A) Give antonyms to the words in bold type.

b) Find the passages in the text where the following ideas are expressed:

Key Features of Hubs

¹A special type of network device called the hub can be found ___ many home and small business networks. Though they've existed ___ many years, the popularity of hubs has exploded recently, especially ___ people relatively new to networking.

²A hub is a small rectangular box, often made ___ plastic, that receives its power from an ordinary wall outlet. A hub joins ___ multiple computers (or other network devices) together to form a single network segment. On this network segment, all computers can communicate directly ___ each other. Ethernet hubs are by far the most common type, but hubs ___ other types of networks such as USB also exist.

³A hub includes ___ a series of ports that each accepts a network cable. Small hubs network four computers. They contain four or sometimes five ports, the fifth port being reserved ___ " uplink " connections to another hub or similar device. Larger hubs contain eight, 12, 16, and even 24 ports.

⁴Hubs classify as Layer 1 devices in the OSI model. ___ the physical layer, hubs can support little in the way of sophisticated networking. Hubs do not read any of the data passing ___ them and are not aware ___ their source or destination. Essentially, a hub simply receives incoming packets, possibly amplifies the electrical signal, and broadcasts these packets out ___ all devices on the network ─ including the one that originally sent the packet!

Technically speaking, three different types ___ hubs exist:

· passive

· active

· intelligent

⁵Passive hubs do not amplify the electrical signal ___ incoming packets before broadcasting them out to the network. Active hubs, ___ the other hand, do perform this amplification, as does a different type of dedicated network device called a repeater. Some people use the terms concentrator when referring ___ a passive hub and multiport repeater when referring ___ an active hub.

⁶Intelligent hubs add extra features to an active hub that are ___ particular importance to businesses. An intelligent hub typically is stackable (built in such a way that multiple units can be placed one ___ top of the other to conserve space). It also typically includes remote management ___ capabilities via SNMP and virtual LAN (VLAN) support.

⁷Hubs remain a very popular device ___ small networks because of their low cost. A good five-port Ethernet hub can be purchased ___ less than $30 USD. USB hubs cost only a bit more.

(By Bradley Mitchell)