The article. Bill Gates launches Microsoft OS VIsta

Bill Gates launches Microsoft OS Vista

Task 8

LANGUAGE WORK

Scientists test WiTricity – Wireless Electricity

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. F

c. T

d. F

e. F

f. T

g. T

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	come up with	invented
b.	breakthrough	revolution
c.	dubbed	called
d.	transmission	spread
e.	appliances	gadgets
f.	tangled	jumbled
g.	poor	faulty
h.	struck upon	thought of
i.	beam	send out
j.	fruition	completion

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	A team of US researchers has come	up with an electricity system
b.	a breakthrough in what	will hopefully be a wireless future
c.	lit a	60-watt light bulb
d.	They have dubbed	their new invention “WiTricity”
e.	the first time electrical	appliances have been powered
f.	our houses may be free	from tangled wires
g.	having countless	plugs hidden behind the TV
h.	fires caused by poor	wiring and overloaded sockets
i.	inventor Nikola Tesla struck	upon the idea
j.	his idea never came to	fruition, until today

GAP FILL:

A team of US researchers has come up with an electricity system that does not need wires. This is a breakthrough in what will hopefully be a wireless future. The scientists, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, lit a 60-watt light bulb using magnetic fields. In the test, the power source was just two metres away from the light, but the team hopes they will soon be able to send electricity longer distances through the air. They have dubbed their new invention “WiTricity”, or wireless electricity. Although wi-fi has been around for some years now, it has been limited to the transmission of information, especially between computers and modems, printers and scanners. This is the first time electrical appliances have been powered wirelessly.

This new development means that our houses may be free from tangled wires. Gone will be the days of having to unplug the vacuum to go from room to room, and of having countless plugs hidden behind the TV and stereo. The new source of delivering power to gadgets remotely may also reduce the number of fires caused by poor wiring and overloaded sockets. It turns out the concept is not so new. A century ago, inventor Nikola Tesla struck upon the idea of building a huge tower in New York that would wirelessly beam power to the city. Unfortunately, his idea never came to fruition, until today, that is. It will still be a while before we have wireless homes and offices. Safety experts will be checking closely to ensure the power source causes us no harm.

1 - b

2 - a

3 - c

4 -d

5 - c

6 -b

7 - b

8 -a

9 -d

10 -a

11 -c

12 - d

Microsoft finally released the latest Windows operating system around the world on Tuesday. Titled Vista, the long-awaited program was on shelves in 40,000 stores worldwide. It was more than five years in the making, created by 8,000 people and cost over $6US billion to develop. Microsoft founder Bill Gates flew to London for the unveiling. He said his new slogan - ‘The “Wow” starts now’ - would epitomize what consumers should expect from the product. Gates believes users will be wowed by what’s on offer. He said: "There are chances for wows all over the product." These may come in the form of a slick new 3D interface, a digital media lifestyle focus, a quick search function, and beefed up security. Vista is "dramatically more secure than any other operating system released", Gates told the BBC News.

Despite the hype and fanfare, the new operating system does have quite a few hurdles to overcome. One is that it cannot be used on any PC that is over two years old, which will be too slow to run the applications. Another potential pitfall is that hackers have also been waiting five years to crack the software’s code. There may well be a race to see who can find holes and start the first viruses. Many analysts have advised consumers to be cautious and wait to see how secure Vista really is before buying it. A further reason why customers may not dash to the stores to buy Vista is the confusing array of versions. Will people want Vista Starter, Vista Home Basic, Vista Home Premium, Vista Ultimate or Vista Business? And finally, Microsoft will need to deal with people calling Vista a copycat of Apple’s Mac OSX.

Дата добавления: 2015-01-03