LESSON FOUR. 1) carrying information as pulses of light – несущие информацию в виде световых импульсов

Notes

1) carrying information as pulses of light – несущие информацию в виде световых импульсов

2) as transparent as a window pane – прозрачный, как оконное стекло

3) from an abundant raw material – из имеющегося в большом количестве сырьевого материала

4) the eye of the needle – ушко иголки

5) are playing a key role – играют ведущую роль

6) all forms of information are translated into bits – все виды информации переводятся в биты (двоичные разряды)

7) inner core – внутренний стержень, провод

8) outer cladding – наружное покрытие

9) a hollow silica tube – полая кремниевая труба

10) glass rod – стеклянный стержень

1l) will have countless applications – найдут разностороннее применение

III. Answer the following questions to the text:

1. What has been described as "probably the biggest breakthrough in telecommunications"? 2. Can glass fibres carry the same number of telephone calls as metal cables? 3. Is the digital revolution sweeping through modern communications? 4. Will optical fibres have countless applications in "information society" of the future?

IV. Give the main points of text B.

V. Speak about the horizons of optical fibres application in communication systems of the future.

I. Look through the list of the English words and their Russian equivalents facilitating reading text C:

interactive – интерактивный; traffic – нагрузка; processing – обработка; terminal – конечная станция; carrier – (многоканальная) система передачи информации с использованием несущей; to reject – отказываться; unwanted – нежелательный, ненужный.

П. Study the questions below and find out which of them the author answers in the text:

1. Is Very Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) revolution nearing its end? 2. What will one be able to do with intelligent network? 3. Many uses of the telephone will be replaced by an electronic in-basket, won't they? 4. Will the postal service undergo great changes in the third millennium? 5. To.what extent will the number of newspapers and magazines be decreased in the third millennium? 6. Can one give an exact date of introducing inexpensive graphics terminals in the home?

Text С

Information and Communication in the Third Millennium

1. By the beginning of the third millennium, the Very Large-Scale Integration (VLSI)¹ revolution will at last be nearing its end. We will see some of the results below – intelligent networks with information as well as data processing². In fact, much of the interactive multiterminal communication traffic will be routed through networks with delay and computation at the nodes. As one example of what we mean by information as opposed to data processing, one will be able to route a call or electronic message to a known person without necessarily having to know the equivalent of his "telephone number". One will be able to conduct a dialogue³ over the terminal with an intelligent network that will in effect give one the number or address.

2. Commercial video broadcasting⁴ over the air will be almost entirely replaced by scheduled, or even on demand, transmission into homes via fibre optics⁵.

3. Many uses of the telephone will be replaced by an electronic in-basket that provides message forwarding, editing, retrieval, and redirection services. The Bell System will still exist, but will only be one carrier of several, depending on the kind of service. In any case, most terminals will be procured separately from the carriers, which will be mainly transmission companies or information services, depending on what they feel like calling themselves.

4. Newspapers and magazines, particularly specialized ones, will still exist. However, by the beginning of the third millennium, a trend will have been set which will lead to their ultimate redefinition as electronic services⁶ instead of as pieces of paper. Inexpensive graphics terminals⁷ in the home will permit this new kind of publication. In some cases, hard copy will be available, although with local disk storage this will not be so necessary. The electronic in-basket and electronic newspapers will mean the end of the postal service as we wish we knew it. It will be restricted to packages. The problem of electronic junk mail can be solved by each individual programming his or her own terminal to reject unwanted communications as they see fit⁹.

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