Г. В. Царева
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3. Read the text. Do the tasks given below.CAN COMPUTERS OUTSMART US?If the world’s population continues to grow at its present rate- doubling every 40 years- there isn’t going to be enough room for us all on Earth by the year 2600. The only sounds in the room are the clicking of the pressure pads and the whirring of the computer. We need to become more complex if biological systems are to keep ahead of electronic ones. At the moment computers have an advantage of speed but they show no sign of intelligence. This is not surprising as our present computers are less complex than the brain of an earthworm, a species not known for its intellectual powers. But computer’s speed and complexity double every eighteen months and this will probably continue until computers have a similar complexity to the human brain. But will computers ever show true intelligence, whatever it might be? It seems to me that if very complicated chemical molecules can operate in humans to make them intelligent, then equally complicated electronic circuits can also make computers act in an intelligent way. And if they are intelligent, they can presumably design computers that have even greater intelligence and complexity. 4. Choose the words given below to complete the text: Twenty years ago we relied mainly on TVs, radios and stereo equipment to provide entertainment in our homes, (1) ____ their place is quickly being taken over by computers. (2) ____ do we use computers to lighten or load at work, increasingly we are using computers for fun. (3) ____. More and more home computers have access to the Internet. (4) ____ we can now access a huge range of leisure facilities in our homes, such as reading newspapers on screen, shopping from home, (5) ____ downloading music and films. Developments in optical fibre cables and DVD videos CDs mean that we can now download entire albums or feature films onto our computers and soon video players and hi-fis could become totally obsolete. But now; but then; also; it’s true that; as well; not only; so, in this sense; but more importantly; this means that; as well as; after all. 5. Make sentences out of the two parts:
 DISCUSSION Working in pairs discuss the following problems: What role does the computer play in your everyday life? Do you think it will be the same in ten years’ time? Do you use e-mail or the Internet? If you do, what do you use them for? W  RITINGRead the following advertisement of the Computing Research and Education Association of Australasia and write a summary using the instructions and expressions from Appendix B. The Computing Research and Education Association of Australasia, CORE, is an association of university departments of computer science in Australia and New Zealand. Prior to 2004 it was known as the Computer Science Association, CSA. The purposes for which the Association is established are: to create a professional association of those engaged in computer science and information technology in higher education and research institutes and to facilitate their professional development; to assist and advance research in computer science and information technology in higher education and research institutes; to assist and advance teaching in computer science and information technology in higher education; to provide a forum for those interested in computer science and information technology so as to stimulate discussion of relevant issues; to promote co-operation and liaison with other groups and organizations which have related or complementary purposes and activities. The term computer science and information technology denotes the science, technology, engineering and application of computers and allied technology. The term higher education denotes Australian and New Zealand universities, institutes of technology, colleges of advanced education, institutes of technical and further education, and similar groups in the public sector, industry and commerce. The term research institutes denotes the CSIRO and Australian and New Zealand research organizations in the public sector, industry and commerce. S  UPPLEMENTARY READINGVIDEO GAMES Video games these days are extremely popular. One in four households in Britain has a Playstation and in 1999 the video game industry made nearly a billion pounds, which was 60 percent more than cinema box office takings. So, why are video games so popular? Well, they combine very fast moving, well-designed graphical images with very interesting sound design and music. But crucially they’re interactive, so they can change according to what you do from moment to moment, so the computer system concentrates on what you are saying to it, and poses you very interesting challenges and difficulties at very high speed. The first commercial video game came along in 1971. IT was called Computer Space. Unfortunately it wasn’t very successful because it was a very complicated game involving spaceships and torpedoes and black holes and so forth. The same man who had invented that invented a game called Pong in 1972 and that’s when the video game explosion really took off. It was a very simple tennis game. The very early video games like Pong just took place on one screen and the boundaries of the screen were the boundaries of the playing area. But then the space in video games started to get larger. The games started to scroll from side to side or up and down, so that the playing area became larger than the total size o one screen. The graphics in games slowly became more colourful and more detailed and then the big innovation took place in the 90’s, which was the invention of full 3D. This meant that you started to control characters who explored fully realized, solid 3D environments. You could wander round landscapes and buildings and look at them from any angle. I think video games are close to becoming an art form in itself. Certainly, when cinema was only around 30 years old, as video games are today, a lot of people thought films were mindless entertainment and rotted peoples’ brains and were no good. But now we know that cinema is an art form and we have film critics who can analyse films and enhance our enjoyment of them, so in the future it will be true of video games as well. The current research in video games is concentrating on artificial intelligence. People want to play video games that give a greater illusion of interacting with real characters.  FINAL TEST 1. Put the following sentences in the same sequence as the information is arranged in the introductory text. Complexity theory developed by the IBM research center is concerned with the intrinsic computational difficulty of problems. The bow-tie model was proposed to abstract the connectivity properties of the Web. The IBM investigated aggregation algorithms for combining fuzzy information from multiple sources. Other algorithms developed by the IBM include lattice algorithms, online algorithms, and property testing algorithms. 2. Choose the right English equivalent to the following Russian sentence. Алгоритмические инструменты для исследования сети постоянно усложняются. Algorithmic tools for searching the web are becoming increasingly vital. Algorithmic tools for searching the web are becoming more reliable. Algorithmic tools for searching the web are becoming increasingly sophisticated. 3. Choose the right Russian equivalent to the following English sentence. Because theory cuts across every aspect of computer science, the IBM tends to interact with a large number of other research teams. Так как теория полностью соответствует компьютерной науке, IBM взаимодействует с большим количеством исследовательских групп. Так как теория затрагивает все аспекты компьютерной науки, IBM взаимодействует с большим количеством исследовательских групп. Так как теория идёт вразрез с компьютерной наукой, IBM не склонна сотрудничать с большим количеством исследовательских групп. 4. Find the equivalents in two languages.
5. Complete the sentences with the proper word. To overcome NP-hardness the IBM developed good ____ ____. The algorithms are allowed random access to data in the ____ ____. The IBM focuses now on less traditional ways of storing ____. It was discovered that the structure of the Web is ____. Stochastic models can be used to predict the evolution of the ____. Algorithms for improving the performance of large scale databases are ____. Massive data set algorithms have to work with very limited main ____. To abstract the connectivity properties of the Web there was proposed the ____ ____. The intrinsic computational difficulty is a field of concern of ____ ____. 6. Choose the right variant. 1. The running time of the algorithm is of great importance in ____. A. sampling model B. data stream model C. sublinear model 2. Random access to data is allowed to the algorithm in the ____. A. sampling model B. data stream model C. sublinear model 3. The algorithm can make one or few passes over the data in the ____. A. sampling model B. data stream model C. sublinear model 4. At the moment computers have an advantage of speed but they show no sign of м. A. Complexity C. vitality B. Intelligence D. reliability 5. In the future computers may have a similar complexity to the human ____. A. thoughts B. ideas C. Brain 6. The problem of computational resources is touched upon in the IBM’s project ____. A. “Algorithms” C. “Complexity” B. “Web” D. “Database principles” 7. The aspect of efficient problem solving is discussed in the IBM’s project ____. A. “Algorithms” C. “Complexity” B. “Web” D. “Database principles” 8. To overcome the curse of NP-hardness ____ algorithms become important. A. massive data set B. approximation C. aggregation SUPPLEMENTARY PART TEXT 1Read the text, give the main idea and make the plan of it. WINDOWS SERVER PRODUCTS HISTORYThe public caught the first glimpse of a new type of Microsoft Windows® operating system in August 1991, when Windows Advanced Server for LAN Manager was demonstrated at a developers conference. By the time it launched two years later, the product had been renamed Microsoft Windows NT® and marked the first appearance of the Windows Server operating system. It quickly became known for its support of high-performance servers, advanced workstations, and client/server computing.  Windows NT Advanced Server 3.1 was designed as a dedicated server operating system for client/server environments. |