Basic English [ for Computing 10 страница

1995-1999 Chamberlain College, Birmingham HND Information Technology Systems

1988-1994 Abraham Wright Secondary School,

Derby

A levels in Engineering and Mathematics.

Standard Grade English, French, Art, Physics

I am familiar with Unix and Windows operating systems and with many mainstream packages including Microsoft Office and Lotus Notes. I am also familiar with programming languages such as C, Java, and Visual Basic.

I have a clean driving licence. I qualified in 1994.

Employment Historii

1999-present Tester Fault Finder

E. G. International Electronics Limited, Faraday Industrial Estate, Birmingham

My duties are to test and repair electronic circuit boards for a wide range of customers.

References

Work

MayBonhill, Personnel Manager, E.G. International Electronics Ltd. Birmingham BG4 7ZQ

College Harold Mills, Head of IT Department, Chamberlain College, Birmingham, BUI 9TL

Interview: Systems Manager

It is common in adverts for computing jobs to require that the candidate have a knowledge of various computer operating systems and programs. Common terms used in the job advert in this unit are shown in the table below.

Term	Program or System
VB (Visual Basic)	a common Microsoft Windows
	general purpose programming
	language
Access	a popular database program
	produced by Microsoft
	Corporation
Oracle	a well known, powerful database
	program produced by a
	company of the same name
SQL	a standard query language used
	for specifying search criteria in
	database programs

The Systems Manager in this interview is in charge of the Technical Services Division of a large British brewery. He looks after existing computer systems, and is responsible for the development of new systems. One particular system mentioned in the interview involves service engineers recording details of repairs on portable computers, and later copying them to a central computer system to enable a stock control system to be maintained. Sophisticated, purpose-made computer programs are now usually purchased from professional programming companies, after careful checking and testing, rather than being created in-house. The cost of these programs is small compared to the system installation and maintenance costs. The system discussed in this unit is a mixture of old and new systems that must work together. There are contingency plans for maintaining the systems through various kinds of disasters and crisis situations. The Systems Manager thinks that faster communications is more important to the company than bigger data storage. He also believes that despite faster information transfer using computers, paper will always be used.

Large mainframe computers are often run by a data processing department which has a number of sections that perform various functions including:

1 collecting the data to be processed

2 sorting the data into batches that are processed together

3 inputting the data.

4 maintaining and operating the mainframe computer

5 returning the output to the users

Objectives

By the end of this unit, students should be better at: reading and understanding job advertisements using verb tenses appropriately.

They should know and be able to use these words: apply for, applicant, division, qualifications, supervise.

Tuning-in

Task 1

The job advertisement serves as preparation for Task 2 as the post advertised is for the same kind of job held by the interviewee. Pre-teach commission and enhance. Ask students to give reasons for their choice of answer. More advanced students could write a similar job advertisement based on the job descriptions in Unit 2 7, Task 3.

1 False: he/she will work as part of the management team

2 True: he/she will have a minimum of five years' experience

3 True: in a business environment

4 True: good communication skills are essential

5 True: should have a good knowledge ofVB

6 False: would be an advantage, not essential

7 False: will work as part of a team

Key

1 many hundreds

2 to ensure they can interface

3 passwords, signatures, databases are backed up and stored off site in a fireproof store

4 faster communications

5 there is no such thing and there never wïH be

Language work

Listening

Task 2

Advise students only to listen for the information required by the questions. A section of the interview - the example of the operational system - can be ignored, unless you wish to add extra questions of your own. Pre-teach infrastructure, shortlisted, and track-record.

Key

Technical Services

existing systems and their running, maintenance and general order, systems infrastructure, new systems development.

a fault reported

b engineer informed c fault investigated and fixed d details recorded on a handheld terminal e details downloaded to a PC. f details sent to company mainframe g activity recorded h stock database adjusted i new parts ordered

because there is so much available now and people expect sophisticated systems-developing such systems in-house would take too long and be enormously expensive

a system that meets your needs, a company which is financially sound, and has a good track- record - a business partner

Task 4

This revises tenses taught in earlier units. Take the opportunity to diagnose any remaining problems with these tenses when you correct this task. You can also use this task and Task 5 as a revision test.

Key

1 has worked

2 graduated, took

3 trained, was working

4 looks after

5 's/is developing

6 goes, is sent

7 are downloaded

8 be made, is tested

9 will/are going to get

10 will not/is not going to happen

Task 5

This is a further revision exercise - this time of modal verbs taught in earlier units.

must not should must should/must

Key (other answers are possible)

1 must

3 may, might

5 should not

7 will

Speaking

Task 6

Task 3 Pre-teach contingency plan.

It is best to prepare for this by getting students to prepare their questions and answers with one partner and then change partners for the role play. This role play could be extended using other pairs based on the job descriptions in Unit 2 7, Task 3.

Problem-solving

Task 7

Key

1 data control clerks

2 data controller

3 data preparation supervisor

4 keyboard operators

5 computer operators

6 chief operator

7 media librarian

8 file library

9 data control clerk 10 computer user

Computing words

Tasks 8a and 8b

These tasks can be used as a final vocabulary test. 8a focuses on N+N combinations and 8b on common collocations in computing.

Key 8a

hardware engineer systems analyst file server swipe card voice recognition computer crime bulletin board electronic wallet

Key - 8b (Other answers are possible.)

analyse data, needs, requirements

browse data, databases, webpages, websites

debug hardware, programs, software

delete data, documents, files, folders, texts

edit data, documents, files, texts, webpages

install databases, files, hardware, programs, software

open databases, documents, files, folders

run programs, software

save data, documents, files

select data, files, folders, options

Tapescript

Unit 1 Everyday uses of computers

Task 4

Extract 1

We use a PC for writing letters, for playing games, to calculate our bills, and to connect with the Internet. Extract 2

We've got electronic checkout tills with barcode readers. They read a special barcode on almost everything we sell. They calculate the bill for the customer. At the same time they send information to a larger computer, so we always know exactly what we've got in the store. Extract 3

We make washing machines and refrigerators. The machines we use to make them are controlled by computers. We also use computers to calculate our wages, to keep the accounts, and to look after all materials and parts. Extract 4

Our terminal links to airline offices. If you want to fly anywhere in the world, we can tell you at once if there's a seat on the flight you want. We can supply you with the tickets and we can reserve your hotel - all by computer.

Unit 2 Types of computer

Task 3

Parti

A: I'm thinking of buying a computer,

and I need some advice. B: OK. What do you want to use it for? A: For writing, maybe for games. I

want it for the Internet. B: For the Internet and games... I recommend a multimedia computer. A: What do you mean by a multimedia

computer? B: Well, it's more powerful than a basic computer. It's got sound and a CD- ROM drive. You can use it for high-quality graphics, animation, and video. Part 2

A: What if I wanted... I travel a lot, if I wanted something smaller, what's available? B: There are portable computers. A multimedia notebook is probably best.

A: Is a notebook the smallest kind you can get?

B: No, you can get subnotebooks and even smaller handheld devices. They're mostly used as organizers, as a diary, a 'to do' list, and that land

of thing. But for writing and general use a notebook is better.

A: OK, I think I'll go for a notebook. What other things do I need?

B: A printer... and for the Internet, make sure you have a modem.

A: A modem?

B: Yes, it's a device for connecting your computer to a telephone line. You need it to connect to the Internet.

Unit 3 Parts of a computer

Task 3

A: What about things like power and speed, that sort of thing? What do I look for?

B: Well, power depends on speed and capacity - the speed of the processor and the capacity of the memory and the hard disk. A: The speed of the processor? B: How fast the computer processes data. Speed is usually given in megahertz. The faster the processor, the more powerful the computer. A: And capacity?

B: How much storage space there is in the computer. Capacity depends on how much memory there is, how big the hard disk is. You measure RAM and video memory in megabytes. You've also got cache memory. That's in kilobytes. Always look for the highest numbers. A: What about the hard disk? B: Hard disk capacity is in gigabytes. Get a big hard disk for multimedia. Audio and video files use enormous amounts of space. Once again, the higher the numbers, the more powerful the computer.

Unit 4 Keyboard and mouse

Task 4

The keys on a computer keyboard can be arranged in many different ways. The most common way on a desktop PC is called the extended keyboard. The diagram shows an extended keyboard. The keys are in four main sections. (pause)

The section known as the main keyboard has a key for each letter of the alphabet. It also has keys for the digits 0 to 9, punctuation marks like commas and full stops, and other common symbols. (pause)

Above the main keyboardis a row of keys known as the function keys. This section includes the Escape key to the left and the Print Screen, ScroE Lock, and Break keys to the right. The function keys labelled F1 to F12 don't have fixed functions. You can program

them to perform different functions

such as saving and printing (pause)

To the right of the main keyboard is a section known as the editing keys. Hats group includes keys which insert and delete data. It also includes the cursor keys, also called the arrow keys. These keys move the cursor around the screen. (pause)

To the far right of the main keyboard is the numeric keypad. This section has keys for the digits 0 to 9 and for common mathematical symbols like plus and minus. The keys are arranged like the keys on an electronic calculator. You use these keys to input numerical data.

Unit 5 Interview: Student

Task 2

Parti

interviewer: Tell me first of all about the course. What's the course called? lynsey: Information Technology 3. interviewer: How many students are

there? lynsey: In my class? interviewer: Yes. lynsey: Well, at the beginning

seventeen. interviewer: Right. lynsey: But now there are fifteen. interviewer: How many are men and

how many women? lynsey: Three girls and twelve boys. interviewer: How long does the

course last? lynsey: A year.

interviewer: And it starts in August? lynsey: September, and it goes on till June.

Tasks 5 and 6

Part 2

interviewer: Tell me about the

timetable for your course. lynsey: Well, on Monday I've got Communications 4. It lasts for two hours. Nine to eleven. Then it's Numeracy 3. interviewer: Numeracy, that's some

kind of maths? lynsey: Yes, but it's more logic...

problem-solving. interviewer: And do you have a

break between classes? lynsey: Yes, a half-hour break

between eleven and eleven-thirty. interviewer: Do you have other

classes in the afternoon? lynsey: Not on a Monday. interviewer: What do you have on a

Tuesday? lynsey: Programming. interviewer: Is that...Well, tell me what it's about.

lynsey: We study computer languages

like Pascal. interviewer: So, Tuesday after the

coffee break, what do you have? lynsey: I'm sure it's Hardware...No,

it's Software, Computer Software. interviewer: What happens in the

Software class? lynsey: You learn to use MSDOS and

packages like databases. interviewer: Do you have a class on a

Tuesday afternoon? lynsey: No, and nothing on a

Wednesday. interviewer: Nothing at all? lynsey: No classes, but sometimes we visit companies. Tomorrow it's the RoyalBank... to see how they use computers. interviewer: What do you have on

Thursday? lynsey: Thursday, I'm not too sure.

Hardware is last thing, half-past two. interviewer: What happens in

Hardware? lynsey: You find out about all the

different things inside a computer. interviewer: What about Friday? lynsey: We've got Networks first thing. We learn how computers work connected together. interviewer: Anything on a Friday

afternoon? lynsey: That's IT in Business and Industry. It's applications. That's what our visit tomorrow is about. We have to write a report on each visit. Five or six pages long.

Task 7

Part3

interviewer: You have a very busy time on this course but is there time for anything else? Is there a social side students can enjoy?

lynsey: There's football and there was a Students' Night in Betty's Bar for all the new students to get to know each other.

interviewer: Is there a Students' Union?

lynsey: Yeah, on the main campus. They organize discos, but I live out of town so I don't stay on at night, and I've got a job two nights a week.

interviewer: What do you do?

lynsey: I work in a hotel. I'm a waitress.

interviewer: So you work in a hotel part-time?

lynsey: Yes, just to make some extra money.

interviewer: Do }⁷ou want to work in catering after you graduate?

lynsey: No, it's the worst hours for the worst pay.

Unit 6 Input devices

Task 4

Computers can listen to your voice and change what you say into a written message or into orders. Voice input is a great help to people who cannot use their hands. It also helps people like pilots who need their hands or eyes for other tasks.

There are five steps in voice input. Step 1: when you speak, you produce audio waves. A microphone changes these waves into electrical waves. That's Step 2. Inside the computer there's a speech recognition board. In Step 3, the speech recognition board processes the waves from the microphone to form a binary code for each word you say. A binary code is a pattern of zeroes and ones, for example, 01001100. Each word has its own code. In Step 4, the computer compares the code with other codes in its memory to identify each word. When it finds the correct word, it displays it on the monitor screen. That's Step 5, the last step.

Unit 7 Output devices

Task 2

There are three different types of printers. These are dot-matrix, inkjet, and laser printers. Basically, you get what you pay for. The more you pay, the better the printer. (pause)

Dot-matrix printers are the cheapest kind of printer, but their print quality is low and they are slow and noisy. They're cheap to run. (pause)

Pay a bit more for an inkj et and you get better quality and quieter operation, but inkjets are relatively slow and also expensive to run. They're a good choice for colour. (pause)

A laser printer gives you the best quality of output. It prints faster than either of the other two types of printer and it costs less to run than an inkjet. Great for black and white. Unfortunately, it costs almost twice as much.

Unit 8 Storage devices

Task 3

Parti

The hard disk drive inside your PC is like a filing cabinet. Instead of paper, it stores everything electronically. It can hold all the software that runs on your system and all your personal files. It's a

pretty important part of your computer.

A hard disk drive normally contains several disks. They're stacked on top of each other. There are five in the diagram. The drive motor spins the disks very quickly. It runs all the time your PC is in use.

There's a gap, a space, between each disk. We need the gaps so the read/write heads can move across the disks and reach all parts quickly. The head motor controls the read/write heads.

Task 5

Part 2

The space between the head and the disk surface is tiny. Even smoke from a cigarette can cause a crash. A crash is what happens when the head touches the surface of the disk. To keep out dust and smoke, the drive is inside a sealed case.

Unit 9 Graphical User Interface

Task 4

This is a picture of a computer screen with one window open. The window contains a dialog box. This one is the Find dialog box. You can see the name on the title bar at the top of the screen. You use this dialog box to find files or folders. (pause)

Near the top of the window there are three tabs. The first tab is for searching by name and location. There are two other tabs: one for searching by date and the other for advanced searches. (pause)

To search for a file by name and location, you type the name of the file in the drop-down list box called Named. In this example, the user wants to find all the document files. Then you choose the folder to search in using another drop-down list box labelled Look in. Here the user wants to look in the folder called Personal on the C drive. So the first drop-down list box is for the name, and the second drop­down list box is for the location. (pause)

Between the Named and Look in drop­down boxes is a text box. In the text box you type any words which you want to look for. In this example, the user only wants documents with the word 'sport'. (pause).

You start the search by clicking on the Find Now command button. Other buttons stop the search, start a new search, or browse the drives.

Unit 10 Interview: Computing Support Assistant

Task 2

Part 1: Introduction

interviewer: What do you like most

about your job? anne: I like, I like all aspects of thejob. It's good to..., it's varied so there's lots of interest. interviewer: Are you ever bored? anne: No, not really, because it's never the same things over and over again; it's different each time.

Problems

interviewer: What kind of problems are there? What kind of difficulties do people have? anne: People have problems with the hardware, often with printers... paper j amming. They also have problems finding options in the programs. Mostly with word processing. interviewer: Are there any other

hardware problems? anne: Occasionally a computer freezes... it hangs or freezes. It's usually a memory problem. interviewer: Is it always the machine

or is it sometimes the user? anne: Sometimes it's the user. The printer isn't switched on, or there's no paper.

Task 3

Part 2: Keeping up to date interviewer: How do you keep in touch with what's new in computing? It's changing all the time. anne: Yeah, by the time you read something, it's out of date. Magazines are good for finding out what's new on the scene. The Internet also has information about new developments. interviewer: Do you ever go on courses?

anne: Yes, they're a good way to keep up.

interviewer: What kind of courses? anne: Well, operating systems change, so courses about the different functions on the operating system. And then there's the programs that people use, like the word processors and the spreadsheets and the databases. And the best way to understand them is by taking a course and trying them out yourself.

Unit 11 Networks

Task 7

Computers in a network can be connected in different ways, in

different topologies. The three basic ways of connecting computers are: a star, a ring, and a bus topology. (pause)

A star topology has a server computer at the centre and a separate cable connecting the server to each of the other computers in the network. The central server controls the flow of data in the network. If the central server fails, the whole network will fail. (pause)

In a ring topology, each computer is connected to its neighbour in a circle. The data flows in one direction round the ring. If a cable breaks or one of the computers fails, the whole network will be affected. (pause)

A bus topology has all the computers connected to a common cable. The data travels in both directions along the cable. If a computer fails, or we remove one from the network, it won't affect the other computers. Most networks are usually a combination of star, ring, and bus topologies to overcome some of these problems.

Unit 12 Communications

Task 4

answerphone message: Thank you for calling Tay tron. The office is now closed, but if you'd like to leave a message after the tone, dial one for sales, dial two for maintenance, and dial three for all other enquiries, (tone)

johnbailes: ThisisJohnBaileswitha message for Lenny Yang. I'm sorry to phone so late but I can't make our meeting at 10.15 tomorrow. There are no seats on the 8.30 flight. I've got a ticket for the 9.45 flight which lands at 10.30. If the traffic isn't too bad, I can be with you around 11.15, say 11.30 to be safe. So can we meet at half-past eleven tomorrow. If there's any problem, please email me tomorrow before 8.30. My address is "[email protected]". See you tomorrow.

Unit 13 The Internet 1: email and newsgroups

Task 4

Hi, I started my course last Monday. We've got classes every day from 8.45 until a quarter past four, apart from Fridays when we finish at 2.3 0. We can use the computer lab then, so I've taken the chance to send this message. The course is OK so far. 'Design and Make' is the best class. We've got to construct a project of our own. I'm thinking of a security alarm for my bike.

Staff are fine apart from Matfas - no sense of humour - and Fm getting to know the rest of the class. There's an indoor sports centre we can use at lunch-times, and a few of us have started kicking a ball about most (fays. We might get a team going. Let me know how your course is going and how life is treating you. If you're free on the 17th, come over. I'm having a party at my fiat. Nothing fancy, but you'll meet Sandra again.

Unit 14 The Internet 2: the World Wide Web

Task 6

1 This button stops your browser downloading information. Maybe because it's taking too long, or you're bored, or you've made a mistake in the address.

2 Whenever you find a page on the Web that you like and want to visit again, you can save it with this button.

3 This button will get you a fresh copy of any document you're looking at.

4 Click your mouse on this button and your browser will re-load the last page you were at.

5 This button will take you back to the browser starting page.

Unit 15 Interview: Website designer

Task 2

Parti

interviewer: What kind of people want websites and why do they want websites?

saladin: People who feel they have to be on the Web because competitors are on the Web. They feel that not having a website is a sign of being behind the times. interviewer: So other people have got a website and therefore they have to have one, too? saladin: Yes. The better reason is people who have information they would normally provide free - like brochures, application forms, anything that would normally be sent out by mail. interviewer: So it saves fax, postage... saladin: Printing costs. I think it's particularly useful for colleges and universities. interviewer: Why is that? saladin: Because they tend to have a large amount of information to distribute. interviewer: If a client comes to you and asks you for a webpage, how do you set about designing a page for a client?

saladin: The first thing I would ask for is all their printed promotional material. I would look at all that material and then discuss with the client how much of it to put on the Web. The most important thing is to decide who is the audience for this website, who's it aimed at. interviewer: Is there a danger of

putting too much on? saladin: There's certainty a danger of putting too much on. Also, the client has to make a clear decision about how much time or money they're going to spend to keep the pages updated.

interviewer: Aha, so it's not enough simply to have a page, you need regular maintenance of that page. saladin: Right, so these are the first two questions - who is at aimed at and how often will it be updated?

Task 3

Part 2

saladin: Once we've decided what materials should be put on, there are a couple of basic principles to follow. One is that there should never be any dead-ends, you should never reach a page which has no... interviewer: Ah, which doesn't go

anywhere? saladin:... Which has no links to take you back to somewhere else. So that's one principle. And the other principle is to try to limit the number of steps that have to be taken from the main home page to any other page. I would normally aim for a maximum of four steps.

interviewer: Do people give up if there are more than two or three links, they simply give up, is that a problem? saladin: Some people will give up, others will just never find the information, there are too many diversions. Another principle is not to have too many links to scroll through on one page. If you have a page which has 150 links and you have to keep scrolling through them, people will give up... they'll never find the links at the bottom. interviewer: What about graphics, sound and animations, and all these multimedia features? What's your feeling about these? saladin: Always ask why is it there? That's the first thing. And if it's there simply because it makes the page look nicer, think quite carefully about whether to put it there or not. The more of that sort of thing you have, the more time it will take to download the pages. Another factor to bear in mind is that there are still a lot of users with less sophisticated browsers than Netscape or Microsoft

Explorer, and if you make the use of the page dependent on graphics and so on, you'll exclude these users. interviewer: So no dead-ends, no more than four steps from home, and pictures have to serve a serious purpose.

Task 4

Part3

saladin: Another aspect of designing pages is to break the information into relatively small sections. interviewer: Isthatjustbecauseof the size of the screen, what you can see at one time? saladin: It's partly that, but it's also to do with download time and printing. People can find they're printing forty pages of a document, most of which they don't want. interviewer: Is it a big temptation to add links to similar organizations? Is there strength in that, or is there a danger in that? saladin: In most cases it's a big strength. Browsers who come across your page, if they discover that your page is a very good gateway to all sorts of interesting sites, will bookmark your page because they know it's a good way to get to all the other sites. If they're coming back to it, they're exposed to your message every time. One final point: it is useful to have on the front page something brief which catches the reader, which says 'this is who we are'.

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