Basic English [ for Computing 6 страница

Rather than creating a website yourself, you can pay a web designer to create the site for you. The web designer must first find out what information you want to provide on the website, and the target audience he or she is designing for. Depending on this information, the designer will decide what kind of information should be displayed on each webpage, and how these pages should be linked. Navigation icons may be displayed on each webpage to make it easier for users to move to different parts of the website. Every page must have a link that will let users move to another page.

However, if too many links are needed to get to a page, the user may decide it is not worthwhile. Pages have to be kept short enough so that the user does not have to do a lot of scrolling. Remember that it will take time and cost money to keep the website up to date.

Multimedia features make the page look nicer and more interesting, but they take longer for the user to browse. Some multimedia features also require the user to install additional programs known as add-ons, which work in the browser to enable the multimedia features to be used. Each webpage has to be downloaded from the web server before it can be displayed on the screen. It is therefore advisable to divide information into small sections to suit the display screen, save downloading time, and simplify printing. The first page of a website should be simple and tell the reader who the website owner is. If links to other websites are included, people are more likely to come back to your site.

Website designers like the one interviewed in this unit are experienced in creating websites that take all of these factors into consideration.

Objectives

By the end of this unit, students should be better at: understanding the main points of an interview using information from a listening text to write advice and rules

indicating something is important using has/have to and must.

They should know and be able to use these words: bookmark, website, and the common collocations of the terms listed in Task 9.

Tuning-in

Task 1

Elicit the good points of the webpage illustrated: the visuals and title are strong and arresting; there is not too much text on the opening page; an interesting quote is used to attract the reader's attention (discuss how the theatre can be both little (as regards its size) and big (as regards how important it is). With a more advanced class, ask students to predict what sort of information wall come after the opening page - performances and dates, layout of the theatre, booking information, etc.

Interview: Website designer

Students cjin then discuss in groups what makes a good website in general, and give examples of good sites they know. If they have access to computing facilities, they can print off sample pages. Each group should report to the class. Make a board

summary of their criteria. The CNN site in Unit 14 is a good example if the students cannot think of a site of their own. Website addresses change but at the time of writing you can visit this site at www.ednet.co.uk/~hillstreet/.

1 dead-ends

2 four steps

3 too many links (to scroll through)

4 the page look nicer

5 less sophisticated browsers

Listening

Task 2

The interviewee is an example of one of the new jobs - a website designer -created by developments in information technology. This interview is more difficult than the previous ones in the course, and you may need to give your students extra help. Discuss with the class what sort of people want websites and what they use websites for. Ask them how they would design a website.

Pre-teach behind the times, promotional material, aimed at, and update.

Pause the tape more frequently, if necessary after each question-and-answer exchange.

Key

1 people who feel they have to imitate their competitors, people who have to distribute a lot of information free, e.g. colleges

2 It saves money on printing, postage, faxes, etc.

3 colleges and universities

4 all their promotional material

5 who the audience is

6 how much time and money they will spend on updating

Task 3

Pre-teach dead-end, revise, link, and scroll. Elicit examples of multimedia (used in Unit 2), e.g. graphics, sound, animations. Pause as for Task 2 if required. You can also divide the task up so that students listen for different answers, and then combine their answers to complete the task.

Note: Microsoft Explorer and Netscape Navigator are the two most common browsers. Users with less- sophisticated browsers may find it takes a very long time to download graphics. If the site depends on graphics, this can be very frustrating. Good website designers offer text alternatives.

Task 4

This short final section should not cause too many difficulties. Gateway and bookmark may be unfamiliar but can be worked out from context.

Key

1 Yes 2 Yes 3 No 4 Yes 5 Yes

Task 5

Students could attempt this before listening to the whole interview and then check their answers during the final listening. The key is given in Task 6.

Language work

You can use the cartoon in Unit 7, Task 6 - which shows a badly designed workstation - to provide examples of practice required by rule, law, or common sense. Give two or three examples and write them on the board. Examples 1,3, and 4 on page 64 are suitable. Elicit further examples from the cartoon.

Task 6

This is best done as an individual written task.

Key

A

1 You have to/must divide information into small sections.

2 You have to/must have a lot of links to other sites.

3 You have to/must start with a brief piece of information to attract the reader.

4 You have to/must update your page regularly.

B

1 You mustn't have a lot of links on one page.

2 You mustn't include graphics only to make it look nice.

3 You mustn't forget about readers with less sophisticated browsers.

4 You mustn't have pages with dead-ends.

Computing words and abbreviations

Task 7

You can use Tasks 7, 8, and 9 together as a vocabulary test on Units 11 to 15.

Key

1 megabyte

2 compact disk-read only memory

3 Internet service provider

4 local area network

5 personal computer

6 random access memory

7 wide area network

8 single in-line memory module

9 optical character recognition 10 megahertz

Task 9

Do one or two examples on the board. Write down the key word; then elicit collocations and write them before or after the key word. Бог example:

local-area network topology wide-area terminal

server

interface card

Key

cache, main, random access, read only memory chip, slot

dot-matrix, inkjet, laser printer cable, port

serial mouse button, mat, port

computer screen

arrow, editing, function, keyboard, pad, press

screen cursor control

computer monitor screen.

Task 8

Key

1 byte 2 wide area network

3 hard disk drive 4 random access memory 5 port

Writing

Task 10

In addition to the points listed in Task 6, these points from the recording could be included.

You must decide who it's aimed at.

You have to decide how much time and money to spend

to keep the pages updated.

A word processing program or wordprocessor is used for creating and editing text documents. The program facilities can be accessed using a menu bar, although the most common tools can also be accessed using rows of button icons known as toolbars. The standard toolbar contains icons for the most frequently used facilities such as saving, printing, and spellchecking. There are also icons for cutting, copying, and pasting, and for undoing any changes. The formatting toolbar has icons for formatting the text, i.e. changing the size and shape of text characters. For example, the user can align the text to the left or to the right, or can justify the text, i.e. have it aligned to both the left and right at the same time. Rectangular gridlines, which form what is known as a table, can be used to control the layout. A desktop publishing package gives more precise control of format and layout, and allows the user to prepare documents for printing by a professional printer.

A WIMP system uses dialog boxes to give information or to get information from the user. Note that the American English spelling dialog is often used in computing although the British English spelling dialogue can also be used. A dialog box is a window that opens on the display screen. It can contain various components, some of which are shown in the table below.

Component	Purpose
text box	allows the user to input text
drop-down list box	allows the user to choose from
	a list that opens when clicked
command button	starts a process
checkbox	allows the user to choose True
	or False

One way to find a file on a computer system is to use the Find dialog box. Having indicated what they are looking for, using text boxes, drop-down list boxes, and checkboxes, the user clicks the Search command button. The Find facility then searches for the file and displays its path on the screen.

Objectives

By the end of this unit, students should be better at: listening for specific detail comparing texts to detect differences writing instructions.

They should be able to use the Present perfect passive.

They should know and be able to use these words: draft, font, bold, underline, justify, spelling checker, tab.

Tuning-in

Task 1

As a lead-in, check how many of the class have used general purpose packages such as word processors, spreadsheets, and databases and what use they have made of them. Students can do this as a class survey by devising and administering a simple questionnaire. You can prepare the questionnaire on the board. It could look like this:

1 Have you ever used: a a wordprocessor? b a spreadsheet? c a database?

2 If the answer is 'yes' to any of these questions, what have you used it for?

3 Can you name any common software of this type?

Before you begin the actual exercise for Task 1, pre- teach/ont.

Key

Word processing

Id 2b 3f 4g 5e 6a 7c

Task 2

Treat this as a pre-listening task. Students should be familiar with menu bar, title bar, and toolbar from Unit 14, Task 2, but write them up on the board and revise them if you think your students need it. Don't correct this task until Task 3 has been done.

Key

1b 2f 3d 4a 5g 6c 7e

Task 3

This is a fairly straightforward text that should not present the students with many problems. Terms such as pull-down menu and icon should be familiar from Unit 9, but, write them up on the board and revise them if students seem to be having problems.

Task 4

Key

1b 2c 3d 4g 5d

Reading

Task 5

Treat this as a 'spot the difference' puzzle. Students should work first on an individual basis; then compare their answers in pairs. Although they should be able to identify all the changes, they will not be able to explain these changes in English. Use the opportunity to teach delete, insert, justify, spellcheck, underline.

Key

1 Tabs have been inserted.

2 Letters have been changed from small to capitals.

3 Lines have been inserted.

4 The font has been changed to bold.

5 Words have been deleted.

6 Words have been underlined.

7 Spelling has been checked.

8 Words have been inserted.

Listening

9 Text has been justified.

Key

spellcheck, boldface, underline, justify, insert, tabs, enter, delete

Language work

Use examples from Task 5 as input for your i

explanation. Begin by asking: What changes has Paul

made? Elicit examples:

He's inserted tabs.

He's underlined words., etc.

Then confirm each correct answer like this: Yes, tabs have been inserted. Yes, words have been underlined.

Write all these examples on the board; then continue by asking: What other changes have been made?

Elicit more examples: The font has been changed., etc.

Explain that we use the passive when we want to focus on the action. We use the present perfect passive when the action is in the recent past with a present result.

Task 7

This exercise provides students with some controlled practice of the new structure and is best done as an individual written task.

Key

1 Tabs have been inserted.

2 The spelling has been checked.

3 Line spaces have been inserted or Lines have been inserted.

4 The text has been justified.

5 The letters have been changed to capitals.

6 Words have been deleted.

7 Words have been inserted.

8 Words have been underlined.

9 Words have been italicized. '

Task 8

Task 6

This task provides le'ss controlled practice of the same language point. In this case, it is not two drafts of a letter but two versions of a letter - standard replies to applicants for a post. Again, it is best done

as an individual written task in class or as homework, but make sure the task is clear by giving one or two examples.

Key

Th e name has been changed. Faxhas been changed to letter.The 14th has been changed to the 2nd.The job has been changed from Computing Support Officer to Computer Programmer. The post has been underlined. Atab has been inserted at the beginning of the second paragraph. Words have been deleted from the second paragraph.The font has been changed {from bold to italic).

Problem-solving

Task 9

Pre-teach adjective pairs such as: strong- weak, formal-informal, sophisticated-plain, modern-old- fashioned.

Students should work in pairs. Emphasize that they should defend their choices in English, using the adjectives you have pre-taught. You can help them by providing a dialogue frame on the board.

A: Which one do you think is best?

B: The first one.

A: Why not the second one?

B: It looks too old-fashioned. It's not modern enough.

Students with access to word processors can try to create an advertisement of their own in English.

Writing

Task 10

Weaker students may need some extra help with this reading and writing exercise. They may not realize that the writing is largely a substitution exercise, and that the main framework for writing their own instructions is provided for them in the reading text. Point out that the instructions for using Find and Replace will be very similar to those for using Find, but will involve a few more steps.

1 Choose the Find and Replace command in the edit menu.

2 Type the text you want to find in the Find What text box, for example under.

3 Type the text exactly the way you want to find it.

4 Type the new word in the Replace text box, for example over.

5 If you want to find text that matches upper case and lower case with the way you type it, select Match Case.

6 If you want to find whole words only, select Find Whole Words Only. If not, you will find underline, underneath, etc.

7 Click on Find Next and the program will pause each time it finds the words you want.

8 The found text is highlighted on the screen.

9 Click on Replace and the word will be replaced.

Speaking

Task 11

Give the students time to study the diagrams of their toolbars and to work out which functions they are going to have to explain to their partners. Revise the structure What's it for? (I think) it's for...ing, and elicit a few examples from the class. Then give students a few more minutes to work out what they are going to say.

During the activity the student who is listening should label the button the other student is talking about on his or her own toolbar.

When everyone has finished the exercise, ask for feedback. Write the best definitions of the functions on the board, or provide the ones given in the key below.

Key

StudentA

1 New: it's for opening a new document.

2 Print: it's for printing the current document.

3 Copy: it's for copying a text to clipboard.

4 Drawing: it's for opening the drawings toolbar. Student B

1 Save: ifs for saving the current documentto disk.

2 Cut: it's for cutting/removing a text and inserting it into the clipboard.

3 Undo: It's for undoing/reversing the last command.

4 Insert Table: it's for creating a table in a document.

A database is used to store information so that it can be searched and sorted in various ways. Each item of information is stored in afield. A collection of related fields forms a record. Simple searches can often be created by allowing the user to type the required field information into a blank record, and pressing a search button. More advanced database programs usually use a query language known as SQL. This allows users to type statements using logical operators to specifying the search conditions.

Logical operator Meaning

A.AND. B both condition A and condition B are true

A.OR. B either condition A or condition B or

both are true

.NOT. A condition A is not true

If you only know part of the field you are searching for, you can use special symbols, called wildcards, to represent combinations of characters. The actual wildcard symbols used vary from program to program.

A spreadsheet program is used for calculating formulae. It is made up of a grid or array of rectangular boxes called cells, as shown below.

	A	B	c	D

The columns are labelled A,B,C... and the rows of cells are numbered 1,2,3... To refer to a particular cell, you use the column label followed by the row number. For example, the cell in the top left corner

of the spreadsheet is Al, the one to the right of it is B1, and the one below it is A2. The cells can contain text, numbers, or formulae. The formulae are written using the cell references, e.g. to add the first three cells in the A column, you would use the formula A1 + A2 + A3, or the sum function Sum(Al:A3),i.e. the sum of cells Al to A3. When a formula is assigned to a cell, the result of the formula is displayed in the cell rather than the formula itself. By varying spreadsheet values and formulae, different possible outcomes can be analysed.

Other common mathematical symbols used in formulae are shown in the table below.

Symbol	Name	Function
+	plus	addition
-	minus	subtraction
*	multiply by (or times)	multiplication
/	divided by	division
%	per cent	percentage

Objectives

By the end of this unit, students should be better at: scanning a table for specific information listening to formulae writing brief explanations.

They should be able to use expressions of certainty.

Databases and spreadsheets

They should know and be able to use these words: database, field, record, search, condition, selection, rule, cell, row, column, formula, the symbols from Task 7 and their meanings.

Task 1

Teach or revise the meaning of the term field in the context of the activity. It means a category or item of information in a database. (See the technical introduction above for more details.) As a lead-in to the task ask the students for suggestions as to devising a simple database of your class. Get them to suggest the fields, for example: Surname, First Names, Date of Birth, Hobbies/Sports, etc. If time allows, students could collect the information by means of a class survey. When you come to do the task write the record from the Student's Book on the board. Elicit the possible fields it contains.

Key

Name, Department, Occupation, Date of Birth, Salary. Otherfields which might be useful are: Date of joining the company, Annual leave, Sales Record, etc.

Task 2

Give the students a short time to complete this activity in pairs. To help them think of fields for a police computer database, tell them to focus on criminals and their activities rather than the activities of the police as a whole.

Key

a national police computer- records of criminals will include: Names, Aliases, Appearance, Address, Crimes committed, Convictions, Way of operating, etc. a national driver and vehicle licensing centre: Driver, Address, Motoring offences, Vehicle Licence number, Description, etc.

Reading

Task 3

Teach or revise the meaning of the term record in the context of the exercise. It means a collection of related fields in a database. (See the technical introduction above for more details.) This is a simple scanning exercise, but based on a table rather than a text.

Key

1 five 2 eleven

Tuning-in

3 Popocatapetl, Orizaba 4 Aconcagua, Chimborazo

The database illustrated is a very simple one, but the principles used are the same for professional database packages. To answer the questions, for Task 4 and Task 5 students must combine information from the text and the illustration. With a weaker group, you should read through the text together as a class and check comprehension before letting them attempt the questions.

Key

1 fields

2 conditions

3 'Height in metres' is greater than 5,000

4 Startthe search of the database

5 eleven

Task 5

Key

1 'Status' is active

2 'Height in metres' is greater than 6,000

3 'Continent' equals South America

4 'Country'equals Ecuador

5 'Status' is active and 'Continent' equals South America and 'Height in metres' is greaterthan 5,500

Listening

Task 6

Check that students know what a spreadsheet is and what it is used for. Focus attention on the spreadsheet in the Student's Book and elicit where this one comes from and what it shows. Ask a few general questions about the spreadsheet so that the class understands how cell references work. For example:

How many days is the fast food outlet open each week?

Which day is the busiest day?

What information wtil be in Column D?

Tell students to ignore the first row: A, B,C, etc. and the first column, 1,2,3, etc. in calculating the rows and columns, as these are only to provide references for the cells.

Key

Task 4

1 five 2 nine 3 Tue (forTuesday)

Write the symbols oil the board and ask students to say what they mean. Most will be familiar from mathematics. Read out and ask them to write down a few formulae. You can use the examples on page 72 or make up new ones yourself, for example: = D4+B4, = C9*6.5%, etc. Then ask students to read out loud the formulae on page 72. With a good class, ask students to write formulae of their own and practise dictating them to their partners.

Key

1 equals cell E3 times or multiplied by fifteen per cent

2 equals cell A10 times/multiplied by cell B3

3 equals the sum of all the cells from B9 to B24 or equals sum B9to B24

4 equals cell K12 divided by cell J12

5 equals cell D4 minus cell B4

Task 8

Ask students to compare answers in pairs. If there is any dispute, play the recording again and pause at the disputed answer.

Key

See tapescript

Language work

You can show degrees of certainty by means of a vertical scale on the blackboard - like a thermometer. Mark 100% at the top, then 75%, 50%, and 40% at suitable distances down the scale. Mark a positive (+) sign to the right of the scale and a negative sign (-) to the left. Will and will not1 won't go at the 100% level, the former at the positive side and the latter at the negative side.

Enter will probably and probably won't at around the 75% mark, may/might and may not/might not at the 50% mark, and will possibly and possibly won't at around 40%. Note that in practice there is no difference between may and might as regards certainty.

Task 7

Give examples to show the difference between the expressions. Ask students to say what the chances of damage are if you move the computer when it's switched on, stand on a CD-ROM, drop a monitor, etc.

This is a problem-solving task. Key

You will find Brown and Brawn, you won't find Braun.

You will find the, tongue and true, you won't find tea.

You will find 4th, you won't find 12th and earth.

You will find Paula and Paulo, you won't find Paul.

You will find Marie and Mary, you won't find Maria.

Task 10

This may promote disagreement as the choice of answer is to some degree subjective. If students disagree, ask them to defend their answers.

Key {other answers are possible)

1 may, will possibly

2 may, will possibly, will probably

3 may, will possibly, will probably

4 may, will possibly

5 may, will possibly, will probably

Problem-solving

Task 11

If students are still having problems understanding how selection rules work, return to the example of your class database. Put a selection of records up on the board, and elicit examples of search results and the selection rules which would apply to achieve them.

Key (other answers are possible)

1 Occupation = student

2 Occupation = computing officer

3 sex = F.AND. age <25

4 sex = M.AND.age >25.AND. occupation = student

5 First name = Arnold

Writing

Task 12

Give some examples to help your students get started. For example:

The driver's name to identify him/her if there's an accident.

Task 9

The colour of the car to find it if it's stolen.

A graphics package is used for creating and editing graphical images or drawings. This type of program usually has a set of icons called a toolbox to access the most commonly used graphics tools. It allows users to perform functions, such as creating shapes, scaling them to different sizes, rotating them, and filling them with colour. Simple drawings can be created using a combination of pre-defined shapes such as squares, rectangles, triangles, and ellipses.

Multimedia is a combination of text, graphics, animation, sound, and video. A popular multimedia encyclopaedia program created by the Microsoft Corporation is called Microsoft Encarta. The text displayed on the screen contains hyperlinks, i.e. words that are linked to other text. When the user clicks on a link, the linked text is displayed on the screen. Encarta also has icons for displaying maps, charts, tables, pictures, sounds, animation, videos, and interactive activities.

Computers are general purpose instruments that are controlled by programs. Present-day computers are electronic devices but the first computers were mechanical. They were replaced by electro­mechanical computers that used electrical mechanisms. The first electronic computers used electronic switches in the form of vacuum tube valves. Valves were later replaced by semiconductor transistors. The development of integrated circuits that contained millions of transistors in one small semiconductor chip enabled the development of microprocessors. This allowed much smaller computers, called microcomputers, to be introduced. The most common type of microcomputer is small enough to sit on an office desk and is often referred to as a desktop computer.

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