From the history of computers

Министерство образования Республики Беларусь

Учреждение образования

БЕЛОРУССКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ

ИНФОРМАТИКИ И РАДИОЭЛЕКТРОНИКИ

Кафедра иностранных языков №1

Электронная техника

Пособие по развитию навыков чтения на английском языке
для студентов 1-го курса ФКП, ФРЭ, ФТК БГУИР дневной
формы обучения

Electronic Engineering

Reader for the first year daytime students of the Computer-aided Design, Radioengineering and Electronics,

Telecommunications Faculties

Минск 2006

Авторы: Т.В. Левкович, А.М. Лазаренко, С.И. Лягушевич, И.Г. Маликова, Н.А. Новик, А.К.Романюк, Г.Л. Теплякова, О.В. Туник, Л.Е. Яцевич

Электронная техника. Пособие по развитию навыков

чтения на английском языке для студентов 1-го курса ФКП, ФРЭ, ФТК БГУИР дневной формы обучения. Т.В. Левкович, А.М. Лазаренко, С.И. Лягушевич и др. – Мн.: БГУИР, 2006 – с.

Целью пособия является развитие навыков чтения и понимания научно-технической литературы на материале текстов по техническим специальностям.

Пособие состоит из 8 разделов, каждый из которых включает краткий тематический словарь, тексты и задания к ним. Тексты взяты из Encyclopedia Britannica, обработаны и сокращены.

Пособие предназначено для работы в аудитории под руководством преподавателя.

CONTENTS

1.	Unit I. Part A. Electronics
2.	Part B From the history of computers
3.	Part C. Text C
4.	Unit II. Part A Laser
5.	Part B Text B
6.	Part C Text C
7.	Unit III. Part A. Telecommunication
8.	Part B. Text B
9.	Part C. From the history of telegraph
10.	Unit IV. Part A. Text A
11.	Part B Compact Disc
12.	Part C Text C
13.	Unit V. Part A Microprocessor History
14.	Part B. Text B
15.	Part C. Text C
16.	Unit VI. Part A The Internet
17.	Part B. Teleworking
18.	Part C. Text C
19.	Unit VII. Part A Radio
20.	Part B. Who invented television
21.	Part C. Text C. Radio and Its Application
22.	Unit VIII. Part A. Artificial Intelligence
23.	Part B. Text B
24.	Part C. Robot

UNIT I

Part A.

Word List

Access	//'xksqs//	доступ
Apparent	//q'pxrqnt//	видимый, очевидный, явный
Apply	//q'plaI//	применять, прилагать, прикладывать
Array	//q'reI//	целый ряд; большое количество; масса; множество
Attenuate	//q'tenjueIt//	истощать, ослаблять
Cellular	//'seljqlq(r)//	клеточный, ячеистый, сотообразный
cellular telephone		сотовый телефон
Circuit	//'sE:kIt//	цепь, схема
integrated circuit (IC)	//'IntIgreItId//	интегральная схема, микросхема
Constitute	//'kPnstItju:t//	образовывать
Consumer	//kqn'sju:mq(r)//	широкого потребления ( о товарах)
Convert	//kqn'vE:t//	превращать
deal with (past, p.p. dealt)	//di:l//	иметь дело с кем-либо, чем-либо
Device	//dI'vaIs/	прибор, устройство
encompass	//In'kAmpqs//	1. окружать; 2. содержать, заключать (в себе)
exceptional	//Ik'sepSqnl//	исключительный, необычный
Facilitate	//fq'sIlIteIt//	облегчать, продвигать
Fibre	//'faIbq(r)//	волокно, жилка
optical fibre	//'PptIkl'faIbq(r)//	оптическое волокно, световод
Impact	//'Impxkt//	воздействие, влияние
intermingle	//"Intq'mINgl//	смешивать(ся), перемешивать(ся)
Intricate	//'IntrIkqt//	запутанный, сложный
manufacture	//'mxnju'fxktSq(r)//	производить
performance	//pq'f Lmqns//	работа, действие, исполнение
Range	//reInG//	простираться (от… до); колебаться (в известных пределах)
Regenerate	//rI'GenqreIt//	восстанавливать, регенерировать
sophisticated	//sq'fIstIkeItId//	сложный, усовершенствованный, современный
Utilize	//'ju:tqlaIz//	использовать, утилизировать

I. Study the following words and choose:

a) nouns

1) apply, application, applied, applicable, applicant, appliance;

2) significance, significant, significative, signify, signification;

3) electronic, electronics, electronically, electronicize, electron;

4) breadth, broad, broaden, broadly.

b) adjectives

1) physics, physicist, physical, physic;

2) facility, facilitate, facilitation, facile;

3) science, scientist, scientific, scientifically;

4) except, exception, excepting, exceptive, exceptional.

II. Arrange the words of the two groups in pairs

a) with similar meaning

1) encompass a. have relations

2) intricate b. weaken

3) exceptional c. complicated

4) attenuate d. fast

5) intermingle e. out of the ordinary

6) constitute f. make easy

7) facilitate g. establish

8) deal with h. mix together

9) rapid i. surround

b) with contrary meaning

1) broad a. regress

2) advance b. strengthen

3) motion c. producer

4) different d. narrow

5) consumer e. complicate

6) facilitate f. unimportant

7) attenuate g. the same

8) essential h. simple

9) complex i. rest

III. Match the words with their definitions.

1) circuit a) strong impression or effect

2) impact b) change from one form into another

3) access c) closed path for an electric current

4) apply d) make practical use

5) manufacture e) vary between limits

6) sophisticated f) clearly seen or understood

7) apparent g) complex, with the latest improvement and refinements

8) range h) produce goods on a large scale by machinery

9) convert i) right, opportunity or means of reaching, using or approaching

IV. Study the text and try to understand all details.

ELECTRONICS

1. Electronics is a branch of physics that deals with the emission, behaviour, and effects of electrons (as in electron tubes and transistors) and with electronic devices. Electronics encompasses an exceptionally broad range of technology. The term originally was applied to the study of electron behaviour and movement. It came to be used in its broader sense with advances in knowledge about the fundamental nature of electrons and about the way in which the motion of these particles could be utilized. Today many scientific and technical disciplines—including physics, chemistry, materials science, mathematics, and electrical and electronic engineering—deal with different aspects of electronics.

2. Research in these fields has led to the development of such key devices as transistors, integrated circuits, lasers, and optical fibres. These in turn have made it possible to manufacture a wide array of electronic consumer, industrial, and military products. These products range from cellular radiotelephone systems and videocassette recorders to high-performance supercomputers and sophisticated weapons systems. The impact of electronics on modern life has been pervasive. It can be said that the world is in the midst of an electronic revolution at least as significant as the industrial revolution of the 19th century. Evidence of this is apparent everywhere.

3. Electronics is essential, for example, in telecommunications. An ever-increasing volume of information is transmitted in digital form. Digital techniques, in which signals are converted into groups of pulses, allow the intermingling of voice, television, and computer signals into one very rapid series of pulses on a single channel that can be separated at the receiving end and reconstituted into the signals originally sent. Because the digital pulses can be regenerated perfectly after they become attenuated with distance, no noise or other degradation is apparent at the receiving end.

4. Electronic controls for industrial machines and processes have made possible dramatic improvements in productivity and quality. Computer-aided design tools facilitate the designing of parts that have complex shapes, such as aircraft wings, or intricate structures, such as integrated circuits. The production of designs of this sort is done by computer-controlled machines that receive instructions directly from the design tools.

5. Access to knowledge has been made far easier by computerized indexes of scientific and technical journals, which are accessible from centralized services over telephone lines. These central databases are being supplemented by new techniques derived from digital audio and video disc technology, which provide locally, and at low cost, access to vast amounts of information in text and graphic form.

V. Say whether the following statements are true or false.

1. Electronics studies electronic phenomena and devices.

2. Nowadays electronics is out of relation to chemistry.

3. The electronic revolution is less important than the industrial revolution of the 19^th century.

4. Electronics is of no importance in telecommunications.

5. In digital techniques signals are mixed on a single channel.

6. Productivity and quality in industry were greatly improved thanks to electronics.

7. At present the only opportunity of getting information is over telephone lines.

8. Computerized indexes of scientific and technical journals make it possible to obtain information easier.

VI. Complete the following sentences choosing the most suitable variant.

1. Manufacturing of many electronic products became possible thanks to the invention of

a) high-performance supercomputers;

b) transistors, ICs and other electronic devices;

c) sophisticated weapons systems.

2. In digital techniques signals are changed into

a) groups of pulses;

b) voice;

c) electric current.

3. There is no noise at the receiving end

a) because of the perfect regeneration of the digital pulses;

b) because the digital pulses become attenuated with distance;

c) because the digital pulses can be separated at the receiving end.

4. It became easier to design complex shapes and structures with the help of

a) industrial machines;

b) machine-tools;

c) computer-aided design tools.

5. Obtaining information was facilitated by

a) telephone lines;

b) scientific and technical journals available;

c) computerization.

VII. Read paragraph 1 of the text and answer the questions.

1. What is electronics?

2. Why did the term electronics acquire a wider meaning?

3. What branches of science are connected with electronics?

VIII. Read paragraph 2 and say what devices made it possible to produce both videocassette recorders and high-performance supercomputers.

IX. Look through paragraphs 2 and 3 and find English equivalents of the following words and word combinations.

Интегральные схемы, оптоволокно, в свою очередь, товары широкого потребления, современные системы вооружения, по крайней мере, цифровая технология, объем информации, смешивание сигналов, первоначально, ослабленный.

X. Read the first sentence of paragraph 4 and mark pauses. Divide it into sense groups, find out the means of connection between these sense groups and between the words in each group.

XI. Translate paragraphs 4 and 5 into Russian.

XII. Make an outline of the text.

XIII. Speak about the significance of electronics

Part B.

I. Look through the list of English words and their Russian equivalents facilitating reading text B.

Internal storage - внутреннее запоминающее устройство;

magnetic core - оперативная память на магнитных сердечниках;

stack -собирать, скомпоновывать;

punched card - перфокарта;

batch processing - пакетная обработка;

treat - рассматривать, трактовать, интерпретировать;

queue - становиться в очередь; образовывать очередь.

II. Define the meaning of the “x” word.

store: storage= хранить: х;

appear: appearance= появляться: х;

capable: capability= х: способность;

process: processing= обрабатывать: х;

internal: external= внутренний: х;

increase: decrease= увеличивать: х;

complex: complexity= х: сложность;

fast: faster= быстрый: х;

efficiency: inefficiency= эффективность: х.

III. Find in the list the following parts of speech: a) nouns, b) adjectives, c) adverbs, d) verbs.

Magnetic, generation, provide, storage, transistor, compare, tremendous, reduction, previous, greater, complexity, usually, location, easily, capability, user, numerous, require, data, external, utilize, circuit, improve, fast, totally, appropriate.

IV. Complete the sentences with the following words:

increased, have been classed, to be brought, using, are provided, external, compared to.

1. Computer systems … into three generations.

2. The first computers used magnetic drums for internal storage and magnetic tape for … storage.

3. Early computers were slow … modern machines.

4. Solid-state memory greatly … the speed and capacity of the internal memory.

5. Early computers required data … to them.

6. Modern computers … with the capability of handling numerous input devices directly.

7. This data was usually prepared by … punched cards.

V. Read the text and say which paragraph contains the information about the advantage of computers to have large information capacity but small physical dimensions.

FROM THE HISTORY OF COMPUTERS

1. Computer systems have been classed into three generations. The first generation consisted of vacuum-tube-based machines. They used magnetic drums for internal storage and magnetic tape for external storage. These computers were slow compared to modern machines and required data to be brought to them.

2. Second-generation computers using transistors began to appear in 1959. The internal storage used magnetic cores, with magnetic material wired into frames that were stacked into large cores. This form of storage represented a tremendous increase in speed and in bulk over previous storage methods. The external storage in second-generation computers used magnetic disks. This form of storage also added increased speed and greater "online" capability as compared to magnetic tape systems.

3. Since 1964, a third generation of computers has begun to emerge. These computers utilized integrated circuits to increase capability and decrease size, while integrated technology also provided improved internal storage capability. Solid-state memory, being now totally electronic, greatly increased the speed and capacity of the internal memory while decreasing its cost and complexity. External memory continued to use magnetic disks, which became larger and faster.

4. It was stated that early computers required data to be brought to them. This data was usually prepared by using punched cards or magnetic tape. The cards or tapes would then be carried to the computer where they would be processed. The transfer of data in this fashion was called batch processing. As each batch of data was received, it was placed into line with other batches of data which were processed one after another. Reports were generated, files were updated, new tapes were made and the revised data was routed to appropriate locations in the form of punched cards or magnetic tape. The inefficiency of such a system is easily seen in retrospect.

5. Later-model computers are provided with the capability of handling numerous input devices directly. These multitask computers treat the incoming data in much the same way as the earlier computers did. Incoming data is received from the various input devices and is lined up, or queued by the computer. The computer will then process the incoming data according to internal procedures. The modern computers are so fast in their operation that they can handle many users without the users even being aware than others are on the system.

VI. Say if the following statements are true or false. Correct the false statements.

1. An early computer used to be made of vacuum tubes.

2. The internal storage of the second-generation computers represented a great increase in speed and reduction in bulk over previous storage methods.

3. Since 1964, the third-generation computers have begun to use magnetic disks.

4. The transfer of data called batch processing is seen to be extremely efficient in retrospect.

5. Multitask computers process the incoming data in the way similar to the earlier computers.

VII. Choose the best answer: a, b or c to complete the sentences.

1. The first generation computers were designed on the basis of

a) integrated circuits;

b) vacuum valves;

c) semiconductor devices.

2. The second-generation of computers is based on

a) transistors;

b) magnetic discs;

c) superconducting devices.

3. A third generation of computers provides

a) the capability of handling numerous input devices directly;

b) improved external storage capability;

c) increase in speed and capacity of internal memory.

4. Modern computers can handle

a) magnetic cores;

b) magnetic drums;

c) input devices directly.

VIII. Divide the text into logical parts and find the topical sentences in each part.

IX. Give a short summary of the text.

Part C.

I. Read the following text and entitle it.

1. The working principles of electronics can be demonstrated by tracing the history of radio tubes and photoelectric cells. The history began in 1883, when Thomas Edison found that the heated filament in his incandescent lamp gave off material that blackened the inside of the bulb. This was called the Edison effect, and it led to the development of the modern radio tube. In the Edison effect, also called thermionic emission, heat supplies some electrons in the filament with at least the minimal energy to overcome the attractive forces holding them in the structure of the metal. This discharge of electrons is widely used as a source of electrons in conventional electron tubes—for example, in television picture tubes.

2. In 1887 Heinrich Hertz, while trying to prove the existence of radio waves, discovered the photoelectric effect. If polished metal is given a negative charge and then is flooded with ultraviolet radiation, it steadily loses the charge. Some chemical elements such as cesium and selenium are sensitive to visible light. This discovery led to photoelectric cells.

3. The development of the radio tube began in 1904, when John A. Fleming of England produced the Fleming valve, which today is called a diode, meaning “two electrodes.” He started by heating a filament (also called a cathode) in a vacuum tube with “A-circuit current.” The heat drove electrons out of the filament and into surrounding space. If nothing more happened, the first electrons to escape would soon have formed a negative space charge that would have kept others from being driven out because like charges repel. Fleming avoided this by placing a plate in the tube and connecting the plate and filament through an outside B circuit. The electrons driven from the filament then crossed the tube to the plate and followed the circuit back to the filament. Fleming next placed a battery in the B circuit. The battery was used to supply electrons—that is, negative charges—to the filament, or cathode, and draw them from the plate, or anode, leaving a positive charge. Electrical heating drove electrons steadily from the filament and sent a strong current through the B, or plate, circuit. The strength of the current depends partly upon the heat and partly upon the voltage from the battery. This device could be used as a radio detector.

4. In 1906 the American inventor Lee De Forest transformed the diode into a device that he called an audion, the modern name of which is triode. He did this by inserting a grid of fine wire mesh between the filament and the plate. If variable voltages from an antenna circuit are placed on the filament and the grid, they cause variations in the flow of electrons to the plate. Moreover, the variations in current are much stronger than those caused by the voltage of the incoming signal acting alone. Thus the triode amplifies, or strengthens, the signal.

5. The vacuum tube became the basis of radio, television, and computers, the latter first developed at the end of World War II in 1944 and 1945. The invention of the transistor in 1947 initiated a radical reduction in the size of electronic circuits and in their power requirements. The later development of the integrated circuit set into motion the continuing miniaturization of all electronic devices, which has at the same time greatly increased their speed and computing power.

Notes:

radio tube – электронная лампа

filament – нить накала

incandescent lamp – лампа накаливания

photoelectric cell – фотодиод

II. Answer the following questions on the contents of the text.

1. What discovery led to the modern radio tube?

2. When was the photoelectric effect discovered?

3. What does the Fleming valve consist of?

4. How does a triode differ from a diode?

5. When did the first computers appear?

III. Read the text and say where Thomas Edison’s discovery finds wide application.

IV. Find information about Lee De Forest’s contribution to the development of electronics.

V. List the major steps of electronics history.

VI. Give the main points of the text in 5-6 sentences.

UNIT 2

Part A

Word List

amplification	/"xmplIfI'keISn/	Усиление
Beam	/bi:m/	луч
before the turn of the century	/'sentSqri/	в конце прошлого века
Capacity	/kq'pxsqti/	мощность, производительность
Conduct	/kqn'dAkt/	вести, проводить
disintegrate	/dIs'IntIgreIt/	распадаться на составные части
Duration	/dju'reISn/	продолжительность
Emission	/i'mISn/	эмиссия (излучение)
Encode	/In'kqVd/	кодировать
Fuel	/'fju:ql/	топливо
fulfilment	/fVl'fIlmqnt/	выполнение, осуществление
Heat	/hi:t/	тепло, теплота
heat-resistant	/'hi:trIzIstqnt/	теплостойкий
installation	/"Instq'leISn/	установка, сборка
Invade	/In'veId/	вторгаться
Lead	/led/	свинец
mysterious	/mI'stIqriqs/	таинственный
simultaneous	/"sIml'teIniqs/	одновременный
Single	/'sINgl/	одиночный, единичный
stand for	/stxnd/	символизировать, означать
Stimulate	/'stImjuleIt/	возбуждать, индуцировать
substance	/'sAbstqns/	вещество
Suggest	/sq'Gest/	предлагать, советовать
sword of heat	/sLd/	огненный меч
Tool	/tu:l/	инструмент, орудие, средство
treatment	/'tri:tmqnt/	обработка
Vaporize	/'veIpqraIz/	испарять(ся)
Vary	/'veqri/	менять(ся), изменять(ся)
Weapon	/'wepqn/	оружие

I. Study the following words and choose:

a) nouns

1) reality, real, realistic, realize

2) intense, intensity, intensive, intensification

3) resistant, resist, resistance, resistive

4) development, developed, develop, developing

5) provide, providing, provision, provided

b) adjectives

1) strength, strengthen, strong, strongly

2) differ, differently, difference, different

3) transmissible, transmit, transmission, transmitter

4) inefficiently, efficient, efficiency, efficiently

5) dependence, dependent, depend, independence

c) verbs

1) communication, communicative, communicated, communicate

2) applied, applicable, apply, application

3) installation, installed, installment, install

4) amplify, amplifier, amplified, amplification

5) stimulus, stimulation, stimulate, stimulated

II. Arrange the words of the two groups in pairs:

a) with similar meaning

1) rapidly	a) requirement
2) sophisticated	b) almost
3) opportunity	c) realize
4) application	d) as well
5) also	e) use
6) fulfil	f) possibility
7) demand	g) complicated
8) nearly	h) fast

b) with contrary meaning

1) further	a) incapable
2) integrate	b) powerful
3) cooling	c) limitless
4) outside	d) inside
5) powerless	e) uncontrolled
6) controlled	f) heating
7) limited	g) disintegrate
8) capable	h) nearer
9) single	i) numerous

III. Match the words with their definitions.

1) heat	a) a line of light that shines from an object such as a torch or the sun
2) duration	b) a piece of information or a request that you send to someone or leave for them when you cannot speak to them directly
3) tool	c) an object such as a gun, a knife, or a missile, which is used to kill or hurt people in a fight or a war
4) weapon	d) a narrow beam of concentrated light that is used especially for cutting very hard materials and in surgery
5) sophisticated	e) made using advanced and complex methods
6) beam	f) warmth or the quality of being hot
7) message	g) the length of time during which something happens or exists
8) satellite	h) an object which has been sent into space in order to collect information
9) laser	i) any instrument or piece of equipment that you hold in your hands in order to help you to do a particular kind of work

IV. Study the text and try to understand all details.

LASER

1. In the “War of World” written before the turn of the century H. Wells told a fantastic story of how Martians almost invaded our Earth. Their weapon was a mysterious “sword of heat”. Today Wells’ sword of heat has come to reality in the laser. The name stands for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.

2. Laser, one of the most sophisticated inventions of man, produces an intensive beam of light of a very pure single colour. It represents the fulfillment of one of the mankind’s oldest dreams of technology to provide a light beam intensive enough to vaporize the hardest and most heat-resistant materials. It can indeed make lead run like water, or, when focused, it can vaporize any substance on earth. There is no material unamenable to laser treatment and laser will have become one of the main technological tools.

3. The applications of laser in industry and science are so many and so varied as to suggest magic. Scientists in many countries are working at a very interesting problem: combining the two big technological discoveries of the second half of the 20-th century – laser and thermonuclear reaction – to produce a practically limitless source of energy. Physicists of this country have developed large laser installations to conduct physical experiments in heating thermonuclear fuel with laser beams. There also exists an idea to use laser for solving the problem of controlled thermonuclear reaction. The laser beam must heat the fuel to the required temperature so quickly that the plasma does not have time to disintegrate. According to current estimates, the duration of the pulse has to be approximately a thousand-millionth of a second. The light capacity of this pulse would be dozens of times greater than the capacity of all the world’s power plants. To meet such demands in practice scientists and engineers must work hard as it is clear that a lot of difficulties are to be encountered on route.

4. The laser’s most important potential may be its use in communications. The intensity of a laser can be rapidly changed to encode very complex signals. In principle, one laser beam, vibrating a billion times faster than ordinary radio waves, could carry the radio, TV and telephone messages of the world simultaneously. In just a fraction of a second, for example, one laser beam could transmit the entire text of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

5. Besides, there are projects to use lasers for long distance communication and for transmission of energy to space stations, to the surface of the Moon or to planets in the solar system. Projects have also been suggested to place lasers aboard Earth satellites nearer to the Sun in order to transform the solar radiation into laser beams, with this transformed energy subsequently transmitted to the Earth or to other space bodies. These projects have not yet been put into effect, because of the great technological difficulties to be overcome and therefore the great cost involved. But there is no doubt that in time these projects will be realized and the laser beam will begin operating in outer space as well.

Notes:

unamenable – неподдающийся

as to suggest magic – можно принять за чудо

put into effect – осуществлять

V. Say whether the following statements are true or false.

1. Laser means “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”.

2. Laser produces an intensive beam of light.

3. In the next few years laser will become one of the main technological tools.

4. Martians almost invaded the Earth before the turn of the century.

5. Laser and thermonuclear reaction can produce a limited source of energy.

6. The laser beam heats the fuel so quickly that the plasma disintegrates.

7. There are projects to transform lunar radiation into beams.