Electronics

1. Electronics is a branch of physics that deals with the emission, behaviour, and effects of electrons (as in electron tubes and transistors) and with electronic devices. Electronics encompasses an exceptionally broad range of technology. The term originally was applied to the study of electron behaviour and movement. It came to be used in its broader sense with advances in knowledge about the fundamental nature of electrons and about the way in which the motion of these particles could be utilized. Today many scientific and technical disciplines—including physics, chemistry, materials science, mathematics, and electrical and electronic engineering—deal with different aspects of electronics.

2. Research in these fields has led to the development of such key devices as transistors, integrated circuits, lasers, and optical fibres. These in turn have made it possible to manufacture a wide array of electronic consumer, industrial, and military products. These products range from cellular radiotelephone systems and videocassette recorders to high-performance supercomputers and sophisticated weapons systems. The impact of electronics on modern life has been pervasive. It can be said that the world is in the midst of an electronic revolution at least as significant as the industrial revolution of the 19th century. Evidence of this is apparent everywhere.

3. Electronics is essential, for example, in telecommunications. An ever-increasing volume of information is transmitted in digital form. Digital techniques, in which signals are converted into groups of pulses, allow the intermingling of voice, television, and computer signals into one very rapid series of pulses on a single channel that can be separated at the receiving end and reconstituted into the signals originally sent. Because the digital pulses can be regenerated perfectly after they become attenuated with distance, no noise or other degradation is apparent at the receiving end.

4. Electronic controls for industrial machines and processes have made possible dramatic improvements in productivity and quality. Computer-aided design tools facilitate the designing of parts that have complex shapes, such as aircraft wings, or intricate structures, such as integrated circuits. The production of designs of this sort is done by computer-controlled machines that receive instructions directly from the design tools.

5. Access to knowledge has been made far easier by computerized indexes of scientific and technical journals, which are accessible from centralized services over telephone lines. These central databases are being supplemented by new techniques derived from digital audio and video disc technology, which provide locally, and at low cost, access to vast amounts of information in text and graphic form.

V. Say whether the following statements are true or false.

1. Electronics studies electronic phenomena and devices.

2. Nowadays electronics is out of relation to chemistry.

3. The electronic revolution is less important than the industrial revolution of the 19^th century.

4. Electronics is of no importance in telecommunications.

5. In digital techniques signals are mixed on a single channel.

6. Productivity and quality in industry were greatly improved thanks to electronics.

7. At present the only opportunity of getting information is over telephone lines.

8. Computerized indexes of scientific and technical journals make it possible to obtain information easier.

VI. Complete the following sentences choosing the most suitable variant.

1. Manufacturing of many electronic products became possible thanks to the invention of

a) high-performance supercomputers;

b) transistors, ICs and other electronic devices;

c) sophisticated weapons systems.

2. In digital techniques signals are changed into

a) groups of pulses;

b) voice;

c) electric current.

3. There is no noise at the receiving end

a) because of the perfect regeneration of the digital pulses;

b) because the digital pulses become attenuated with distance;

c) because the digital pulses can be separated at the receiving end.

4. It became easier to design complex shapes and structures with the help of

a) industrial machines;

b) machine-tools;

c) computer-aided design tools.

5. Obtaining information was facilitated by

a) telephone lines;

b) scientific and technical journals available;

c) computerization.

VII. Read paragraph 1 of the text and answer the questions.

1. What is electronics?

2. Why did the term electronics acquire a wider meaning?

3. What branches of science are connected with electronics?

VIII. Read paragraph 2 and say what devices made it possible to produce both videocassette recorders and high-performance supercomputers.

IX. Look through paragraphs 2 and 3 and find English equivalents of the following words and word combinations.

Интегральные схемы, оптоволокно, в свою очередь, товары широкого потребления, современные системы вооружения, по крайней мере, цифровая технология, объем информации, смешивание сигналов, первоначально, ослабленный.

X. Read the first sentence of paragraph 4 and mark pauses. Divide it into sense groups, find out the means of connection between these sense groups and between the words in each group.

XI. Translate paragraphs 4 and 5 into Russian.

XII. Make an outline of the text.

XIII. Speak about the significance of electronics