Учебник английского языка для технических университетов и вузов Издание шестое, стереотипное
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a lot of — много; to be able to — мочь, быть в состоянии Text 4A Прочитайте текст и найдите абзацы, содержащие информацию о разви тии различных видов телевизионных систем в хронологической последова тельности. Переведите. Television The television set is evidently the most important and popular electronic product of all time. All homes in developed countries have one or more TV sets and in many countries there are consider ably more TV sets than telephones. But in 1939 at the World’s Fair in New York a tiny nine-by- twelve inch box was the centre of attention for hundreds of people. They were the first to see a television set in action. Compared to to day’s TV shows of underwater and outer-space research, those first black-white pictures were not very good. The pictures were only transmitted from one side of the Fair territory to the other. But in 1939 they were of historical importance. Within a few days the news of television spread throughout the world. A lot of people wanted to have a look1 at the new invention. Everyone was interested in it. But only few people owned television sets in the next few years. When World War II broke out2 electronic factories that began the TV production stopped making them and started making war materials instead. When the war was over, TV sets began coming off factory assembly lines. By 1958 there were millions of them. In a surprisingly short time people watched fewer films and turned from newspapers and magazines to TV. In its short history television has had great influence on people’s life and way of think ing. Rocket-launching, concerts and football and tennis matches can be seen direct as they occur. The boundaries of time and space have disappeared. At present TV communication is provided with the help of a system of artificial earth satellites so that people living in different parts of the country and all over the world and in different time zones are able to watch the central TV programs at the most conve nient hours. Nowadays many countries also have cable TV, a system using wires for the transmission of television programs (like telephone calls). Cable television first appeared in 1949 as a means of trans mitting TV signals to rural and mountain areas far from big cities. Cable television’s next big step forward was made by the mid — 1980s. Scientists announced that many technical problems had been solved and in the future it would be possible via satellite and cable TV to use more channels on a TV set at every home in the world. Then we saw how a new technical invention, colour television, was rapidly replacing black-and-white television. Recently it was reported that the first pocket-size4 colour television set had been developed. It was stated that a liquid-crystal display5 was used sim ilar to those on calculators and watches and that it weighed less than a pound. A few years ago it became evident that the next major advance for TV would be digital television. In a digital system the usual con tinuous signal is replaced by a digital code containing detailed in formation on brightness, colour, etc. A digital TV set hangs on the wall like a picture. Essentially, it is a minicomputer with a visual display. Once a week6 you put the programs you like into the memory, and the TV set will automatically switch on the desired channel at the right time. You can watch several programs simulta neously on miniscreens and then produce one of them in full for mat. Also, the TV set can automatically video-record the programs when you are absent or occupied. By the end of 1980s television has moved to a new and the most important stage in its development since the appearance of colour television. Technically it is called high-definition television (HDTV)7 or Hi-Vision. This is the much higher resolution tele vision7 of the 21st century. This revolution was started by Japanese manufacturers when they developed a new video system with a pic ture resembling a wide-screen film more than traditional television. The new system increases the screen’s width-to-height ratio8 (16:9). The result is a picture several times sharper than in the exist ing TV sets. Besides, recent developments in plasma display panel technology9 make HDTV commercially practicable. The plasma display makes it possible to produce a large, bright, colour, flat TV screen so thin and light that it can also be hung on a wall like a framed picture. The engineering problem that has existed almost since the first days of television may be solved now. Notes to the Text
УПРАЖНЕНИЯ Упражнение 11. Просмотрите текст 4А и ответьте на вопросы. 1. When did the first TV set appear? 2.Were people interested in the new invention? 3. Why was the TV production stopped in 1940? 4. What is cable television? 5. What is digital television? 6. What is high-definition television? Упражнение 12. Укажите, какие из следующих утверждений соответству ют содержанию текста 4А. 1. A lot of people owned television sets in the first years after its invention. 2. First television black-and-white pictures were excel lent. 3. Only few people owned television sets in the next few years after their appearance. 4. Black-and-white television was rapidly replacing colour television. 5. First television black-and-white pic tures were not very good. 6. Only a few years ago colour television was rapidly replacing black-and-white television. 7. When the war was over, TV sets stopped coming off factory assembly lines. 8. Af ter World War II TV sets began coming off factory assembly lines. Упражнение 13. Найдите в тексте 4А предложения, в которых использо вано правило согласования времен, и переведите их. Упражнение 14. Прочитайте и укажите способы присоединения прида точных дополнительных предложений к главному.
Упражнение 15. Прочитайте и найдите предложения, где использовано правило согласования времен. 1. Some years ago India began its Satellite Instructional Televi sion Experiment. This experiment showed (that) satellite television programs had been a success with schoolchildren, their knowledge level had increased considerably. It was found that children could remember and speak about programs which they had seen several week^back. 2. Many experts could not decide whether so much TV was harmful to the individual’s health and mental activity or not. 3. Specialists did not know if it was possible to continue mod ernizing the electronic equipment of this kind — the costs were too high. 4. There appeared some reports that we had technical means to use much more channels on a TV set and we should be able to see many sports and news programs from all parts of the world soon. 5. At first it was not clear whether new telephone and teletype communication with ships via six satellites was economical and re liable or not. 6. It was announced that the cryogenic cable had been invented in Russia. 7. We read that for the first time electricity had been applied for industrial use in silver workshops in Paris. 8. We know different transmitters are used in a television system — one for the sound channel and the other for the picture channel. 9. We learnt from the lecture that electricity was still considered the main source for new technological developments. УПРАЖНЕНИЯ ДЛЯ САМОСТОЯТЕЛЬНОЙ РАБОТЫ Упражнение 16. Выберите правильный перевод следующих слов: attention — внимательно, внимательный, внимание; surprisingly — удивительный, удивление, удивительно; recorder — записывающее устройство, запись, записывать; convenient — удобство, удобный, созывать; numerous — бесчисленный, количество, многочисленный. Упражнение 17. Назовите основу, от которой образованы следующие слова: development, conveniently, communication, production, con tinuous, beginning, transmitter, action, recorder, electronic, si multaneously, different, usable, central, calculator, possibility, disconnect. Упражнение 18. Выпишите сначала синонимы, а затем антонимы. tiny — small; to disappear — to appear; a lot of — many; dif ferent — various; next — following; short — long; to watch — to see; program — show; commonly — usually; less — more; possible — im possible; true — untrue; small — large; nowadays — at present, now; large — tremendous; advance — progress; to start — to begin; major — main; to report — to announce; to occur — to take place; convenient — suitable. Упражнение 19. Расположите слова в алфавитном порядке. true, picture, telephone, communication; world, research, as sembly, invention; own, beginning, telegraph, central; satellite, first, artificial, convenient; turn, videotape, transmit, size. Упражнение 20. Назовите в следующих парах первое по алфавиту слово. concept/concert; complete/compare; invention/invasion; avail able/availability; commonly/commonless; commune/commit; com pulsory/compunction . Упражнение 21. Напишите исходную форму, по которой нужно искать слово в словаре. boxes, matches, beginning, tinier, owned, boundaries, possibly, replacing, less. Упражнение 22. Найдите в словаре подходящее значение для выделен- ных слов или словосочетаний. 1. The Japanese companies developed the first pocket-size col our television set. 2. Man first set foot on the Moon in July, 1969.
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