Vocabulary List

to conceive - представлять себе, задумывать

to point out – показывать, обращать внимание

to amaze – поражать, удивлять

obsolete – устаревший, выышедший из употребления

to render – приводить в к.-л. состояние

plug board – штекерная панель, коммутационная доска

switch­board – коммутатор

to specify – устанавливать, задавать

by far – намного

binary notation – двоичная система счисления

decimal notation – десятичная система счисления

ingenious – искусный, оригинальный, хитроумный

to circulate – циркулировать

column of mercury – столбик ртути

bulky – большой, громоздкий

to tie down – привязывать, связывать

latticework – решетка, сетка

to string – нанизывать

doughnut [`d∂ unΛ t] – баранка, пончик

bead – шарик, бусина

core – сердечник, ядро

core memory – память на магнитных сердечниках

to retrieve – восстановить, отыскать

encompassing – обобщающий

3. Give Russian equivalents to:

a punched paper tape, complex mechanical linkages, success and failure, magnetic-core memory, high-speed memory, integrated circuit, integrated-circuit memory, large-scale integrated circuit, high-capacity integrated-circuit memory, protective package, general-purpose processor-on-a-chip.

4. Give synonyms to:

bulky, simply, ongoing, linkage, to conceive, to anticipate, to be familiar with, fast, advanced, obsolete.

 

5. Give antonyms to:

success, externally, to store, energy-consuming, cumbersome, expensive, binary notation, end in sight, obsolete.

 

6. Answer the following questions:

1. What was the main shortcoming of the Mark I and the other electromechanical computers?

2. What is an acronym? Give examples of acronyms.

3. What was the distinguishing feature of ENIAC?

4. What were the two distinguishing features of EDVAC?

5. What is a von Neumann machine?

6. Describe the technological features characteristic of each computer generation.

7. What type of computer memory was once so widely used that its name became almost synonymous with " high-speed memory"?

8. What technological developments made (a) minicomputers and (b) microcomputers possible?

 

7. Complete the table:

Times	Inventions/ Developments	Inventors
thousands of years ago	Abacus
17th century	Mechanical calculator	Paskual (Leibnitz)
19th century	Analytical Engine Punched card	Charles Babbage
early 20th century	Primitive calculating devices
in 1944		Aiken
World War II		Atanasoff / Berry Von Neumann
after World War II 40s – 50s
in the late 50s
1960s
mid1970s
recent times