THE COMPUTER
The word computing means _______________________________________________________
and has been used to form the word for the device which has become an essential part of our lives
– the computer.
What is a computer?
It is an electronic device used for ___________________________________________________
The word computer is part of a lot of phrases used to refer to the people who work with
computers, the types of computers used nowadays and the problems which occur with computers.
Task 1. Write words that match the following definitions.
1. the study of computers and how they can be used –
2. a set of written, machine-readable instructions, data or programmes used to operate and
instruct computers to execute specific tasks –
3. a collective term used to describe the tangible aspects of a computing device –
4. a set of interconnected computers for the purpose of communicating or sharing data, resources
and applications –
5. a skilled professional who creates instructions for a computer to execute by writing, debugging
and testing or troubleshooting code that enables applications and software programmes to operate
successfully –
6. a person who is very knowledgeable or skilful in computing –
7. a skilled computer programmer who breaks into computer systems –
8. a person who utilises a computer or network service –
9. code or syntax which has a different goal than expressing computer programmes (e.g. mark up
languages) –
10. an electronic hardware device usually made up of a display unit and a keyboard that is used
for entering data into and transcribing data from a computer or a computer system –
11. a notation for writing programmes, which involves a computer performing some kind of
computation or algorithm –
12. the low-level system software that manages computer hardware and software resources,
controls peripherals and provides common services for computer programmes –
Task 2. Complete the following sentences with an appropriate word or phrase from Task 1.
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1. Besides physically connecting computer and communication devices, a(n) ________________
system serves the important function of establishing a cohesive architecture that allows a variety
of equipment types to transfer information in a near-seamless fashion.
2. Apart from turning the programme designs created by software developers and engineers into
instructions that a computer can follow, _____________________ test newly created applications
and programmes to ensure that they produce the expected results.
3. Power ____________ are people in organisations who have advanced skills and technical
expertise and are, therefore, assigned additional administrative rights and responsibilities for the
respective computer systems or programmes.
4. System _____________ controls a computer’s internal functioning, chiefly through an
operating system and also controls such peripherals as monitors, printers, and storage devices,
while application _____________ directs the computer to execute commands given by the user
and may be said to include any programme that processes data for a user.
5. In addition to resolving computer software problems and overseeing hardware performance to
assure effective utilisation of software, ____________________ may also be responsible for
establishing recovery procedures, reviewing abnormal terminations and conducting corrective
and preventive system maintenance.
6. While most people imagine a(n) ________________ as a bad guy who steals credit card
information, destroys data or is otherwise malicious and destructive, some _____________ break
into computer systems simply to test their security.
7. A device with significant local programmable data processing capability may be called a smart
______________ or fat client, while a device that depends on the host computer for its
processing power is called a dumb ______________ or a thin client.
8. As programming languages became more powerful and abstract, building compilers that create
high-quality machine code and that are efficient in terms of execution speed and storage
consumption became a challenging ____________________ problem.
9. Machine code is any low-level _____________________, consisting of machine language
instructions, which are used to control a computer’s central processing unit. In contrast, a high-
level ________________________ may use natural language elements, be easier to use, or may
automate significant areas of computing systems (e.g. memory management), making the process
of developing a programme simpler and more understandable.
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10. Generally, internal ________________ components, which are necessary for the proper
functioning of the computer, collectively process or store the instructions delivered by the
programme or OS, while external ________________ components are attached to the computer
to add or enhance its functionality.
11. A programming language, which is considered a subset of ________________________, is
used in computer programming to implement algorithms and possibly control external devices,
such as printers, disk drives, robots and so on.
12. For hardware functions, such as input and output and memory allocation, the
_____________________ acts as an intermediary between programmes and the computer
hardware although the application code is usually directly executed by the hardware.
Task 3. Read the text and find words that match the definitions below.
1 The computer is an electronic device for processing information, which is received in a
prescribed and acceptable form according to a set of instructions. The instructions and information
are stored in memory. The most widely used and most versatile of the devices is the digital
computer which can manipulate large amounts of information at high speed. The input must be
discrete rather than continuous and may consist of combinations of numbers, characters, and
special symbols, the instructions – the programme – being written in an appropriate programming
language. The information is represented internally in binary notation.
2 The development of microelectronics has allowed the corresponding development of a wide
range of computers which vary in size and complexity according to the required applications.
Modern computers range from microcomputer that contains typically 1000 to 2000 logic circuits
and a few thousand words of memory to very large computers typically containing 100 000 logic
circuits and two million words of memory. Such devices are capable of performing millions of
operations per second and can serve many users simultaneously.
3 Most computer systems consist of three basic elements: the central processing unit (CPU), the
main memory and peripheral devices. The central processing unit controls the operation of the
system and performs arithmetical and logical operations on the data. The main memory stores the
programme and the data in units of bytes or words, each of which has a unique address, so that
they can be retrieved quickly by the CPU.
4 A buffer is employed by larger systems: it interacts directly with the CPU and transfers
information at extremely high speed. Peripheral devices perform input/output and permanent
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storage of information. A complete computer system consists of hardware – the electronic and
other devices and complementary software – the set of programmes and data.
1. nonarbitrary, not subject to individual determination, formally imposed (par.1) –
2. able to change easily from one activity to another or able to be used for many different
purposes (par.1) –
3. clearly or individually separate and distinct (par.1) –
4. a numerical system which uses only the digits 0 and 1 (par.1) –
5. an electronic circuit made up of various logic gates such as: AND, OR and EXOR (par.2) –
6. at the same time (par.2) –
7. a hardware component that is attached to a computer and is controlled by the computer system,
but is not a core computer component (par.3/4) –
8. a temporary holding area in the main memory used to store data while it is being transferred
from one place to another (par.4) –
9. the communication between an information processing system, such as a computer and
the outside world, possibly a human or another information processing system (par.4) –
10. intended to be used in conjunction with (par.4) –
Task 4. Complete the following sentences using the words from Task 3.
1. In computing, an input device is a(n) ________________ used to provide data and control
signals to an information processing system such as a computer or other information appliance.
2. In order for a computer to effectively manipulate data and produce useful output, its software
controls the hardware, which means that these two components are ____________________ and
cannot act independently of one another.
3. Humans, even the very young, possess a general intelligence across a broad range of abilities,
whereas, for all their processing power, computers are confined to ___________________ tasks.
4. Supercomputers arose in the 1960s when computer scientists started breaking problems into
parts and computing them ____________________, rather than one at a time in a series.
5. Any transfer of information to or from the CPU/memory combination, for example by reading
data from a disk drive, is considered ______________________.
6. The very first programmes were written in pure ____________________ – both data and
instructions had to be encoded in long, featureless strings of 1s and 0s.
7. Today, most cloud-computing companies, from Amazon to Google to Microsoft, offer access
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to high-performance computing hardware, which is nearly as powerful, yet far more
_____________________ than supercomputers.
8. The three new laptops include Intel’s 11 th Gen Tiger Lake mobile processors, as well as Intel’s
Deep Link technology, which allows certain applications to leverage both ________________
and integrated graphics for creative work.
9. The majority of ____________________ are implemented in software and typically use the
RAM to store temporary data due to the much faster access time compared with hard disk drives.
10. ______________________ constitute such devices as registers, arithmetic logic units and
computer memory, all the way to complete microprocessors, which may contain more than 100
million logic gates.
Task 5. What does each of the paragraphs in the text refer to?
The basic elements of the computer system –
The way the device functions –
Types of computer and their capabilities –
Task 6. There are a number of verbs in the text marked in bold that are related to the basic
operations of a computer. Write the verbs for the definitions given below.
1. if a computer ________________ information, it performs a particular series of operations on
it.
2. to put or keep (things) in a special place for use in the future –
3. to move, edit and change text or data –
4. to present, describe or portray in a particular way –
5. to have inside or include –
6. to do an action or a piece of work –
7. to find and bring back something –
8. to use –
9. to communicate with (each other) –
10. to cause to move from one place or position to another –
Which of the verbs above are action verbs and which are state verbs?
Action/Activity verbs –
State verbs –
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Task 7. Match the main computer components with the definitions below.
1. Monitor
a) a device that enables the computer to read data from and store it on disks ––
2. Keyboard b) a group of circuits which perform the basic functions of a computer –
3. Disk drive
c) storage space in a computer system that is capable of retaining data or instructions –
4. Processing d) a visual display unit used to display high-quality text or graphics, generated by a
unit computer –
5. Memory e) a printed circuit board containing the principal components of a computer, with
connectors for other circuit boards to be slotted into –
6. Hard disk
f) a number of keys fixed together, used to enter data into a computer –
7. Motherboard
g) a rigid non-removable magnetic disk with a large data storage capacity –
Task 8. Write countable or uncountable for the following nouns.
modem network graphics analysis data user cable firmware processor
information file monitor storage memory communication