Scientific and Technological Progress
Topics
Our college
My Future profession
Great Britain
The Inventor of the Radio
Radio in Our Life
Television in Our Life
Computers in Our Life
The Internet
Mass Media
Telephone
Telegraph
Scientific and Technological Progress
Communications
Beltelecom
BelCel
Ecological Problems
Our College
I’m lucky to be a student of the Higher State College of Communication. It is situated in Minsk in P. Brovka Street. Our college is one of the oldest educational establishments of our republic, built in1930.
Our college is known for its high standard of teaching, creative and stimulation atmosphere. All the teachers are well-trained, they are real professionals. They work closely with the students organizing group and individual tutorials. The full term of study in our college is seven years.
The students have to attend classes regularly and be very active. They often take tests, conduct experiments, prepare reports and take part in conferences.
We study many different subjects in the college. Some of them are very difficult, but so very interesting at the same time. To succeed we must be good at mathematics, physics, foreign languages. We have lectures and practical classes every day.
Social life in our college is rich in different events. All year round we have a varied program of evening activities including parties, discos, theatre visits and outings to different places of interest. We take part in various sport competitions, theatricals and concerts.
Our college has various facilities for studies. There are many labs in our college, well-equipped with TV sets, video-cassette recorders, tape-recorders and other necessary apparatus. We also have some computer class-rooms, a large conference hall, a gym, a great number of class-rooms.
The museum of the history of our college is our pride. It attracts visitors from all over the city. Our students themselves take care of the museum, they work there as guides.
In1993 one more building was built for our college. Now after four years of the specialized secondary education the most capable students have an opportunity to get higher education.
We have three hostels for those students, who have come from all over the republic. They are clean, cosy and comfortable. Our college doctor Tamara Vasiljevna takes care of our health.
There are rich libraries and reading-rooms in both buildings where we can borrow all the necessary books for our studies. The students can prepare for seminars and practical classes there.
A good education helps the graduates of our college to find a place in society, to guarantee high wages.
My Future profession
Choosing the kind of career is probably one of the most important decisions in our life. There are many interesting and useful professions and it’s really not an easy task to make the right choice.
I’m convinced that everybody is interested in establishing oneself in life. Work is an opportunity to plan and order our life. The career sounds interesting to me if I can get a prestigious profession, good working conditions and steady wages.
I originally became interested in the sphere of communication in my early teens. Telecommunications have brought us new lifestyle. Satellite television, electronic mail, fax, Internet, cellular telephones have changed the way we communicate, get and exchange information. Work, social life, politics, education-telecommunications are coming everywhere and provide new unique opportunities. New millennium will bring us to new horizons of social, political and economic interaction in the virtual world of modern telecommunicating.
Choosing the Higher State College of Communication I did a lot of thinking about the things I like to do and do well. I thought over my future employment and chances of promotion. One of the main principles of education in our college is to unite theory and practice. So we have lectures, seminars, laboratory works and practice. I want my skills to be in great demand. It’s a matter of responsibility with me to do a good job, to apply my knowledge.
I realize that we live in a competitive world and I try to face the situation realistically. My parents always encourage me. I hope that after graduating from the college I will be able to get a suitable job which will satisfy my priorities.
Vocabulary
Career - занятие, профессия
To establish - устраивать(ся)
Steady - постоянный, надежный
Wages - зарплата
Originally - первоначально
Cellular - сотовый
Satellite - спутник Millennium - тысячелетие
Interaction - взаимодействие
Virtual - фактический, виртуальный
Skill - умение, мастерство
Apply - применять
Encourage - ободрять, помогать
Priority - приоритет
Great Britain
Great Britain (official name – the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), is situated on two large isles, the larger of which is Great Britain, the smaller is Ireland. In addition to these two islands Great Britain includes over five hundreds small islands. The total area of Great Britain is 240,000 sq. kms, its population is 56,000,000 people.
In the northwest and west, the country is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea, in the east — by the North Sea. The island of Great Britain is separated from France by the English Channel. Northern Ireland, which is a part of Great Britain and which is situated on the island of Ireland, is separated from Great Britain by the North Channel.
The island of Great Britain is divided into two parts: mountainous (in the north and west of the island) and lowland (in the south and east). There are no very long rivers in Great Britain. The most important rivers are the Thames (the deepest) and the Severn (the longest). The rivers seldom freeze in winter. Due to moderating influence of the sea, Great Britain has an insular climate, rather humid and mild, without striking discrepancy between seasons.
Great Britain consists of four main parts: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Administratively Great Britain is divided into 55 counties. The biggest cities of Great Britain are London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Cardiff.
England is the largest part of Great Britain (it occupies over 50 % of the territory and its population amounts to 83 % of the total population of Great Britain). Wales is a peninsula in the southwest of the island of Great Britain. It occupies about 9 % of its territory with the population of 4.8 % of the total population. The Welsh speak their own language. Scotland is the most northern part of Great Britain with the territory of 32 % of the total territory and with the population of 9 % of the total population of Great Britain. Northern Ireland occupies the northeast part of the island of Ireland. Its territory amounts to 5.2 % of the total territory of Great Britain. The main cities of Northern Ireland are Belfast and Londonderry.
Great Britain is a parliamentary monarchy. Officially, the head of the state is the Queen (or the King). However, the power of the Queen in Great Britain is not absolute. She acts only on the advice of the ministers and Parliament. There is no written constitution in Great Britain. The main principles of British legislation are expressed in other documents, like "Magna Charta", "Habeas Corpus Act", "Bill of Rights", the Parliamentary Act that decided the position of the House of Lords, the Judicature Act, etc. The British legislation does not provide written guarantees of individual political rights.
Parliament in Great Britain exists since 1265 and is the eldest Parliament in the world. It consists of two Houses — the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords consists of 1000 peers who are not elected by the people. The House of Commons is a nation-wide representative body, which is elected by the people at a general election not less frequently than once in 5 years. After the general election, the Queen appoints the head of the government — the Prime Minister. As a rule, the Prime Minister is the leader of the party that has won the election. The Prime Minister appoints the ministers to compose the government.
There are two main political parties in Great Britain: the Conservative party and the Labour party. The Conservative party came into being in the 19th century as a result of the evolution of the Tory party. The Labour party was founded in 1900. Since 1906 it has borne the name of the Labour Part. For the first time the Labour Party won the election in 1945.
Great Britain is a highly developed industrial country. The main fields of British industry are machine building, shipbuilding, metallurgy, electronics, etc.
The Inventor of the Radio
Contemporary life is impossible without information network which keeps people informed on the topical events of the day. Radio, one of the most accessible mass media, was invented by Alexander Stepanovich Popov on May 7 /April 25 / 1895. So, in 1995 the whole world celebrated the 100 - year anniversary of this great invention.
A. Popov /l859-1906/ was the greatest Russian scientist and inventor. He was born in the family of a priest. First he studied at Perm Clergy Seminary. In 1882 he graduated from Petersburg University.
Alexander Popov possessed extensive knowledge of electrical theory and wide experience in this field. He was a unique man. Being a scientist he always carried on some practical work. He did much for the Russian Navy having introduced electricity in it.
Popov was one of the first to turn attention to the work of Hertz, a famous German scientist-physicist who proved experimentally the existence of electromagnetic waves. Popov used this discovery to construct a device, which was able to receive electromagnetic waves at a long distance. He called his device a radio-receiver.
The work of the receiver was based on the arc discharge principle. The receiver recorded waves generated by lightning discharges. The successful functioning of the device in practice proved its ability to catch electromagnetic oscillations in the atmosphere.
On May 7 /April 251 1895 A. Popov demonstrated his device at the Russian Physico-Chemical Society. It was a fundamentally new set transmitting signals at a distance by means of rapid electrical oscillations.
Popov constantly perfected his radio –receiver. The scientist found out experimentally that a free wire connected to his device increased the range of the latter. Thus he invented the first antenna in the world.
In summer 1895 he attached to the receiver an apparatus previously used for recording telegrams over the wire telegraph. In 1896 this perfected device was used for warning about approaching thunderstorm at the electric power station in Nizhny Novgorod.
Popov's wireless communication was used in the Naval Ministry. It became the basis of radiolocation for detecting battleships.
The year 1898 witnessed a new important invention made by Popov and his assistants Ribkin and Troitsky - the reception of audible signals by the receiver.
The great Russian inventor did not make any secret of his discovery, describing it in press, making reports about it. His invention excited interest all over the world. Popov was offered immense profits from foreign commercial organizations. But being a Russian patriot he turned down the riches offered to him. He preferred to serve his motherland.
The leading Russian scientists realized the significance of his invention but the fate of the country was not in their hands. The tsarist government did nothing for home production of his device and training specialists for the newly born brunch.
Only during and after the Great October revolution the new means of communication invented by Alexander Popov was widely used by the young Soviet government.
Vocabulary
| To invent – изобретать Extensive – обширный, крупный Navy – военно - морской флот, адмиралтейство Introduce – вводить, внедрять Device – устройство Arc – электрическая дуга Discharge – эл. разряд Record – записывать, регистрировать Lightning – молния Oscillation - колебания To transmit – передавать, пересылать To perfect – усовершенствовать, улучшать | To attach – присоединить, прикрепить Thunderstorm – гроза Wireless communication – беспроводная связь Battleship - линейный корабль, линкор To witness – засвидетельствовать Reception – получение, прием Audible - звуковой, слышимый Excite – возбудить Immense – огромный Profit – доход, прибыл Unique – единственный в своем роде, уникальный, бесподобный |
Radio in Our Life
Nowadays it is impossible to imagine our life without radio, television, computer, telephone. We use telecommunication services practically every minute. And often we do not think about huge and powerful telecommunication industry that embraces the whole globe with its networks.
Communicating by radio is a method of sending or receiving sounds and data through the air by means of electrical waves. Radio is widespread for its portability. It can be easily carried around.
We use the airwaves for many purposes broadcasting most of our local and national radio and TV stations, in our mobile radio and telephone services, and to communicate on a global scale through distant satellites, which act as a kind of reflector in the sky, redirecting the information we send up to them.
The first regularly scheduled radio broadcasts began in the U.S. in 1920. Expansion of both audience and transmission facilities continued rapidly. Radio is generally the first of news media to report a local story or a news service bulletin, weather forecasting or traffic information.
Another important use of this means of communicating is in shipping. A ship that is in difficulty can call the nearest coast station, giving details of its situation and, if necessary, ask for help. We call this 'ship-to-shore' radio. Radio can ensure greater safety in navigation (for example, to warn of bad weather or of hazards in the shipping lanes) and it enables large amounts of information to be sent over land or water without the support of several hundred kilometres of wires and cables. Radio networks can, therefore, be cheaper to install but often have fewer circuits than cable links. Radar systems also enable air-traffic controllers to follow and guide the flight paths of planes from take-off to landing.
Radio-paging systems enable us to be contacted even though we do not have a telephone within easy reach. It is a way of letting us know that something important has just happened and that we must act quickly. It’s cheaper to have a pager than a cellular telephone. The system works through a pager or 'bleeper', a small receiver about the size of a packet of cigarettes, which you can keep in your ocket. When people want to contact you, they simply pick up the nearest telephone, dial your personal paging number free of charge, and wherever you are in the coverage area, your pager will bleep (You must, however, be above, not below, ground level, for the signal will not get through if you are underground.) The bleeping informs you that someone is calling you. You can identify up to four callers on some types of equipment. The most modem type of radio-pager displays the number of the telephone the caller is ringing from. The main advantage of radio-paging is that you can be contacted wherever you are, even though you may be a long way from a telephone set. At present you can send messages to a pager through Internet.
Many companies which have personnel on business trips have found that radio-paging improves their competitive position and allows them to be more responsive to a lot of their customers' needs. It also increases company efficiency by cutting out many unnecessary and expensive journeys that are sometimes made by salesmen. This saves time and fuel costs. Doctors can be contacted immediately and return to their surgery or hospital, thus possibly saving the life of a very sick patient.
Vocabulary
Schedule - расписание, перечень
Broadcast – радиовещание, радиопередача
Expansion - распространение
Audience – аудитория, слушатели
Bulletin – связь, бюллетень
Forecasting - прогноз
Traffic- движение, транспорт
Ensure – обеспечивать, гарантировать
Hazard – риск
Lane - проход
Circuit – цикл, кругооборот, эл. цепь
Link – звено, соединение
Personnel - персонал
Competitive - конкурентоспособный
Fuel – топливо, горючее
Surgery - хирургия
Television in Our Life
The name ‘Television’ comes from Greek word meaning ‘far’ and Latin word meaning “to see” so it means “to see far”.
Experiments in broadcasting television began in the 1920s but were interrupted by World War II. By 1992 the U.S. had 1,505 television stations, and cable television systems in the U.S. served over 56 million households. Television signals are also now transmitted from satellites direct to household satellite dishes.
Television is the main source of news for many households around the world. TV does what none of the other media can: it brings the sight and sounds of some important news events by means of filmed, taped or live reports.
TV is one of the best inventions the man has ever made. We are beginning to forget what the world was without TV. Everybody knows what a great force TV is in the world today. Thanks to TV we get a great amount of information. It gives wonderful possibilities for education. It enriches our intellect We also become better informed by watching documentaries, science programmes, discussions and by learning the most important issues of the day.
TV gives an opportunity to see the best actors, sport matches, to meet famous people. TV brings the world to our room. We see people in our country and in other lands and learn about their customs, occu-pations, traditions, problems. We become cultured people by learning more of the arts.
Television helps us to relax after a hard day's work, so we can then cope better with the next day's work. Besides, there is a considerable amount of TV programmes: news, different talk-shows, TV games, concerts and variety shows, sport programmes, feature films, serials and so on and so forth. They are of great enter-tainment value and provide useful topics for conversation. A lot of these programmes are very popular. For example, News deals with political and social problems of modern society. Their aim is to give analysis of the problems and show different view points. They are concerned with the country's national events, the most topical political problems of the day. Musical Review presents songs, pop groups, folk songs. It is very popular with TV viewers.
Thus, we can say that TV is a great force which attracts millions of people to the screens.
But tastes differ. Some people are against TV. They say that TV is doing a lot of harm. It occupies a lot of free time. People used to have hobbies, to meet with friends, to go to the cinema or theatre, to read books, to listen to music. Nowadays many people sit watching TV hour by hour. They don't read books, they don't do sports, they begin to forget the art of conversation. Watching TV for a long time may lead to poor health and ruin eye-sight.
But nobody makes you watch TV for hours. You can simply switch off your TV-set . Nobody can deny the fact, that TV is a great force in the world today.
Vocabulary
to broadcast – передавать по радио
household -хозяйство
satellite dish – спутниковая антенна
media – средство информации
issue – выпуск, издание
to cope – справляться, бороться
feature film – художественный фильм
entertainment - развлечение
topical - злободневный
screen - экран
deny - отрицать
Computers in Our Life
Computer is a very clever machine. This new servant of man is only about twenty-five years old, but it has already changed the lives of many people. Wherever the citizen turns, he finds a computer working. It helps him make long-distance and local telephone calls.
Computers are also used when one reserves space on аn airplane. Walk into any airline office. Before selling you a ticket, the reservation clerk uses machine that looks like a typewriter to record information about where you want to go and the flight number of the plane that will take you to your destination. This information is sent instantly to a central computer that may be many kilometres away from the airline office. Within seconds, the computer informs the clerk whether or not there is space for you on that plane.
Such reservation systems are now in increasing use. They are also employed by hotels, by companies that rent cars, and by offices that sell tickets to theatres and sport events. The computer not only determines what seats are available at what prices, but it also prints the tickets at the same time.
When you buy an automobile, a computer enables you to obtain a car with your own choice of colors and special features in just a few weeks' time.
In medical laboratories, computers have reduced the errors in testing, and they have saved doctors countless hours of work. Before long, medical histories of all Americans will be kept in computer “banks». If a person becomes ill far from his home, local doctors will be able to get his medical record immediately. In science, the computer has performed in minutes experiments which would have required thousands of hours of work by human hands and minds.
The United States is not the only country affected by the computer revolution. Computers are popular all over the world.
Most experts agree that computers are essential to solving the problems of increasing population, city living, and Public welfare. Without computers the job of solving these problems would require millions of workers to do tons of paperwork.
Without special training it is impossible to understand exactly how a computer does its work. Nevertheless, many people without scientific training use computers in their daily lives. In some American schools, for example, young children are being taught by computers for part of the school day.’ The use of computers in schools has worried some Americans. There are those who fear it will remove the human clement from teacher-student relationship. Some teachers fear that computers will take their jobs. On the other hand, there are educators who consider computers a valuable means of freeing teachers from the more boring and tiring tasks, thus enabling them to spend more time with individual students.
In education, as in business and industry, science and medicine, computers play an important part in almost every type of operation. The future will bring major advances in computer technology and applications, which will aid man in his efforts to improve his world.
VOCABULARY
to record – записывать, регистрировать
to determin – назначать, определять
process – обрабатывать
enable – давать возможность, право что-либо сделать
to reduce – уменьшать, понижать, ослаблять
error – ошибка, заблуждение
advancement - продвижение
essential – существенный, неотъемлемый
educator - педагог
application – применение, употребление, просьба, обращение
to aid - помогать
The Internet
The Internet, a global computer network which embraces millions of users all over the world, began in the United States in 1969 as a military experiment. It was designed to survive a nuclear war. Information sent over the Internet takes the shortest path available from one computer to another. Because of this, any two computers on the Internet will be able to stay in touch with each other as long as there is a single route between them.
This technology is called packet switching. Owing to this technology, if some computers on the network are knocked out (by a nuclear explosion, for example), information will just route around them. One such packet-switching network already survived at war. It was the Iraqi computer network, which was not knocked out during the Gulf War,
Most of the Internet host computers (more than 50 %) are in the United States, while the rest are located in more than 100 other countries. Although the number of host computers can be counted fairly accurately, nobody knows exactly how many people use the Internet, there are millions, and their number is growing by thousands each, month worldwide.
The most popular Internet service is e-mail. Most of the people, who have access to the Internet, use the network only for sending and receiving e-mail messages. However, other popular services are available on the Internet: reading Usenet News, using the World-Wide Web, Telnet, FTP and Gopher.
In many developing countries the Internet may provide businessmen with a reliable alternative to the expensive and unreliable telecommunication systems of these countries. Commercial users can communicate over the Internet with the rest of the world and can do it very cheaply. When they send e-mail messages, they only have to pay for phone calls to their local service providers not for calls across their countries or around the world. But who actually pays for sending e-mail messages over the Internet long dis-tances, around the world? The answer is very simple: a user pays his/her service provider a monthly or hourly fee. Part of this fee goes towards its costs to connect to a larger service provider. And part of the fee got by the larger provider goes to cover its cost of running a worldwide network of wires and wireless stations.
But saving money is only the first step. If people see that they can make money from the Internet, commercial use of this network will drastically increase. For example, some western architecture companies and garment centers already transmit their basic designs and concepts over the Internet into China, where they are reworked and refined by skilled - but inexpensive - Chinese computer-aided-design specialists.
However, some problems remain. The most important is security. When you send an e-mail message to somebody, this message can travel through many different networks and computers. The data are constantly being directed towards its destination by special computers called routers. Because of this, it is possible to get into any of computers along the route, intercept and even change the data being sent over the Internet, In spite of the fact that there are many strong encoding programs available, nearly all the in-formation being sent over the Internet is transmitted without any form of encoding, i.e. "in the clear". But when it becomes necessary to send important information over the network, these encoding programs may be useful. Some American banks and companies even conduct transactions over the Internet. However there are still both commercial and technical problems, which will take time to be resolved.
VOCABULARY
| to embrace - охватывать to design -замышлять, конструировать to survive -выжить, уцелеть path -путь to stay in touch -оставаться на связи route -путь, маршрут, курс packet switching -пакет коммутации to knock out -уничтожить, вывести из строя host computer -сервер fairly accurately -довольно точно access -доступ to communicate with -сообщаться, связаться с actually -фактически, действительно | the cost of running -стоимость обслуживания wires and wireless stations - проводные и беспроводные станции saving money -экономия денег will drastically increase -значительно возрастет to transmit –передавать to refine -совершенствовать skilled -квалифицированный computer-aided –design specialists -специалисты компьютерного дизайна security -безопасность intercept -перехватить encoding programs -кодировочные программы |
Mass Media
Mass media is a comprehensive term embracing TV, RADIO, CINEMA, NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES, TELEPHONE, and INTERNET. They are one of the most characteristic features of modern civilization which unite people into one global community. They are the best instruments of communication, the source of information for everybody.
Radio and TV perform information briefly, but quickly. Newspapers include full reports on different topics. News agencies provide them with the latest information. Mass media influence all the spheres of contemporary life: industry, science, culture, economy.
Thanks to mass media we can learn about what is happening in our republic and all over the world.
Frankly speaking I’m deeply interested in economic development of our republic. Thanks to TV, radio, newspapers and magazines I get a great amount of information. It enriches my intellect. I’m aware of all the country’s national events, the problems of economic development. Thanks to mass media I know that in the recent past the economic situation in our republic has changed considerably. The calls for radical economic reforms have become more and more intense. Our Parliament and the Government are taking great efforts to improve the situation. I hope that these troubles are temporary and they will end soon.
TV and radio news often deal with economic, political and social problems of Belarus. That’s why they are so popular with TV viewers.
Magazines do not focus on daily, rapidly changing events. They provide more profound analysis of events of the preceding week.
But very often our information media are not objective. There are a lot of facts which are shown in a wrong way. While reading a magazine, some facts make me doubt. Besides, I don’t like advertisement- they often irritate me.
It’s common knowledge that our Government pays much attention to science and new technologies. The Academy of Sciences founded in 1929 is one of the largest centers of science in the country. Its research institutions work on various important problems in such fields as mathematics, optics, genetics, biology, etc.
As mass media report, not long ago with the help of new intensive research technologies large oil, coal, peat and salt deposits are found in Belarus.
According to the “Belarus Today” number 47-48, December, 2003, the health ministries of Belarus and Syria are getting ready to sign a cooperation agreement in the sphere of health service and medical science. It will promote expansion of links between research organizations of the two states, exchange of experience in the field of medicine and strengthen the friendly relations between the two states.
Mass media inform us of a wide range of problems and give us an opportunity to educate. They create moral and political climate in our society.
VOCABULARY
to be aware of - знать, сознавать
to deal with - иметь дело с
comprehensive-всесторонний, исчерпывающий
to embrace - охватывать
briefly – сжато, кратко
research institution- научно-исследовательское учреждение
deposits - залежи
cooperation agreement-договор о сотрудничестве
mass media - средства массовой информации
Telephone
A telephone, or phone, is a telecommunications device that converts sound into electronic signals suitable for transmission via cables or other transmission media over long distances.
It was first patented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. The telephone was the first device in human history that enabled people to talk directly with each other across large distances. It rapidly became indispensable to businesses, government, and households, and it is now among the most widely used appliances in the developed world. The word telephone has been adapted into the vocabulary of many languages. It is derived from the Greek: far and voice, together meaning distant voice.
The essential elements of a telephone are a microphone (transmitter) to speak into and an earphone (receiver) which reproduces the voice of the distant person. In addition, most telephones contain a ringer which produces a sound to alert the user when a telephone call is coming in, and a dial used to enter a telephone number when initiating a call to another telephone.
Until approximately the 1970s most telephones used a manual rotary dial, which was superseded by the modern Touch-Tone push-button dial, first introduced by AT&T in 1963. The receiver and transmitter are usually built into a handset which is held up to the ear and mouth during conversation. The dial may be located either on the handset, or on a base unit to which the handset is connected by a cord containing wires.
A landline telephone is connected by a pair of wires to the telephone network, while a mobile phone, such as a cellular phone, is portable and communicates with the telephone network by radio transmissions. A cordless telephone has a portable handset which communicates by radio transmission with the handset base station which is connected by wire to the telephone network.
The transmitter converts the sound waves to electrical signals which are sent through the telephone network to the receiving phone. The receiving telephone converts the signals into audible sound in the receiver, or sometimes a loudspeaker. The telephone network, consisting of a worldwide net of telephone lines, fiberoptic cables, microwave transmission, cellular networks, communications satellites, and undersea telephone cables connected by switching centers, allows any telephone in the world to communicate with any other. Each telephone line has an identifying number called its telephone number.
Although originally designed for simple voice communications, most modern telephones have many additional capabilities. They may be able to record spoken messages, send and receive text messages, take and display photographs or video, play music, and surf the Internet. A current trend is phones that integrate all mobile communication and computing needs; these are called smartphones.
The Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) has gradually evolved towards digital telephony which has improved the capacity and quality of the network.
A hardware-based IP phone, with touch-tone dialing Internet Protocol (IP) telephony is a disruptive technology that is rapidly gaining ground against traditional telephone network technologies. IP telephones have two notable disadvantages compared to traditional telephones. Unless the IP telephone's components are backed up with an uninterruptible power supply or other emergency power source, the phone will cease to function during a power outage as can occur during an emergency or disaster, exactly when the phone is most needed. A second distinct problem for an IP phone is the lack of a 'fixed address' which can impact the provision of emergency services such as police, fire or ambulance, should someone call for them.
By the end of 2009, there were a total of nearly 6 billion mobile and fixed-line subscribers worldwide. This included 1.26 billion fixed-line subscribers and 4.6 billion mobile subscribers.
Telegraph
Telegraph today is a market oriented company offering to its customers a package of integrated telecommunication services on the basis of the most advanced technology. The most up-to-date technology, the professional staff and 24-hours a day support ensure the customers the excellent quality and the essential reliability of the services. Among the clients of telegraph you can find major business centers, hotels, international companies, offices, banks etc.
Telegraph traditionally provides documentary electric communication services such as transmission of telegrams, telex and fax messages. Along with traditional services the company also offers to its customers such modern types of service as digital telephone communication, data transfer via digital channels, access to Internet and others.
Telegraph constantly expands the range of its services and improves their quality. Thus, handy and economical Internet access cards as well as prepaid telephone cards for domestic and international long-distance calls became very popular among individuals. Central Telegraph specialists take into account individual needs and allow a customer company to optimize its telecommunication expenses. The company invites specialists having experience in marketing, sales, strategic planning and promotion of new services.
The history of telegraph reflects the history of telecommunication since the invention of the telegraph up to elaboration of contemporary telecom systems. The beginning of electric telegraphy dates back to 1832 when the first electromagnetic telegraph set was constructed by our compatriot P.Z. Shilling. Experimental telegraph communication was established then in Petersburg between the Winter Palace and the Ministry of transport.
In 1837 in the United States Samuel Morse, a portrait painter was experimenting with an electric telegraph too. At first, he connected a pencil to an electric wire. When the electricity came through the wire, the pencil made wavy lines. Then Morse invented a code that used dots and dashes for the letters of the alphabet. The pencil wrote the dots and dashes on a narrow piece of paper. His telegraph set was later named after him.
On May 24, 1844, the first long-distance message was sent by telegraph - from Washington to Baltimore - 64 kilometers.
Telegraph companies were formed in many cities. By 1861, telegraph wires stretched across the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In Europe Samuel Morse's system became popular too. However, telegraph wires couldn't be hung over an ocean. Messages to-and from Europe had to be sent by ship - a journey of two or three weeks. A new method was needed.
Many attempts were made to lay a cable on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. England and the United States contributed money for this experiment. Finally, in 1866 the first transatlantic message was sent from Newfoundland to Ireland. Later, cables were laid to Central and South America. After 1900 transpacific cables were laid to Asia and Australia. At last business information could be sent instantly to almost every country in the world.
Vocabulary
Integrate – составлять целое
Ensure – обеспечивать, страховать
Handy – удобный
Expense – издержки, расходы
Promotion – продвижение, содействие
Elaboration – разработка в деталях
Compatriot – соотечественник
Countryman – соотечественник
Oppose – противопоставлять
Duplex – двойной, двухсторонний
Gearing – передача
Scientific and Technological Progress
The achievements of science and technology can be easily seen in the material level of modern life. It's difficult to overestimate their role in contemporary world. They accelerate the development of civilization and help us in our co-operation with nature. Scientists investigate the laws of the universe, discover the secrets of nature and apply their knowledge in practice improving the life of people.
Nowadays modern industry is fulfilled with the help of robots which have replaced man in some hard or dangerous labour. Robots provide people with all necessities-they have vision systems and work at very high speeds. And today they are used for skilled work like welding, spray painting and assembling components. Although robots have some disadvantages their main benefit is the quality of work. They never get bored with their tasks.
Let's compare our life nowadays with the life of people at the beginning of the 20th century. It has changed beyond recognition. Our ancestors hadn't the slightest idea of the trivial things created by the scientific progress that we use in our every day life. These are of course the modern conveniences and appliances. We can’t imagine our life today without telephone, television, fax, cars, planes, computers, space rockets etc. They would seem miracle to them. They make our life easy, comfortable and pleasant.
A century is a long period for scientific and technological progress, as it's rather rapid. Millions of investigations, the endless number of outstanding discoveries have been made. Our century has had several names that were connected with a certain era in science and technology. At first it was called the atomic age due to the discovery of the splitting of the atom. Then it became the age of the conquest of space when for the first time in the history of mankind a man overcame the gravity and entered the Universe. The achievements of space exploration have surpassed the wildest expectations of men. Scientists could hardly foresee satellites and long-term stations and international crews working in space for months and astronauts walking in outer space. It’s a real wonder, isn’t it?
And now we live in the information era when the computer network embraces the globe. Computers have become the basis of modern communication systems. They are essential tools in almost every field of research and applied technology.
The advance of medicine enables people to perform the most complicated operations with the help of modern equipment and to keep people alive with the help of implanted parts. In the 20th century many infectious diseases have been conquered through vaccines, antibiotics, and improved living conditions.
All these things prove the power and the greatest progressive role of science in our life.
But every medal has its reverse. Rapid scientific progress has aroused a number of problems. Scientists have invented many things but not all of them are peaceful. There are such inventions as nuclear weapons, atom bombs, nuclear power stations etc. Scientists should be responsible for their discoveries otherwise our planet may disappear one day.
The ecology is also harmed by the development of civilization. Many species are dying out. Forests are destroyed by acid rains and cut out for farming. Natural resources are being exhausted.
But still we are grateful to the outstanding men of the past and the present who have courage and patience to disclose the secrets of the Universe.
Vocabulary
| To overestimate - переоценить To accelerate - ускорять Investigate - исследовать Universe – вселенная To apply – зд. применять To be fulfilled– исполняться, осуществляться To replace – замещать, заменять Necessity – необходимость, нужда Welding - сварка To assemble - собирать Benefit – выгода, польза To get bored - надоедать Beyond recognition – до неузнаваемости Ancestor - предок Trivial – незначительный Appliance – приспособление, прибор | Miracle - чудо Discovery - открытие Splitting - расщепление Conquest – завоевание To overcome - преодолеть Gravity – гравитация, притяжение To surpass - превосходить Wild – зд. фантастический Outer space – открытый космос Essential – неотъемлемый, существенный Tool – (рабочий) инструмент Research – научное исследование Advance – успех, продвижение Reverse – оборотная сторона To exhaust – истощать, опустошать |
Communications
Telecommunication is a general term for the electronic transmission of all forms of information, including digital data, voice, fax, sound and video, from one location to another over some form of communications link.
Telecommunication is one of the internationally recognized locomotives of technical progress and economic development. The Belarusian Ministry of Communications (MC) is a leader among the ministries by efficiency of work. First of all, this concerns the primary network development - the basis of all services: telephony, data transmitting, multimedia
Telecommunication services nowadays are used practically every minute. Huge and powerful telecommunication industry enlaces the whole globe with its networks.
Building up of modern communication system is one of the prior directions of the development of economy of RB and necessary condition for turning our republic into economically developed country. Efficient and high standard communication, transmission of voice and video information contribute to development of business, culture and education, meet social needs of the population.
The Ministry of Telecommunications has elaborated the communication system development program of the Republic of Belarus based on new technical means (satellite connection station, fiber-optical communication lines, digital commutator equipment) as well as introducing new services: high speed data transmission, remote access to data base, electronic mail, INTERNET network, etc. There were elaborated and are being developed packet switched communication network, systems of radiotelephone communication with mobile objects, TELETEXT, TELEDATA systems, paging and satellite communication systems.
The program provides elaboration of the necessary legislative basis for efficient functioning of the branch under conditions of market economy, competition on communication services market and brings private domestic and foreign investments.
The Ministry of Telecommunications has worked out new concept of the domestic communication means manufacturing program which would provide the republic with the following:
- commutator systems for urban and country dial exchanges;
- digital transmission systems for local telephone networks, fiber-optical communication lines including;
- systems of radiotelephone and radio communication;
- cables for local and zone telephone networks, fiber-optical cables including.
The Ministry of Telecommunications of the Republic of Belarus has carried out modernization of the existing facilities. It gets acquainted with the products of world leading telecommunication equipment manufacturers, sets up new business and production ties, presents the newest Belarusian elaborations in the field of communication means.
Vocabulary
Efficient – действенный, эффективный
To contribute to – способствовать
To elaborate – разрабатывать в деталях
To remote – устранять, убирать
Legislative – законодательный
Private – частный, личный, тайный
Urban – городской
Manufacture – производить
Invariably - неизменно
Beltelecom
Beltelecom is the largest telecommunications operator in the Republic of Belarus, the leader on the market of data transmission, Internet access, telephony and IPTV. Beltelecom has a powerful Republican infrastructure and backbone network of fiber-optic communication lines (FOLS) with access to 5 neighboring countries (Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland).
The Company ensures transmission of long distance and international traffic, as well as the operation of the terrestrial network of television and radio broadcasting channels. For organization of international satellite communication channels the Satellite Earth Stations Complex Teleport is operated.
Beltelecom provides for the lease international digital streams and channels nearly of all capacity, ensures equal conditions for operation of the mobile operators of the Republic of Belarus by connecting them to the international exchange, and provides long distance and international roaming.
Beltelecom has the most extensive Wi-Fi network. The subscriber base of fixed network of the Company is 4 million 290 thousand subscribers. The Brand portfolio of the Company consists of its own brand Beltelecom, represented by telephony, data transmission, hosting and other services, as well as the brands byfly (broadband internet access) and ZALA (interactive television IPTV).
Byfly is the brand of broadband Internet access for corporate and private subscribers. Tariff offers of byfly are represented by a group of unlimited packages “Domosed” and packages “Comfort” charged based on traffic. A separate tariff policy was developed for Schools Internet access and people with limited abilities. The subscriber base of byfly is the largest in Belarus – 1 million 600 thousand subscribers! The brand byfly has become the winner of the professional Contest “BRAND OF THE YEAR” in the professional nomination “INTERNET SERVICES”.
ZALA – interactive digital television via IPTV technology. The brand ZALA is presented in all regions of the Republic of Belarus. Tariff offers are available for private and corporate subscribers. ZALA packages present an interactive format with Timeshift functions and simple television, as well as additional services: a virtual cinema, Video on demand, teleshopping, karaoke. Basic packages include more than 40 channels of digital quality. Themed packages are composed with due consideration of customers’ preferences.
History: On 5 December 1994, the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union assigned a new international telephone code to the Republic of Belarus +375. The code had taken effect from 16 April 1995.
Within a short time period, an up-to-date procedure of mutual settlements for international telecommunication services was implemented. To meet the challenge, a Network Management and International Accounting Center (INMAC) was established. The Center was responsible for hands-on management of international communication lines as well as inbound and outbound international telephone traffic.
INMAC is a predecessor of Beltelecom, a Republican State-Owned Association, that has been established in 1995 as an entity of governmental form of ownership to pool all telecommunication enterprises in the Republic of Belarus.
By Order of the Ministry of Communications and Informatization of 7.07.2004, the Republican State-Owned Association Beltelecom has been transformed to the Republican Unitary Telecommunications Enterprise Beltelecom (RUE Beltelecom) on 1 August 2004. Today Beltelecom includes 10 Branches and 2 Divisions.
Access networks:In the near future provision of fixed telephony services will be directed to maintenance of current subscriber base and provision of value-added services, development of which is supposed to be carried out firstly by replacing traditional telephony with IP-telephony. Beltelecom networks will be developed mainly on the base of IMS platform, the standards of which are basic for the majority of equipment manufacturers. Connection to IMS makes it possible to offer to subscribers first of all basic telephony services while installing telephone services in the house, which are also provided at public telecommunication networks but in this case with a wider spectrum. At the same time IMS solutions significantly expand opportunities of subscribers providing them expanded set of services including those which were impossible on the networks with circuits switching.
Access nodes of almost all the technologies used on Beltelecom networks are connected to IMS platform.
BelCel
BelCel Joint Venture( JV) is the first wireless operator in the Republic of Belarus. It offers services of the most advanced third-generation cellular telecommunication system. BelCel JV was founded by the Belarusian telecom enterprises and British company Cable &Wireless plc. The company’s name is a Russian version of the English abbreviation BELCEL that means “Belarusian Cellular”.
Commercial operation of the network was launched on May 7, 1993. In the course of the work, BelCel was staffed with highly qualified personnel. Belarusian, banks, embassies and key commercial companies were the first subscribers of BelCel JV. Within several months cellular communications became available in all regional centres.
Starting from July 15, 2003 BelCel telecom services are rendered under the brand “DIALLOG”.
BelCel network covered more than 60% of the national territory and continues to extend. 72% of the population of Belarus lives on this territory. Number of BelCel network users surpassed one million subscribers. DIALLOG is a telecommunications for subscribers who want to accentuate their personality, who keep step with time and use their cellphone not only as a means of communication but also as the efficient tool for their business.
BelCel JV occupied a special place in Belarusian market. Free calls within its network were not only the attractive marketing offer. This unique opportunity was in demand of users – that’s why DIALLOG was ideal for unlimited communication of friends and family memberscentres are open in Minsk, Brest, Gomel, Bitebsk and Grodno.
Commercial operation of DIALLOG-SMS started from May 1, 2004. During six months of pilot operation the company specialists checked the technical capabilities of the equipment and a peak load on SMS-centre. More than 3 million text messages have been sent by the subscribers during the pilot operation. In the near future company specialists shall test sending of the text messages to other operators. Preliminary, opening of SMS traffic to other telecom operators is scheduled for the current year summer.
The capacity of modernized BelCel network was enough to provide all the subscribers with the qualitative telecom services. BelCel provided the highest level of customer care, safe cellular communication technology.
From November 2002 the company began to provide Internet access services . In August 2002, the license was amended to provide her with the right to create a network of CDMA2000. In June 2006 JV " BelSel " put into commercial operation of data transmission technology EV-DO, which provides a direct channel speed of up to 2.4 Mbit / s.
From 1 July 2012 "Beltelecom" ceased cooperation with JV "BelCel". JV BelCel plans to restore the provision of mobile services throughout the territory of the Republic of Belarus before December 5, 2013. Supply of equipment and construction of the network will the Chinese company Huawei. The data network will be organized at a frequency of 450 MHz. Earlier it was planned to deploy LTE trial area before the end of 2012.
Vocabulary
joint venture – совместное предприятие
wireless operator – оператор беспроводной связи
advanced – передовой
cellular – сотовый
to launch – запустить, начать
bodies – учреждения
subscriber – абонент
brand – торговая марка
to surpass – превысить
to accentuate – подчеркнуть
free calls – бесплатные звонки
load - нагрузка
Ecological Problems
In the middle of the xxth century man for the first time saw his planet as it looks from space. From space we see a small fragile ball. The ball is wrept in a thin atmosphere. There is no outlet. There is no inlet. It is a closed system.
Together and left alone land, air and water work well as an “ecosystem” to maintain this great chain of life and the delicate balance of nature, from ocean depth to mountain top
But man, since he first rose up on two legs, has been tampering with this system. He cannot help it. Everything we do alters our environment: the ways we grow food and build shelters and create what we call “culture” and “civilization”.
Now we face the shocking realization that we have gone too far, too fast and too carelessly. It is nobody’s fault and it is everybody’s fault. The real culprits are the three main currents of the XXth century- population, industrialization and urbanization. Together these and mightily currents of history have acted to pollute the air, the land and the waters- and three rapid to accelerate our mounting less of beauty and privacy, quiet and recreation.
The more we produce and consume, the more waste products we send into the air.
Now we throw out 150 million tons of pollution into the atmosphere and this is a course of the greenhouse effect or global warming. It is the most devastating environmental problem. Such gases as carbon dioxide (CO2) let in solar heat, but prevent it returning to space. Scientists predict raising of the temperature at the earth’s surface and as a result flooding the coastal cities of the world.
Another problem that we are facing to now is a problem of ozone layers. This layer of ozone gas encircles the planet prevent letting in the sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays. But now the ozone layer is thinning and ultraviolet radiation is increasing.
Many big industrial cities have a problem of smog. It is a mixture of smog and fog. The risks associated with town smog include asthma, allergic conditions, chronic bronchitis and lung diseases.
We need interactions, new technologies, new industrial models of operation and responsible policy. We need also environmental considerations at all levels by government, by business, by organizations, by you and me as individuals.
The most horrible ecological disaster befell Belarus and its people in the result of the Chernobyl tragedy. The Chernobyl catastrophe, which happened in April 1986, really shocked the whole world. About 18 per cent of the territory of Belarus was polluted with radioactive substances. A great damage has been done to the republic’s agriculture and forests and people’s health.