Read and translate the dialogues.

I

Sam - John, my younger brother decided to study a computer. Will you help him, please? He’s got a lot of questions.

John – With pleasure.

William – John, what is a computer?

John – It is an electronic device that executes the instructions in a program.

William – What is Hardware?

John – Physical parts of the computer.

William – And what is Software?

John – Programs that tell the computer what to do.

William – And what is the difference between ‘data’ and ‘information’?

John – Data is individual facts like first name, price. Information is data which has been messaged into a useful form, like a complete mailing address.

William - What makes a computer powerful?

John – Speed.

William – How many actions can a computer do?

John – Billions of actions per second.

William – And what about storage?

John – A computer can keep huge amounts of data... Sam, are you ready?

William – What are the main functions of the computer?

John – They are four functions: input, processing, output, and storage…. Sam! We are short of time…

II

- What is a computer made of?

- Computers are made of electronic parts called components. Each component has a specific function.

- When do they work?

- They all work together when a computer is operated.

- Can I see them?

- Some of the components can be seen partly from the outside.

- And others?

- Some components are inside the computer box where we can’t see them.

- Seeing the components inside the computer is interesting.

- Yes. Look at the brain of the computer, CPU.

- What is the main function of the CPU?

- Whenever we press a key, click the mouse, or start an application, we send instructions to the CPU. These are all executed by the CPU.

 

III

 

- Can we see the details of the components inside this computer, after logging in?

- Yes, on the desktop, from the taskbar. Click on the System submenu.

- And then?

- Under Administration click on System monitor, which shows you details and status of hardware and software of the computer.

- Hey! There are four processors in this computer. There are many details for these processors.

- The processing of your instructions is shared between the four processors, just the way you share work among your team.

- What does 2.66 GHz mean?

- This stands for 2.66 Giga Hertz. You know that Mega means million and Giga means billion. Hertz means cycles per second.

- How many cycles does the CCPU need?

- The CPU needs one or more cycles to perform an action. More cycles per second means that the CPU can process more instructions per second.

- Oh, I understood: the higher the Hertz, the faster the CPU can process instructions.

Computer Types

Remember the following words and word combinations.

1. digital circuit – цифровая схема

2. design, v – разрабатывать, предназначать

3. computation – вычисление

4. processing power – вычислительная мощность

5. support, v – поддерживать, обеспечивать

6. laptop – лэптоп, небольшой портативный компьютер

7. netbook – нетбук

8. palmtop – карманный компьютер

9. personal digital assistant – персональное цифровое устройство

10. intelligent – умный, программируемый, микропроцессорный

11. tablet – планшет, планшет ввода данных