Unit four

Notes

Compact Disks

Text С

1. You have not only heard about Compact Disks (CD), you’ve been using them here and there in your everyday life. The invention of Sony has very quickly become popular all over the world.¹. A CD consists of a piece of aluminium coated with transparent plastic, 12 cms across, for producing sound. It's similar² to an ordinary record, except that it's "read" by a laser beam, and the information recorded on the aluminium is digital.

2. The makers claim that a CD can reproduce the original sound perfectly, without any distortion or background hiss. As the system is computerized, there's no loss of quality between the studio master and the record you buy. Also, a CD is much tougher than a vinyl record, so it doesn't need such careful handling. Dust and dirt won't damage it, and as there's no contact between the laser and the disk, it will never wear out.

3. The CD player produces an audio signal which you can amplify through a conventional hi-fi system, to produce the best sound possible. The technique became a new exciting development in hi-fi, linking sound recording with the computer revolution: What has followed it?

1. Sony – Сони {японская фирма no производству радиоаппаратуры)

2. It's similar to – он похож на

III. Say what a compact disk looks like.

IV. Write out of paragraph I two peculiarities of CD disks.

V. Try to answer the following questions about ordinary disks:

1. How is an ordinary record "read"?

2. In the new design the information is digital. What about ordinary disks?

VI. Look through paragraph 2 again and speak about:

1) the construction of a compact disk: 2) the peculiarities of it; 3) the advantages of it; 4) the principle of operation.

VII. Count the number of advantages of new records mentioned in paragraph 2 and name them.

VIII. Use the information of texts А, В and С for preparing a report on the theme "Everything about record-players".

Key to Lessоп 3: Getting the best from your stereo system.

• Grammar: Sequence of Tenses (§ 4).

Specific Cases of Passive Voice (§3).

• Word-formation: suffix -ly; prefix un-.

• Individual Work: Lab Work "Specific Cases of the Passive Voice".

LESSON ONE

Pre-text Exercises

I. Practise the reading of the following words:

to alter ['O:ltq], objective [qb'GektIv], specific [spI'sIfIk], enterprise ['entqpraIz], stage [steIG], primarily ['praImqrIlI],whole [hqVl], evident ['evId(q)nt], to foresee [fO:'si:], comparison [kqm'pxrIs(q)n], to scatter ['skxtq], rivalry ['raIv(q)lrI], controversy [ˏkOntrq'vq:sI], priority [praI'OrItI], incentive [In'sentIv], response [rIs'pons].

II. Make sure if you can read these words correctly and say what words in the Russian language help you to guess their meaning:

history, technology, television, complex, electricity, telegraphy, photography, period, realization, social, material, special, generation, phase, test, phosphor, control, operator, patent, disc, logical, lamp, colour, to sort, nature, master, to stimulate, pulse, specific, fact.

III. Give the initial words of the following derivatives:

primarily, considerable, selective, comparison, investment, separately, mobility, industrial, invention, development, actively, transformation, logical, clearly, communication, transmission, original, digital, researcher, information.

IV. Form adverbs adding the suffix -ly to the given adjectives and translate them:

Example: sure —surely

separate, objective, quick, primary, active, considerable, complete, evident, social, competitive, mechanical, great, general, definite, absolute, different, automatic, sure, easy, similar, certain, frequent, constant, direct, main, probable.

V. Form adjectives adding the prefix -un to the adjectives and translate them:

Example: natural — unnatural

important, usual, complicated, completed, conventional, human, interesting, stable, economic, able, reliable, happy, available, limited, productive, balanced, like, easy, fortunate, original, sophisticated, true, natural, disciplined, discovered

VI. Read the words and say what parts of speech they belong to:

produce, product, production; frequent, frequency; physics, physical, physicist; act, active, activity; develop, development; nature, natural; measure, measuring, measurement; direct, director, directive, direction, directness; operate, operating, operation, operative, operator; relative, relatively, relation, relativity; mean, meaning, means; technical, technique, technician; system, systematical, systematically; electron, electronic, electronics; consider, consideration, considerable, considerably.

VII. Make sure if you remember the following verbs. Consult a dictionary:

to alter, to depend, to separate, to involve, to seek, to introduce, to create, to become, to transform, to pass, to replace, to improve, to apply, to describe, to convert, to foresee, to relate.

VIII. Translate the sentences paying attention to the sequence of tenses:

1. He wanted to know what powerful radio stations were being built in Byelorussia. 2. The students asked how the strength of the radio wave had been measured. 3. The engineer said they would carry out an experiment with the new transistor device. 4. The reporter asked if the scientific group was working out the design of this new installation. 5. They wished to know what these radio-electronic systems would ensure. 6. I told him that I should let him know the date of the conference. 7. The newspaper wrote that in the modern world people could not imagine their life without radio and television. 8. The teacher said we might complete our drawings next week. 9. The lecturer said that television played an important role in our life. 10. The engineer informed that all the equipment was functioning normally. 11. The chief engineer said that the reconstruction of the plant would begin next year. 12. I was asked whether I could take part in the research work. 13. The students were told that they didn't need to translate the text. 14. We asked if we should have a lecture on electronics next week.

IX. Change the sentences from direct into indirect speech. Mind the rule of sequence offenses:

Example: She said, "I am going to the theatre with my brother."

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