TEXT № 3.                                       OUTPUT HARDWARE

TASK: Read and translate the following text. Learn the vocabulary by heart. Explain the following words in English: 1) cathode ray tube (CRT); 2) liquid crystal display (LCD).

Output hardware consists of external devices that transfer information from the computer's CPU to the computer user. Avideo display, or screen, converts information generated by the computer into visual information. Displays commonly take one of two forms: a video screen with a cathode ray tube (CRT) or a video screen with a liquid crystal display (LCD). A CRT-based screen, or monitor, looks similar to a television set. Information from the CPU is displayed using a beam of electrons that scans a phosphorescent surface that emits light and creates images. An LCD-based screen displays visual information on a flatter and smaller screen than a CRT-based video monitor. LCDs are frequently used in laptopcomputers.

Printers take text and image from a computer and print them on paper. Dot-matrix printers use tiny wires to impact upon an inked ribbon to form characters. Laser printers employ beams of light to draw images on a drum that then picks up fine black particles called toner. The toner is fused to a page to produce an image. Inkjet printers fire droplets of ink onto a page to form characters and pictures. (1122)

Vocabulary:

output – вывод

cathode ray tube (CRT) - электронно - лучевая

трубка

liquid crystal display (LCD) – жидко- 

кристаллический экран

phosphorescent – светящийся,

фосфоресцирующий

tiny - крошечный

toner – тонер

particle – частица

to employ – использовать

beam – луч

drum – (магнитный) барабан

inkjet printer – струйный принтер

droplet – капля

TEXT № 4.                                       STORAGE HARDWARE

TASK: Read and translate the following text. Learn the vocabulary by heart. Point out the main idea of the text and add something new about storage hardware.

Storage hardware provides permanent storage of information and programs for retrieval by the computer. The two main types of storage devices are disk drives and memory. There are several types of disk drives:hard, floppy, magneto-optical, and compact. Hard disk drives store information in magnetic particles embedded in a disk. Usually a permanent part of the computer, hard disk drives can store large amountsof information and retrieve that information very quickly. Floppy disk drives also store informationin magnetic particles embedded in removable disks that may be floppy or rigid. Floppy disksstoreless information than a hard disk drive and retrieve the information at a much slower rate. Magneto-optical disc drives store information on removable discs that are sensitive to both laser light and magnetic fields. They can typically store as much information as hard disks, but they have slightly slower retrievalspeeds. Compact disc drives store information on pits burned into the surface of a disk of reflectivematerial (see CD-ROM). CD-ROMs can store about as much information as a hard drive buthave a slower rate of information retrieval. A digital video disc (DVD) looks and works like a CD-ROM butcan store more than 15 times as much information.

Memory refers to the computer chipsthat store information for quick retrieval by the CPU. Random access memory (RAM) is used to storethe information and instructions that operate the computer's programs. Typically, programs aretransferred from storage on a disk drive to RAM. RAM is also known as volatile memory because the information within the computer chips is lost when power to the computer is turnedoff. Read-only memory (ROM) contains critical information and software that must be permanently availablefor computer operation, such as the operating system that directs the computers actions from start up to shut down. ROM is called nonvolatile memory because the memory chips do not lose their information when power to the computer is turned off.

Some devices serve more than one purpose. For example, floppy disks may also be used as Input devices if they contain information to be used and processed by the computer user. In addition, they can be used as output devices if the user wants to store the results of computations on them. (2323)

Vocabulary:

рermanent – постоянный, неизменный

disk drive – дисковод

hard disk – жесткий диск

floppy disk – дискета

retrievalspeed – возвратная скорость

read-only memory (ROM) – постоянное

запоминающее устройство

nonvolatile memory – энергонезависимая  

память

digital video disc (DVD) – цифровой видеодиск

computation – подсчет

magneto-optical disc – магнитно-оптический

   диск

TEXT № 5.                           HARDWARE CONNECTIONS

TASK: Read and translate the following text. Learn the vocabulary by heart.

Тo function,hardware requires physical connections that allow components to communicate and interact. A bus provides a common interconnected system composed of a group of wires or circuitry that coordinates and moves information between the internal parts of a computer. A computer bus consists of two channels, one that the CPU uses to locate data, called the address bus, and another to sendthe data to that address, called the data bus. A bus ischaracterized by two features: how much informationit can manipulate at one time_r called the bus width_r and how quickly it can transfer these data.

A serial connection is a wire or set of wires used to transfer information from the CPU to an external device suchas a mouse, keyboard, modem, scanner, and some types of printers. This type of connection transfers only one piece of data at a time, and is therefore slow. The advantage to using a seriaI connection is that it provides effective connections over long distances.

A parallel connection uses multiple sets of wires to transfer blocks of information simultaneously. Most scanners and printers use this type of connection. A parallel connection is much faster than a serial connection, but it is limited to distances of less than 3 m (10 ft) between the CPU and the external device. (1291)

Vocabulary:

simultaneously – одновременно

to limit – ограничивать

external device – внешнее устройство

connection - соединение