Answer the questions. A computer is an electronic device that can accept input, process it according to a set of instructions

WHAT IS A COMPUTER?

A computer is an electronic device that can accept input, process it according to a set of instructions, store the instruc­tions and the results of processing, and produce results as its output.

The facts, numbers, letters, and im­ages input to a computer are called data. The instructions that carry out the pro­cessing are called computer programs orsoftware. The output, intended for use and interpretation by people, is called information.

These definitions, however, do not reveal the scope and influence of computers in our world today.

Like all revolutionary technologies, such as electricity, telephones, and auto­mobiles, computers have been em­braced by individuals and organizations rather quickly. Thus, a certain amount of computer literacy is necessary to keep pace with rapid technological advances. Computers, although important, are not an end in themselves. They are simply tools. They are really nothing more than unusually fast and precise machines with an extraordinary ability to remember massive amount of detail. The computer’s specialty is data processing, performing specific operations on data: adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing numbers and comparing them and remembering them. These fundamental operations, conducted in countless combinations at tremendous speed, are the essence of all the computer’s enormously varied applications. The computer can thus answer some highly complex questions, although the human being must tell it what to do and how to do it.

Notes:

Remember that word “data” takes a singular verb (3^rd person singular) when it refers to the information operated on in a computer program. – The data is ready for processing.

1.5 Give English equivalents of the following words and word-combinations.

1.6 Match the terms to their definitions.

1. computer 2. data 3. input 4. output 5. software 6. information 7. instruction

a. Output, intended for use and interpretation by people. b. The facts numbers, letters, and images input to a computer. c. An electronic device that can accept input, process it according to a set of instructions, store the instructions and the results of processing, and produce the results as its output. d. A basic unit of a program that specifies what action is to be performed on what data. e. Programs that control the functions of a computer system. f. The results of computer processing. g. The process of transferring data into a computer system.

2. What is a computer?

3. What do we call facts, numbers, letters, and images input to a computer?

4. What do we call software?

5. What do we call the output intended for use and interpretation by people?

6. In what spheres are computers being used now?

7. What is the computer’s specialty?

8. What is the difference between data and information?

2.1 Read and translate the following word-combinations.

Increased complexity, business environment, rapid growth, social pressure, business transaction, credit status, financial status, income statement, balance sheet, human effort, office automation technology, two-way cable, repetitive tasks, practical applications, humanlike capabilities, intelligent computer systems, the nature of intelligence, common sense, office automation technology

2.2 Read and learn key words and word –combinations.

accomplish manually – виконувати вручну

artificial intelligence – штучний інтелект

database program – програма бази даних

expert system – експертна система

fax machine – факс

keep track of – слідкувати за

office automation – автоматизація діловодства

production and distribution of information – виробництво і поширення інформації

satellite communication system – система супутникового зв’язку

spreadsheet (n) – електронна таблиця

withhold taxes – утримувати податки

word processing – опрацювання текстів

2.3 Read and translate the text.

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