Read and translate text 3.

The Internet: The Future

It is a (1) natural law that the Internet must grow faster or become (2) irrelevant to the faster computers of tomorrow; but will be up the task?

This depends largely on the (3) information transfer technology that underlies the Internet. We need to be able to send trillions of bits of

information (4) per second down (5) optical fibres for the Internet’s (6) capacityto stay ahead of the (7) rapid increase in chip speeds. And the (8) intermediary devices on networks – such as (9) routers, which switch information from one link on the Internet to the next – also need to get faster.

The us government has launched an initiative called the (10)Next Generation Internet (NGI). The aim is to create advanced version of the Internet and inspire the creation of new (11)applications.

Today, the (12)World Wide Web and e-mail are (13)the most widespread and popular applications, but there are many others, ranging from telephony over the Internet, to multiplayer games, military command and control, and many more that have not even been envisaged yet.

Of course, the world of the (14)ever-faster and powerful Internet is not without problems. One (15)major barrier to progress is not going away very fast – the ability to connect to homes and small businesses (16)at high speed and (17)low cost. Most who use the Internet from home are still stuck behind a (18)dial-up modem, which more or less tops out at speeds of 56 Kbit/sec.

The cost of (19)surfing the net is the same per minute as the cost of a (20)local telephone call. The UK’s (21)telecommunications costs are high (22)in comparison to most parts of the us, where local telephone calls are free.

Another important issue here is the ability of (23)human beings to manage and absorb the (24)huge amounts of information we can now access so easily (25)via the Internet. The cry of (26)“information overload” is getting louder. While there are programs to help us filter the wheat from the chaff, the battle to stay on top of the vast amounts of information at our disposal is getting harder. The next wave of the Internet will be characterized by (27)broadband technology and mobile applications that “push” information at us, instead of us having to retrieve or “pull” data towards us.

Thankfully, these more sophisticated systems will also be able to personalize the information we receive so that it is always to us. This should go some way towards helping us cope with information overload – so long as companies keep our personal profiles are kept up-to-date, and information is not withheld from individuals for dubious reasons.

All in all, we can expect wonderful experiences from the Internet of the future, but we must be prepared to manage its evolution for the good of everyone.

1) закон природи; 2) недоречний; 3) технологія передачі інформації ; 4) за секунду; 5) світлопровід; 6) ємність; 7) швидке зростання; 8) проміжні пристрої; 9) маршрутизатор; 10) Інтернет наступного покоління; 11) застосування, прикладна програма; 12) мережа "всесвітня павутина",; 13) найпоширеніший; 14) завжди швидкого; 15) головний бар’єр; 16) з високою швидкістю; 17) за низькою ціною (вартості); 18) комутований модем; 19) використання мережі; 20) місцевий телефонний дзвінок; 21) ціни (вартості) телезв’язку 22) у порівнянні з; 23) люди; 24) величезні обсяг інформації; 25) через; 26) "інформаційне перевантаження"; 27) широкосмугова технологія.

Read and translate text 4.

The Internet in Action

The Internet and the (1)Web have made (2)communication and (3)searching for information across the world relatively simple and cheap. And they have also brought new (4)opportunities, (5)challengesand (6)food for thought to people who serve society in many different ways, in such things as companies, education, health, and government.

In education, the Internet and the Web (7)open the prospect of schools in different countries exchanging examples of their work, sharing lessons run by teachers many miles away, getting (8)occasional lessons from experts in a particular field, and chatting with students in other countries in their own language, all through computers.

As in other fields, the Web can (9)bring the world into the traditional classroom – or (10)demand a rethink of the whole way classes are run: after all, if teachers can give lessons from other countries, why not have your own teachers running lessons from their homes to you in yours?

Money could be saved on school buildings. Students could go to school only when the (11)nature of the lesson made this totally necessary.

Still on education, people who would like to get trained in a new area (12)to improve their career chances but who cannot spare the time off work can get (13)courses online. They can get the (14)training materials from the Web and work on their PCS. They can often (15)join in classes and discussions (16)via the Internet.

In health, there is the possibility of specialist surgeons being consulted via the Internet, with the surgeon, a (17)local consultantand a family doctor all communicating via the Web and sharing X-rays which have been stored digitally on a computer.

The Army is already doing this, using (18)ordinary digital cameras linked via a PC to the Internet to send pictures of soldiers’ (19)injuriesto a (20)military hospital in the UK to get expert advice on treatment. In 2000, the Prime Minister announced the UK Online initiative, aiming to make all appropriate government services available online by 2005. (21)Targets include hospital appointment bookings made online while a patient is in the doctor’s surgery; applications for jobs via online kiosks in Job Centers, museums, art galleries, and libraries online, and online applications for passports, driving licenses, and road tax.

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1) мережа “Всесвітня павутина”; 2) спілкування; 3) пошук інформації; 4) можливості; 5) ; 6) їжа для розуму; 7) відкривати перспективу; 8) випадкові заняття; 9) вмістити світ в; 10) вимога; 11) характер заняття; 12) поліпшувати свої професійні можливості; 13) на екрані (доступні за допомогою комп’ютера); 14) навчальні матеріали; 15) вступати; 16) через; 17) місцева консультація; 18) звичайні цифрові камери; 19) ушкодження, поранення; 20) військовий госпіталь; 21) цілі.