions within a company? What kinds of questions do you think you would be asked in a job interview for such positions?

5.2*. Online Investigations:

1. Online gaming is becoming very popular because it allows players to participate in online games from different parts of the world. Use the Internet to do a review of an online role-playing or simulation game. In your review, discuss the objectives of the game, the number of players that can join at any one time, the intended audience (children, teens, or adults), and any cost associated with playing it.3. Social Networking: pros and cons.

2.Use the Internet to find information on these questions:

What are the effects of cyberbullying on people?

What are the warning signs of cyberbullying?

What are ways in which people are cyberbullied on the Internet?

What can people do to protect themselves from cyberbullying?

Are boys or girls more likely bully other kids?

Are people who are bullied more likely to suffer from depression or die by suicide?

5.3*. Find an article on any interesting facts about the current events in Silicon Valley. Make a two-minute presentation.

5.4*. Make projects about other IT you interested in. Use the tips given in the appendix 1.

VI. Listening

6.1. Listen to the text Cyberbulling on http://www.esl-lab.com