Network – a new era in communication.

Today the Internet has become a word-wide network of networks. It interconnects millions of computers that differ in size, from comparatively simple to complex supercomputers. It is linking of ten thousands of educational institutions, business, and public organizations with of individual users. That is why the Internet is referred to as the information superhighway.

People are using the Internet for many purposes. Among them- to find and retrieve important documents, to carry on long distance conversations and relationship with other users, to connect to supercomputers and numerous other activities.

What is known that the Internet was originally formed in 1970 as a military network. A few years later, the Internet opened to nonmilitary users. However, most popular it became some ten years later when many educational institutions and a lot of businesses around the world came on-line.

When in 1993 Internet connections were first made available to individuals, usage of the network greatly increased. Many millions of new users came on-line within a short period. A new era of computer communication was announced to begin. Most networks on the Internet make certain files available to other networks. These common files can be databases, programs or electronic mail from the individuals on the network. Each of hundreds of thousand of international sites provides thousands of portions of data available to users.

It should be noted that the Internet is not the only way for the computer users to communicate with each other. A number of commercial on-line services also provide connections to those who pay for it. These services provide a great range of information including on-line conferencing, access to encyclopedias, and other educational means and reference works, electronic forums for specific users’ groups, sports fans and so on.

Словарь-минимум:

UNIT 2.

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