Страница:
Е.Ю. Долматовская
Изобретения и изобретатели
(учебно-справочное пособие для изучающих английский язык)
От автора
Настоящее пособие предназначено для тех читателей, которым хотелось бы узнать больше о значимых изобретениях в истории человечества, о влиянии этих изобретений на современную жизнь и, в то же время, сделать это с помощью чтения оригинальной английской литературы, тем самым повысив и свой уровень владения английским языком. Последнему должны помочь как интерес к содержанию пособия, так и специальные упражнения, предназначенные для развития умений понять, обобщить, зафиксировать и обсудить на английском языке ключевые моменты текстов об изобретениях и изобретателях.
Пособие состоит из шести учебно-справочных разделов (UNITS), обобщающих тексты по тематическому принципу (роль изобретений в определенных областях современной жизни), и Приложения: ключи к упражнениям, базовый словарь, обобщенный список 50 наиболее важных изобретений XVIII–XX веков, представленных в хронологическом порядке.
Структура первых 5 разделов пособия однотипна – после каждого из текстов о конкретном изобретении дается англо-русский словарик и упражнения на развитие умений понять текст, выделить главное, зафиксировать полученную информацию в письменной форме, умений обсудить информацию о каждом изобретении на английском языке устно. Организация материала и построение 6 раздела (MISCELLANEOUS) предполагает использование умений, полученных при работе над первыми разделами, при самостоятельном чтении, выборочно, с учетом интересов читающего.
Приложение (SUPPLEMENT) выполняет вспомогательную роль – в случае необходимости читатель может проверить точность выполнения упражнений, требующих однозначного решения, по ключам, воспользоваться общим англо-русским словарем, а также сопоставить появление изобретений по времени.
В пособии представлены как древнейшие изобретения человечества, например, винт Архимеда или червячное колесо, так и история появления Интернета, WWW, современных компакт-дисков и т.п. При составлении пособия были использованы оригинальные справочные тексты на английском языке (Энциклопедия “Britannica”, “Encarta”, “Wikipedia”).
Пособие состоит из шести учебно-справочных разделов (UNITS), обобщающих тексты по тематическому принципу (роль изобретений в определенных областях современной жизни), и Приложения: ключи к упражнениям, базовый словарь, обобщенный список 50 наиболее важных изобретений XVIII–XX веков, представленных в хронологическом порядке.
Структура первых 5 разделов пособия однотипна – после каждого из текстов о конкретном изобретении дается англо-русский словарик и упражнения на развитие умений понять текст, выделить главное, зафиксировать полученную информацию в письменной форме, умений обсудить информацию о каждом изобретении на английском языке устно. Организация материала и построение 6 раздела (MISCELLANEOUS) предполагает использование умений, полученных при работе над первыми разделами, при самостоятельном чтении, выборочно, с учетом интересов читающего.
Приложение (SUPPLEMENT) выполняет вспомогательную роль – в случае необходимости читатель может проверить точность выполнения упражнений, требующих однозначного решения, по ключам, воспользоваться общим англо-русским словарем, а также сопоставить появление изобретений по времени.
В пособии представлены как древнейшие изобретения человечества, например, винт Архимеда или червячное колесо, так и история появления Интернета, WWW, современных компакт-дисков и т.п. При составлении пособия были использованы оригинальные справочные тексты на английском языке (Энциклопедия “Britannica”, “Encarta”, “Wikipedia”).
UNIT 1
INVENTIONS HELP US COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER
1.1 Pencil
It is a slender rod of a solid marking substance, such as graphite, enclosed in a cylinder of wood, metal, or plastic; used as an implement for writing, drawing, or marking.
Invention of the Pencil. In 1565 the German-Swiss naturalist Conrad Gesner first described a writing instrument in which graphite, then thought to be a type of lead, was inserted into a wooden holder. Gesner was the first to describe graphite as a separate mineral, and in 1779 the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele showed it to be a form of carbon. The name graphite is from the Greek graphein, “to write.” The modern lead pencil became possible when an unusually pure deposit of graphite was discovered in 1564 in Borrowdale, Cumberland, England. The pure graphite was sawn into sheets and then cut into square rods. The graphite rods were inserted into hand-carved wooden holders, forming pencils. They were called lead pencils by mistake – at the time, the newly-discovered graphite was called black lead – it looked and acted like lead, and it was not known at the time that graphite consisted of carbon and not lead. The English had a monopoly on the production of pencils since no other pure graphite mines were known and no one had yet found a way to make graphite sticks.
The Germans manufactured graphite sticks (made from powdered graphite), but they were impractical. The breakthrough in pencil technology came when French chemist Nicolas Conte developed and patented the process used to make pencils in 1795. He used a mixture of clay and graphite that was fired before it was put in a wooden case. The pencils he made were cylindrical with a slot. The square lead was glued into the slot and a thin strip of wood was used to fill the rest of the slot. Conte’s method of kiln firing powdered graphite and clay allowed pencils to be made to any hardness or softness by varying the ratio of graphite to clay.
The more graphite used, the “softer,” or darker, is the mark made. Some pencil manufacturers use the letter “H” to indicate a hard pencil. Likewise, a pencil maker might use the letter “B” to designate the blackness of the pencil’s mark. Pencil makers also use combinations of letters – a pencil marked “HB” is hard and black; a pencil marked “HH” is very hard, and a pencil marked “HHBBB” is very hard and really, really black! In 1812 the American William Monroe invented a process still used today by which the graphite-clay mixture could be encased between two pieces of cedar wood.
In 1861, Eberhard Faber built the first pencil factory in the United States in New York City.
The mechanical pencil, patented in 1877, consists of a cylindrical piece of pencil lead inserted into a metal or plastic barrel against a movable rod that can be adjusted by a screwing motion to expose part of the lead. The basic design of the mechanical pencil changed little until a modification of a mechanical drafting pencil was introduced in 1976. Originally marketed as a trade tool for engineers, drafters, and artists, the thin-lead mechanical pencil is now used by the general population.
Pencil sharpener
A pencil sharpener is a device for sharpening a pencil‘s point by shaving one end. Pencil sharpeners are available in both electric and hand-powered forms.
It was John Lee Love of Fall River, MA who designed the “Love Sharpener”. Love’s invention was the very simple, portable pencil sharpener. The pencil is put into the opening of the sharpener and rotated by hand, and the shavings stay inside the sharpener. A blade inside the sharpener shaves the wood of the pencil, thus sharpening the tip. Such sharpeners can be bare or they are enclosed in a container to collect the shavings. A mechanical pencil sharpener is hand-powered. Love’s sharpener was patented on November 23, 1897 (U.S.)
The Germans manufactured graphite sticks (made from powdered graphite), but they were impractical. The breakthrough in pencil technology came when French chemist Nicolas Conte developed and patented the process used to make pencils in 1795. He used a mixture of clay and graphite that was fired before it was put in a wooden case. The pencils he made were cylindrical with a slot. The square lead was glued into the slot and a thin strip of wood was used to fill the rest of the slot. Conte’s method of kiln firing powdered graphite and clay allowed pencils to be made to any hardness or softness by varying the ratio of graphite to clay.
The more graphite used, the “softer,” or darker, is the mark made. Some pencil manufacturers use the letter “H” to indicate a hard pencil. Likewise, a pencil maker might use the letter “B” to designate the blackness of the pencil’s mark. Pencil makers also use combinations of letters – a pencil marked “HB” is hard and black; a pencil marked “HH” is very hard, and a pencil marked “HHBBB” is very hard and really, really black! In 1812 the American William Monroe invented a process still used today by which the graphite-clay mixture could be encased between two pieces of cedar wood.
In 1861, Eberhard Faber built the first pencil factory in the United States in New York City.
The mechanical pencil, patented in 1877, consists of a cylindrical piece of pencil lead inserted into a metal or plastic barrel against a movable rod that can be adjusted by a screwing motion to expose part of the lead. The basic design of the mechanical pencil changed little until a modification of a mechanical drafting pencil was introduced in 1976. Originally marketed as a trade tool for engineers, drafters, and artists, the thin-lead mechanical pencil is now used by the general population.
A pencil sharpener is a device for sharpening a pencil‘s point by shaving one end. Pencil sharpeners are available in both electric and hand-powered forms.
It was John Lee Love of Fall River, MA who designed the “Love Sharpener”. Love’s invention was the very simple, portable pencil sharpener. The pencil is put into the opening of the sharpener and rotated by hand, and the shavings stay inside the sharpener. A blade inside the sharpener shaves the wood of the pencil, thus sharpening the tip. Such sharpeners can be bare or they are enclosed in a container to collect the shavings. A mechanical pencil sharpener is hand-powered. Love’s sharpener was patented on November 23, 1897 (U.S.)
Words
Materials
carbon углеродcedar кедр
clay глина
graphite графит
lead свинец
plastics пластмасса
wood дерево
Qualities of materials
hardness твердостьsoftness мягкость
Elements of pencil design
cylinder-shaped tool инструмент цилиндрической формыstick палочка
wooden holders деревянная ручка, держатель
pencil lead грифель карандаша
pencil’s point кончик карандаша
Auxiliaries
blade лезвиеdevice прибор, устройство
electric pencil sharpener электрическая точилка для карандашей
pencil sharpener точилка для карандаша
Processes
cut (cut, cut) резатьenclose вкладывать, вставлять
fire поджигать
glue клеить
insert вставлять
kiln обжигать (в печи)
power приводить в действие
rotate вращать(ся)
saw (sawed, sawn) пилить
Exercises
1. COMPREHENSION
Complete the table using information from the text
2. WRITING
a. Write a few paragraphs (one or three) about the inventions you have read about. Use the table above as a support.b. Answer (in written) the question: “How could we live without a pencil?”
3. DISCUSSION
1. Describe (orally) a pencil that you wish someone could invent for you.
2. If you think you could do it yourself say how.
1.2 Morse code
Morse code is a system of representing letters, numbers and punctuation marks by means of a code signal sent intermittently. It was developed by Samuel Morse[1] and Alfred Vail in 1835.
Morse code is a method for transmitting information, using standardized sequences of short and long marks or pulses – commonly known as “dots” and “dashes” – for the letters, numerals and special characters of a message. Originally created for Samuel Morse‘s electric telegraph in the mid-1830s, it was also extensively used for early radio communication beginning in the 1890s. However, with the development of more advanced communications technologies, the widespread use of Morse code is now largely obsolete, apart from emergency use and other specialized purposes, including navigational radio beacons, and by CW (continuous wave) amateur radio operators. Morse code is the only digital modulation mode designed to be easily read by humans without a computer, making it appropriate for sending automated digital data in voice channels, as well as making it ideal for emergency signaling, such as by way of improvised energy sources that can be easily “keyed” such as by supplying and removing electric power (e.g. by switching a breaker on and off).
Morse code can be transmitted in a number of ways: originally as electrical pulses along a telegraph wire, but also as an audio tone, as a radio signal with short and long pulses or tones, or as a mechanical or visual signal (e.g. a flashing light) using devices like an Aldis lamp or a heliograph. Because Morse code is transmitted using just two states – on and off – it was an early form of a digital code. International Morse code is composed of six elements:
1. short mark, dot or “dit” (·)
2. longer mark, dash or “dah” (–)
3. intra-character gap (between the dots and dashes within a character)
4. short gap (between letters)
5. medium gap (between words)
6. long gap (between sentences)
However, the variable length of the Morse characters made it hard to adapt to automated communication, so it was largely replaced by more regular formats.
What is called Morse code today actually differs somewhat from what was originally developed by Alfred Vail in collaboration with Morse. In 1848 a refinement of the code sequences, including changes to eleven of the letters, was developed in Germany and eventually adopted as the worldwide standard as “International Morse”.
Morse code is a method for transmitting information, using standardized sequences of short and long marks or pulses – commonly known as “dots” and “dashes” – for the letters, numerals and special characters of a message. Originally created for Samuel Morse‘s electric telegraph in the mid-1830s, it was also extensively used for early radio communication beginning in the 1890s. However, with the development of more advanced communications technologies, the widespread use of Morse code is now largely obsolete, apart from emergency use and other specialized purposes, including navigational radio beacons, and by CW (continuous wave) amateur radio operators. Morse code is the only digital modulation mode designed to be easily read by humans without a computer, making it appropriate for sending automated digital data in voice channels, as well as making it ideal for emergency signaling, such as by way of improvised energy sources that can be easily “keyed” such as by supplying and removing electric power (e.g. by switching a breaker on and off).
Morse code can be transmitted in a number of ways: originally as electrical pulses along a telegraph wire, but also as an audio tone, as a radio signal with short and long pulses or tones, or as a mechanical or visual signal (e.g. a flashing light) using devices like an Aldis lamp or a heliograph. Because Morse code is transmitted using just two states – on and off – it was an early form of a digital code. International Morse code is composed of six elements:
1. short mark, dot or “dit” (·)
2. longer mark, dash or “dah” (–)
3. intra-character gap (between the dots and dashes within a character)
4. short gap (between letters)
5. medium gap (between words)
6. long gap (between sentences)
However, the variable length of the Morse characters made it hard to adapt to automated communication, so it was largely replaced by more regular formats.
What is called Morse code today actually differs somewhat from what was originally developed by Alfred Vail in collaboration with Morse. In 1848 a refinement of the code sequences, including changes to eleven of the letters, was developed in Germany and eventually adopted as the worldwide standard as “International Morse”.
Words
Telegraph message terminology
arbitrary signal условный сигналCW (continuous wave) незатухающая волна
digital communication цифровая связь
dit дит (десятичная единица информации)
dot точка (условный знак в азбуке Морзе)
emergency use использование в случае аварии
letter буква
modulation mode режим модуляции
Morse code азбука Морзе
number цифра
obsolete code устарелый, вышедший из употребления код
punctuation mark знак пунктуации
radio beacon радиомаяк
sequences of “dots” and “dashes” последовательность точек и тире
1. COMPREHENSION
Present the main points of the text in Russian. Don’t forget to show – when, how and where Morse code was invented and whether it is used now.2. WRITING
Write a paragraph in English describing the life of Samuel Morse and his first telegraph message.3. DISCUSSION.
If you think the invention of Morse code affects our lives today, say how. If it doesn’t, say why.
1.3 Ballpoint pen
A pen is a writing instrument which applies ink to some surface. Pens may be categorized by the kind of tip on them. The main modern types are:
• ballpoint pens
• fountain pens
• marker pens
Ballpoints, fountain pens and gel pens are sometimes erasable: their ink may be erased.
There are two basic types of the ballpoint pen: disposable and refillable.
Ballpoint pens date from the late 19th century. Commercial models appeared in 1895, but the first satisfactory model was patented by Laslo Biro, a Hungarian living in Argentina. His ball-point pen, commonly called the “biro,” became popular in Great Britain during the late 1930s, and by the mid-1940s pens of this type were widely used throughout much of the world. The writing tip of a ballpoint pen consists of a metal ball, housed in a socket, that rotates freely and rolls quick-drying ink onto the writing surface. The ball is constantly bathed in ink from a reservoir, one end of which is open and attached to the writing tip.
The word used for ballpoint pens in Argentina is birome because Laslo Biro lived there for many years; also, biro can be used to refer to a ballpoint pen in British English. It was originally invented for the British RAF (Royal Air Force), as problems occurred with fountain pens due to the low air pressure aboard planes in flight. Ballpoint pens are still widely referred to as a biro in many countries, notably several European countries, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Argentina’s Inventor’s Day is celebrated on Biro’s birthday.
Soft-tip pens that use points made of porous materials became commercially available during the 1960s. In such pens a synthetic polymer of controlled porosity transfers ink from the reservoir to the writing surface. These fibre-tipped pens can be used for lettering and drawing as well as for writing and may be employed on surfaces such as plastic and glass.
• ballpoint pens
• fountain pens
• marker pens
There are two basic types of the ballpoint pen: disposable and refillable.
Ballpoint pens date from the late 19th century. Commercial models appeared in 1895, but the first satisfactory model was patented by Laslo Biro, a Hungarian living in Argentina. His ball-point pen, commonly called the “biro,” became popular in Great Britain during the late 1930s, and by the mid-1940s pens of this type were widely used throughout much of the world. The writing tip of a ballpoint pen consists of a metal ball, housed in a socket, that rotates freely and rolls quick-drying ink onto the writing surface. The ball is constantly bathed in ink from a reservoir, one end of which is open and attached to the writing tip.
The word used for ballpoint pens in Argentina is birome because Laslo Biro lived there for many years; also, biro can be used to refer to a ballpoint pen in British English. It was originally invented for the British RAF (Royal Air Force), as problems occurred with fountain pens due to the low air pressure aboard planes in flight. Ballpoint pens are still widely referred to as a biro in many countries, notably several European countries, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Argentina’s Inventor’s Day is celebrated on Biro’s birthday.
Soft-tip pens that use points made of porous materials became commercially available during the 1960s. In such pens a synthetic polymer of controlled porosity transfers ink from the reservoir to the writing surface. These fibre-tipped pens can be used for lettering and drawing as well as for writing and may be employed on surfaces such as plastic and glass.
Words
Types of pens, their elements and components
ballpoint pen шариковая ручкаfountain pen перьевая авторучка
marker pen маркер
tip кончик
socket гнездо, углубление
biro 1) «Байро» (фирменное название шариковых ручек компании «Байро Бик» [Biro Bic]) по имени изобретателя; 2) шариковая ручка (разг.)
Qualities
erasable стираемый1. COMPREHENSION
Complete the table using information from the text
2. WRITING
a. Write a few paragraphs (one or three) about the inventions you have read about. Use the table above as a support.b. Answer (in written) the question: “How could we live without a pen?”
3. DISCUSSION
a. Describe (orally) a pen that you wish someone could invent for you.
b. If you think you could do it yourself say how.
1.4 Typewriter
A typewriter is a mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic device with a set of “keys” that, when pressed, cause characters to be printed on a document, usually paper.
A typewriter has a keyboard, with keys for each of the characters in its font. The method by which the typewriter actually marks the paper now varies as greatly as types of computer printers do, but until the end of the 20th century was by the impact of a metal (or, later, metallized plastic) type element against an “inked” ribbon which caused ink to be deposited on the paper. Carbon paper was sometimes inserted between multiple pieces of paper, so the impact also caused duplicate characters to be printed on each layer of paper. The invention of various kinds of machines was attempted in the 19th century. Most were large and cumbersome, some resembling pianos in size and shape. All were much slower to use than handwriting. Finally, in 1867, the American inventor Christopher Latham Sholes read an article in the journal Scientific American describing a new British-invented machine and was inspired to construct what became the first practical typewriter. His second model, patented in 1868, wrote at a speed far exceeding that of a pen. It was a crude machine, but Sholes added many improvements in the next few years, and in 1873 he signed a contract with E. Remington and Sons, gunsmiths, N.Y., for manufacture. The first typewriters were placed on the market in 1874, and the machine was soon renamed the Remington. Among its original features that were still standard in machines built a century later were the cylinder, with its line-spacing and carriage-return mechanism; the escapement, which causes the letter spacing by carriage movement; the arrangement of the typebars so as to strike the paper at a common centre; the actuation of the typebars by means of key levers and connecting wires; printing through an inked ribbon; and the positions of the different characters on the keyboard, which conform almost exactly to the arrangement that is now universal. Mark Twain purchased a Remington and became the first author to submit a typewritten book manuscript.
The first typewriter had no shift-key mechanism–it wrote capital letters only. The problem of printing both capitals and small letters without increasing the number of keys was solved by placing two types, a capital and lowercase of the same letter, on each bar, in combination with a cylinder-shifting mechanism. The first shift-key typewriter–the Remington Model 2–appeared on the market in 1878.
Although still popular with a few writers and in less developed countries, the typewriter has largely been replaced by the word processor application on a personal computer.
A typewriter has a keyboard, with keys for each of the characters in its font. The method by which the typewriter actually marks the paper now varies as greatly as types of computer printers do, but until the end of the 20th century was by the impact of a metal (or, later, metallized plastic) type element against an “inked” ribbon which caused ink to be deposited on the paper. Carbon paper was sometimes inserted between multiple pieces of paper, so the impact also caused duplicate characters to be printed on each layer of paper. The invention of various kinds of machines was attempted in the 19th century. Most were large and cumbersome, some resembling pianos in size and shape. All were much slower to use than handwriting. Finally, in 1867, the American inventor Christopher Latham Sholes read an article in the journal Scientific American describing a new British-invented machine and was inspired to construct what became the first practical typewriter. His second model, patented in 1868, wrote at a speed far exceeding that of a pen. It was a crude machine, but Sholes added many improvements in the next few years, and in 1873 he signed a contract with E. Remington and Sons, gunsmiths, N.Y., for manufacture. The first typewriters were placed on the market in 1874, and the machine was soon renamed the Remington. Among its original features that were still standard in machines built a century later were the cylinder, with its line-spacing and carriage-return mechanism; the escapement, which causes the letter spacing by carriage movement; the arrangement of the typebars so as to strike the paper at a common centre; the actuation of the typebars by means of key levers and connecting wires; printing through an inked ribbon; and the positions of the different characters on the keyboard, which conform almost exactly to the arrangement that is now universal. Mark Twain purchased a Remington and became the first author to submit a typewritten book manuscript.
The first typewriter had no shift-key mechanism–it wrote capital letters only. The problem of printing both capitals and small letters without increasing the number of keys was solved by placing two types, a capital and lowercase of the same letter, on each bar, in combination with a cylinder-shifting mechanism. The first shift-key typewriter–the Remington Model 2–appeared on the market in 1878.
Although still popular with a few writers and in less developed countries, the typewriter has largely been replaced by the word processor application on a personal computer.
Words
Typewriter design and its operation.
arrangement расположениеcarbon paper копировальная бумага
carriage каретка
carriage return mechanism механизм возврата каретки
character знак
duplicate дубликат
escapement спуск каретки на позицию, равную одному знаку
font шрифт
handwriting почерк
impact удар
key lever клавишный рычаг
keyboard клавиатура
layer слой
line spacing межстрочный интервал
ribbon лента
shape форма
shift-key клавиша в пишущей машинке для смены регистра
size размер
typebars литерный рычаг
word processor текстовой процессор
Processes related to the operation of a typewriter
insert вставлятьmanufacture производить
mark отмечать, ставить метку
press нажимать
rename переименовать
strike ударять
print печатать
Exercises
1. COMPREHENSION
Complete the table using information from the text
2. WRITING
a. Write a paragraph about the design of the typewriter and about changes in the design. Use the table above as a support.b. Answer (in written) the question: “What kind of a typewriter do you prefer?”
3. DISCUSSION
a. If you think you could invent the new type of typewriter what would it be?
b. Why are the keys on the keyboard of a typewriter arranged the way they are?
c. Do you think the invention of a typewriter affects our lives today.
1.5 Computer keyboard
The invention of the modern computer keyboard began with the invention of the typewriter.
A few key technological developments created the transition of the typewriter into the computer keyboard. The teletype machine, introduced in the 1930s, combined the technology of the typewriter (used as an input and a printing device) with the telegraph. Elsewhere, punched card systems were combined with typewriters to create what was called keypunches. Keypunches were the basis of early adding machines and IBM was selling over one million dollars worth of adding machines in 1931.
Early computer keyboards were first adapted from the punch card and teletype technologies. In 1946, the Eniac computer used a punched card reader as its input and output device. In 1948, the Binac computer used an electromechanically controlled typewriter to both input data directly onto magnetic tape (for feeding the computer data) and to print results. The emerging electric typewriter further improved the technological marriage between the typewriter and the computer.
Earlier computer keyboards had been based either on teletype machines or keypunches. There were many electromechanical steps in transmitting data between the keyboard and the computer that slowed things down. With VDT (Video Display Terminal) technology and electric keyboards, the keyboard’s keys could now send electronic impulses directly to the computer and save time. By the late ’70s and early ’80s, all computers used electronic keyboards and VDTs. Nevertheless, the layout of the computer keyboard still owes its origin to the inventor of the first typewriter, Christopher Latham Sholes who also invented the QWERTY layout.
A few key technological developments created the transition of the typewriter into the computer keyboard. The teletype machine, introduced in the 1930s, combined the technology of the typewriter (used as an input and a printing device) with the telegraph. Elsewhere, punched card systems were combined with typewriters to create what was called keypunches. Keypunches were the basis of early adding machines and IBM was selling over one million dollars worth of adding machines in 1931.
Earlier computer keyboards had been based either on teletype machines or keypunches. There were many electromechanical steps in transmitting data between the keyboard and the computer that slowed things down. With VDT (Video Display Terminal) technology and electric keyboards, the keyboard’s keys could now send electronic impulses directly to the computer and save time. By the late ’70s and early ’80s, all computers used electronic keyboards and VDTs. Nevertheless, the layout of the computer keyboard still owes its origin to the inventor of the first typewriter, Christopher Latham Sholes who also invented the QWERTY layout.
Words
Keyboard design
QWERTY стандартная клавиатура с буквами Q-W-E-R-T-Y в верхнем ряду. (Определяет для английского языка стандартное расположение клавиш на клавиатуре.)Punch card перфокарта
Keypunch клавишный перфоратор
Keyboard клавиатура
Types of computerized machinery
Teletype телетайпENIAC, Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator электронный цифровой интегратор и калькулятор
BINAC (BINary Automatic) computer сдвоенный автоматизированный компьютер
MULTICS MULTiplexed Information and Computing System информационно-вычислительная система с мультиплексированием каналов передачи данных
Exercises
1. COMPREHENSION
a. Arrange the following inventions in chronological order:Computer keyboard, typewriter, teletype machine, keypunch, adding machine, punched card, VDT, electronic keyboard,
b. Fill in the blanks in the table.
2. WRITING
a. Describe the history of the keyboard. Use “Comprehension” section as a support.b. Describe the operations you should use when working with the modern keyboard.
3. DISCUSSION
Discuss the problem of improving the design of the modern keyboard.
1.6 Telephone
Telephone is an instrument that is designed for the simultaneous transmission and reception of the human voice. Inexpensive, simple to operate, and offering its user a personal type of communication that cannot be obtained through the written word, the telephone has become the most widely used telecommunications device. Hundreds of millions of telephone sets are in use throughout the world.
1896 Telephone (Swedish)
The word telephone, from the Greek roots tele, “far,” and phone, “sound,” was applied as early as the late 17th century; in modern usage it refers solely to electrical devices derived from the inventions of Alexander Graham Bell[2] and others. The U.S. patent granted to Bell in March 1876 for the development of a device to transmit speech sounds over electric wires is often said to be the most valuable ever issued. The general concepts involved in the invention of the telephone–of speech sounds as a complex of vibrations in air that is transferrable to solid bodies and of the convertibility of those vibrations to electrical impulses in conducting metals–had by then been understood for decades. Bell was but one of a number of workers racing to pull them together into a practical instrument for the transmission of speech.
Within 20 years of the Bell patent, the telephone instrument, as modified by Thomas Watson, Emil Berliner, Thomas Edison, and others, acquired a form that has not changed fundamentally in a century. Since the invention of the transistor in 1947, metal wiring and other heavy hardware have been replaced by lightweight and compact microcircuitry. Advances in electronics have improved the performance of the basic design, and they also have allowed the introduction of a number of “smart” features such as automatic redialing, call-number identification, and analog-to-digital conversion for transmission over digital circuits. Such advances supplement, but do not replace, the basic telephone design. As it has since the early years of telephone communication, the telephone instrument comprises the following functional components: a power source, a switch hook, a dialer, a ringer, a transmitter, a receiver, and an anti-sidetone circuit.
The word telephone, from the Greek roots tele, “far,” and phone, “sound,” was applied as early as the late 17th century; in modern usage it refers solely to electrical devices derived from the inventions of Alexander Graham Bell[2] and others. The U.S. patent granted to Bell in March 1876 for the development of a device to transmit speech sounds over electric wires is often said to be the most valuable ever issued. The general concepts involved in the invention of the telephone–of speech sounds as a complex of vibrations in air that is transferrable to solid bodies and of the convertibility of those vibrations to electrical impulses in conducting metals–had by then been understood for decades. Bell was but one of a number of workers racing to pull them together into a practical instrument for the transmission of speech.
Within 20 years of the Bell patent, the telephone instrument, as modified by Thomas Watson, Emil Berliner, Thomas Edison, and others, acquired a form that has not changed fundamentally in a century. Since the invention of the transistor in 1947, metal wiring and other heavy hardware have been replaced by lightweight and compact microcircuitry. Advances in electronics have improved the performance of the basic design, and they also have allowed the introduction of a number of “smart” features such as automatic redialing, call-number identification, and analog-to-digital conversion for transmission over digital circuits. Such advances supplement, but do not replace, the basic telephone design. As it has since the early years of telephone communication, the telephone instrument comprises the following functional components: a power source, a switch hook, a dialer, a ringer, a transmitter, a receiver, and an anti-sidetone circuit.
Words
Telephone devices and operational features
(telephon)e set (телефонный) аппаратanalog-to-digital conversion преобразование аналоговой формы в цифровую
anti-sidetone circuit характеристика местного эффекта
call-number identification определение номеров входящих звонков
dialer номеронабиратель
hardware аппаратное обеспечение
microcircuitry микросхемы
receiver телефонная трубка
reception прием (звонка)
redialing повторный набор номера
ringer звонок
switch hook рычажный переключатель телефона
transmission передача
transmitter микрофон
wire провод
Processes
operate управлять, контролироватьpull тянуть, натягивать
transmit передавать
apply применять
Qualities
faint слабый, нечеткийtransferrable передаваемый
Exercises
1. COMPREHENSION
Complete the table using information from the text.
2. WRITING
a. Write a few paragraphs (one or three) about the inventions you have read about. Use the table above as a support.b. Answer (in written) the question: “What kind of telephone do you use at home?”
3. DISCUSSION
a. Describe (orally) a telephone that you wish someone could invent for you.
b. If you think you could invent a new type of a telephone yourself say how.
1.7 WORLD WIDE WEB
Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. His first version of the Web was a program named “Enquire”. At the time, Berners-Lee was working at the European Particle Physics Laboratory located in Geneva, Switzerland. He invented the system as a way of sharing scientific data (and other information) around the world, using the Internet, a world-wide network of computers, and hypertext documents. He wrote the language HTML (HyperText Mark-up Language), the basic language for the Web, and devised URL’s (universal resource locators) to designate the location of each web page. HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) was his set of rules for linking to pages on the Web. After he wrote the first browser in 1990, the World Wide Web was up and going. Its growth was (and still is) phenomenal, and has changed the world, making information more accessible than ever before in history. Berners-Lee is now a Principal Research Scientist at the Laboratory for Computer Science at the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Massachusett, USA) and the Director of the W3 Consortium. which develops and maintains these and other standards that enable computers on the Web to effectively store and communicate different forms of information
At its core, the Web is made up of three standards:
1. the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), which is a universal system for used for referring to resources (such as documents and images on the Internet) such as Web pages;
2. the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which specifies how the browser and server communicate with each other; HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the method used to transfer or convey information on the World Wide Web;
3. the HyperText Markup Language (HTML), used to define the structure and content of hypertext documents. ‘HyperText Markup Language’ (HTML) is a markup language designed for the creation of web pages with hypertext and other information to be displayed in a web browser.
The World Wide Web is the combination of four basic ideas:
• hypertext, that is the ability, in a computer environment, to move from one part of a document to another or from one document to another through internal connections among these documents;
• resource identifiers, that is the ability, on a computer network, to locate a particular resource (computer, document or other resource) on the network through a unique identifier;
• the client-server model of computing, in which client software or a client computer makes requests of server software or a server computer that provides the client with resources or services, such as data or files; and
• markup language, in which characters or codes embedded in text indicate to a computer how to print or display the text, e.g. as in italics or bold type or font.
On the World Wide Web, a client program called a web browser retrieves information resources, such as web pages and other computer files, from web servers using their network addresses and displays them, typically on a computer monitor, using a markup language that determines the details of the display. The act of following hyperlinks is often called “browsing” the Web. Web pages are often arranged in collections of related material called “websites.” The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium where member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public, work together to develop standards for the World Wide Web. W3C’s mission is: “To lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing protocols and guidelines that ensure long-term growth for the Web”.
From its creation in 1983 it grew rapidly beyond its largely academic origin into an increasingly commercial and popular medium.By the mid-1990s the Internet connected millions of computers throughout the world. Many commercial computer network and data services also provided at least indirect connection to the Internet.
Contrary to some common usage, the Internet and the World Wide Web are not synonymous: the Internet is a collection of interconnected computer networks, linked by copper wires, fiber-optic cables, etc.; the Web is a collection of interconnected documents, linked by hyperlinks and URLs, and is accessible using the Internet.
At its core, the Web is made up of three standards:
1. the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), which is a universal system for used for referring to resources (such as documents and images on the Internet) such as Web pages;
2. the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which specifies how the browser and server communicate with each other; HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the method used to transfer or convey information on the World Wide Web;
3. the HyperText Markup Language (HTML), used to define the structure and content of hypertext documents. ‘HyperText Markup Language’ (HTML) is a markup language designed for the creation of web pages with hypertext and other information to be displayed in a web browser.
The World Wide Web is the combination of four basic ideas:
• hypertext, that is the ability, in a computer environment, to move from one part of a document to another or from one document to another through internal connections among these documents;
• resource identifiers, that is the ability, on a computer network, to locate a particular resource (computer, document or other resource) on the network through a unique identifier;
• the client-server model of computing, in which client software or a client computer makes requests of server software or a server computer that provides the client with resources or services, such as data or files; and
• markup language, in which characters or codes embedded in text indicate to a computer how to print or display the text, e.g. as in italics or bold type or font.
On the World Wide Web, a client program called a web browser retrieves information resources, such as web pages and other computer files, from web servers using their network addresses and displays them, typically on a computer monitor, using a markup language that determines the details of the display. The act of following hyperlinks is often called “browsing” the Web. Web pages are often arranged in collections of related material called “websites.” The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium where member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public, work together to develop standards for the World Wide Web. W3C’s mission is: “To lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing protocols and guidelines that ensure long-term growth for the Web”.
Internet
The Internet, or simply the Net, is the publicly accessible worldwide system of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using a standardized Internet Protocol (IP). It is made up of thousands of smaller commercial, academic, domestic, and government networks. It carries various information and services, such as electronic mail, online chat, and the interlinked Web pages and other documents of the World Wide Web.From its creation in 1983 it grew rapidly beyond its largely academic origin into an increasingly commercial and popular medium.By the mid-1990s the Internet connected millions of computers throughout the world. Many commercial computer network and data services also provided at least indirect connection to the Internet.
Contrary to some common usage, the Internet and the World Wide Web are not synonymous: the Internet is a collection of interconnected computer networks, linked by copper wires, fiber-optic cables, etc.; the Web is a collection of interconnected documents, linked by hyperlinks and URLs, and is accessible using the Internet.
Terms
WWW (World Wide Web) всемирная паутина – глобальное информационное пространство, основанное на физической инфраструктуре сети Интернет и протоколе передачи данных HTTP
HTML (англ. Hypertext Markup Language) язык разметки гипертекста
HTTP (англ. Hypertext Transfer Protocol) «протокол передачи гипертекста»
URI (англ. Uniform Resource Identifier) единообразный идентификатор ресурса
URL (англ. Uniform Resource Locator) единообразный локатор (определитель местонахождения) ресурса.
Web browser браузер
Consortium консорциум
HTML (англ. Hypertext Markup Language) язык разметки гипертекста
HTTP (англ. Hypertext Transfer Protocol) «протокол передачи гипертекста»
URI (англ. Uniform Resource Identifier) единообразный идентификатор ресурса
URL (англ. Uniform Resource Locator) единообразный локатор (определитель местонахождения) ресурса.
Web browser браузер
Consortium консорциум
Exercises
1. COMPREHENSION
Complete the table using information from the text
2. WRITING
a. Write a paragraph describing the difference between the WWW and the Internet .b. Write the translation of the paragraph in which the four main concepts of the WWW are presented.
3. DISCUSSION
Say when and how you use WWW and Internet.
1.8 Practice
1. You have read about some inventions that help us communicate with one another. What other inventions with the same function do you remember? Try to describe them in written form.
2. Give an oral description of the most useful (in your opinion) invention of this group.
2. Give an oral description of the most useful (in your opinion) invention of this group.
UNIT 2
INVENTIONS ENTERTAIN US
2.1 Camera
Jacques Daguerre‘s popular daguerreotype process utilized copper plates, while the process invented by William Fox Talbot recorded images on paper This kind of camera, with some improvements, was used throughout the 19th century. One notable enhancement for the box, pleated leather sides called bellows, allowed the photographer to easily adjust the distance between the lens and the plane of focus. Professional photographers still use a similar camera today, a large-format camera known as the view camera In the 1880s the invention of more sensitive emulsions and better lenses led to the development of lens shutters, devices that could limit the time of exposure to a fraction of a second. At first the shutter was simply a blind dropped in front of the lens by the force of gravity, or by a spring. Later designs featured a set of blades just behind the optical lens.
In 1888 George Eastman introduced the first Kodak camera, which used a cylindrical shutter that the photographer turned by pulling a string on the front of the camera. It made photography available to amateurs for the first time and created a snapshot craze at the turn of the 20th century.. In 1884 Eastman patented the first film in roll form to prove practicable; in 1888 he perfected the Kodak camera, the first camera designed specifically for roll film. The Kodak was one of the earliest handheld cameras.
In 1925 the Leitz Company in Germany introduced the Leica, one of the first cameras to use 35-millimeter film, a small-sized film initially designed for motion pictures. Because of its compactness and economy, the Leica and other 35-millimeter cameras became popular with both amateur and professional photographers.
Words
Camera components and design
a. Nounsaperture отверстие
bellows мех фотоаппарата
blind шторка
camera obscura камера обскура («темная комната»)
daguerreotype дагерротип
diaphragm диафрагма
film пленка
image образ; изображение; отражение
lens линза, оптическое стекло; лупа; объектив
plate пластина
recording регистрация, запись (чего-л. куда-л.)
shutter затвор фотообъектива
spool шпулька, катушка; бобина
surface поверхность
b. Adjectives
light-tight светонепроницаемый
light-sensitive светочувствительный