Figure out what you want to do with your computer

Believe it or not, knowing what you want to do with the computer before you buy it is really helpful. Even if your only reason for buying one is that it would match the décor of your high-tech office, that’s a good enough reason. Other folks, though, usually have some inkling in mind about why the Emperor of All Gadgets would be useful to them.

The first step toward buying your own computer is to decide what you want to do with it. As with other handy devices you own — a telephone, a car, a refrigerator, and that lava lamp — you need a reason to have a computer. Well? What do you see yourself doing on a computer?

· The number-one reason to buy a computer now is “to do the Internet.” With your computer, you can exchange e-mail, browse the Web, view news and sports, entertain yourself, chat, shop, trade stocks, mind your finances, or just plain goof off. Hey! That’s a great reason to own a computer! If that’s you, bravo!

· Some people know instantly what they want a computer to do. I want a computer to help me write. My son is into film, and he wants a digital video studio. My younger kids want to play games and send e-mail.

· If you ever work with lists, numbers, 3-x-5 cards, home finances, stocks, bonds, or Swiss bank accounts, or if you trade in plutonium from the former Soviet Union, you need a computer.

· If you’re buying a computer to complement the one at your office, you probably need something similar at home.

· If you’re buying a computer for your kids in school, ask their teachers what types of computers best run the software the school uses. Buy something similar for home.

· A survey was taken a while back to find out why some people do not yet own a computer. The number-one reason? (Can you guess?) No, it wasn’t that computers are too expensive. The number-one reason that people don’t buy computers is that they haven’t yet figured out what to do with one!

· If you’re really stuck, it helps to picture yourself in the future, working on a computer. What are you doing (besides swearing at it)?

b) You are going to buy a computer and you have already made your choice. Explain why this particular type of computer would be the best for you.

c) Make up a dialog between a computer salesperson and a customer choosing a computer.

Unit B. Computer Uses (1)

Vocabulary

bill

 

to prepare

preparation

 

instant

instantly

 

cabinet

 

memo (memorandum)

 

gadget

 

to entertain

entertainment

 

wage

 

barcode

barcode reader

 

schedule

scheduler

 

to link

link

 

to pick up

 

flight

flight reservation

 

appropriate

 

to advertise

advertisement (ad)

 

medicine

to take medicine

 

patient

 

to introduce

introduction

introductory

 

to encourage

courage

 

to convert

conversion

 

subject

 

shape

 

to forgive

 

sophisticated

 

to expect

expectation

 

familiar

to be/get familiar with

familiarity

 

package

 

spreadsheet

 

to imagine

imagination

imaginary

 

off-the-shelf

 

to require

requirement

 

desktop publishing

 

a) chose the correct translation:

 

1) shape

a) форма

b) связь

c) введение

d) ожидание

 

2) familiar

a) мгновенный

b) воображаемый

c) сложный

d) знакомый

 

3) link

a) форма

b) связь

c) введение

d) ожидание

 

4) imaginary

a) мгновенный

b) воображаемый

c) сложный

d) знакомый

 

5) require

a) ожидать

b) внедрять

c) развлекать

d) требовать

 

6) sophisticated

a) мгновенный

b) воображаемый

c) сложный

d) знакомый

 

7) introduction

a) форма

b) связь

c) введение

d) ожидание

 

8) entertain

a) ожидать

b) внедрять

c) развлекать

d) требовать

9) instant

a) мгновенный

b) воображаемый

c) сложный

d) знакомый

 

10) expectation

a) форма

b) связь

c) введение

d) ожидание

 

b) Match the words with their meanings:

1) forgive 2) courage 3) spreadsheet 4) medicine 5) convert 6) imagination 7) flight 8) requirement 9) subject 10) introduce

a) электронная таблица b) воображение c) требование d) лекарство e) прощать f) внедрять g) преобразовывать h) мужество i) рейс j) предмет

c) Match the words with their definitions:

1) memo   2) prepare   3) gadget   4) schedule 5) bar code 6) pick up 7) link   8) appropriate 9) patient 10) advertising

a) a list of times of recurring events, projected operations, arriving and departing trains, etc.; timetable b) especially suitable or compatible, assigned to a particular purpose or use c) the action of calling something to the attention of the public especially by paid announcements d) a short note written to help one remember something or remind one to do something e) to take hold of and lift up f) any interesting but relatively useless or unnecessary object g) a code consisting of a group of printed and variously patterned bars and spaces and sometimes numerals that is designed to be scanned and read into computer memory and that contains information (as identification) about the object it labels h) a connecting structure i) bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint j) to make ready, usually for a specific purpose; make suitable; fit; adapt; train

 

Reading

a) Read the text and write a list of uses of the computer, or computer applications, add as many as you can think of. Discuss them with other students.

What can computers do?

 

Computers and microchips have become part of our everyday lives: we visit shops and offices which have been designed with the help of computers, we read magazines which have been produced on computer, we pay bills prepared by computers. Just picking up a telephone and dialling a number involves the use of a sophisticated computer system, as does making a flight reservation or bank transaction.

We encounter daily many computers that spring to life the instant they’re switched on (e.g. calculators, the car’s electronic ignition, the timer in the microwave, or the programmer inside the TV set), all of which use chip technology. What makes your computer such a miraculous device? Each time you turn it on, it is a tabula rasa (нечто чистое, нетронутое) that, with appropriate hardware and software, is capable of doing anything you ask. It is an electronic filing cabinet which manages large collections of data such as customers’ lists, accounts, or inventories. It is a magical typewriter that allows you to type and print any kind of document – letters, memos, or legal documents. It is a personal communicator that enables you to interact with people around the world. If you like gadgets and electronic entertainment, you can even use your PC to relax with computer games.

b) Tick (√) the computer uses mentioned in the following article:

 

[ ] home [ ] art [ ] hospitals [ ] banking [ ] engineering

[ ] libraries [ ] shopping [ ] film-making [ ] television advertising [ ] schools

 

Computers are part of our everyday lives. They have an effect on almost everything you do. When you buy groceries at a supermarket, a computer is used with laser and barcode technology to scan the price of each item and present a total. Barcoding items (clothes, food, and books) requires a computer to generate the barcode labels and maintain the inventory. Most television advertisements and many films use graphics produced by a computer. In hospitals, bedside terminals connected to the hospital's main computer allow doctors to type in orders for blood tests and to schedule operations. Banks use computers to look after their customers' money. In libraries and bookshops, computers can help you to find the book you want as quickly as possible.

Listening

Computers in everyday life

 

a) Match these words (1-8) to the correct locations (a-d):

1. games 2. machines 3. tickets 4. wages

5. flight 6. letters 7. barcode readers 8. tills

a. a factory b. a supermarket с. a travel agent d. a home

b) Listen to the recording. Identify which place is described in each extract:

1 -

2 -

3 -

4 -

Writing

 

a) Match the places in column A with the computer uses in column B:

A	B
Banks Factories Homes Hospitals shops	Control machines Calculate the bill Look after patient records and medicines Provide entertainment and information Control our money

 

b) Now fill in the gaps in the paragraph about computer uses:

Computers are now part of our everyday life. In shops, they 1 ____. In factories, they 2____. In 3____, they look afterpatient records and medicines. When we have a bank account, a computer 4____. In our homes, computers 5____.

 

Listening

a) Listen to a lecturer describing to the new students the way in which computers may be useful to them. As you listen for the first time, look a Figure 1:

As you know, in computing a common way of showing how things are related is to use a connectivity matrix.

Figure 1.

		Physics and Chemistry

 

 

b) Now listen again and try to fill in the table to show how different people need different software (e.g. computer science students will need to know something about databases):

	Social Science	History	Engineering	Computer Science	Languages	Business Studies	General Sciences
programming
word processing
database				X
spreadsheet
DTP
statistics
financial software
CAD
simulations
operating systems

 

 

Summing-up

Speaking