VI. Complete the following sentences choosing the most suitable variant

1. Laser produces

a) an intensive beam of light

b) hundreds of operations a second

c) integrated circuits

2. The laser’s most important potential may be its use …

a) in telephone

b) in broadcasting

c) in communications

3. Laser has become one of

a) the most complex signals

b) the most heat resistant materials

c) the main technological tools

4. There also exists an idea to use laser for solving the problem of

a) controlled thermonuclear reaction

b) using electricity in devices

c) detecting signals

VII. 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.

VIII. In paragraphs 2 and 3 find English equivalents of the following words and word combinations:

сложный, свет, обеспечить, испарять, теплостойкий, вещество, инструмент, применение, открытие, установка, решение, проводить эксперименты, требуемая температура, в соответствии с, приблизительно.

IX. Read paragraph 4 and answer the questions.

a. Which laser’s potential is the most important?

b. What can be rapidly changed to encode complex signals?

c. Does one laser beam vibrate faster than ordinary radio waves?

d. How much time does it take to transmit the entire text of the Encyclopedia Britannica?

X. In paragraph 5 find information about projects to use lasers for

distance communication and for transmission of energy to space stations.

XI. Make an outline of the text.

XII. Speak about laser and its applications in industry.

Part B

I. Look through the list of English words and their Russian equivalents facilitating reading text B.

1) attractive – привлекательный

2) concern – касаться, относиться

3) contents – содержание

4) enable – давать возможность

5) feature – особенность

6) link – соединять

7) provide – обеспечивать

8) represent – представлять

9) require – требовать

10. store – запасать, хранить

II. Define the meaning of the “x” words.

1) create: creation = создавать: x

2) explore: exploration: x

3) employ: employment: x

4) reside: residence: x

5) locate: location: x

6) transmit: transmission: x

7) store: storage: x

III. Complete the sentences with the given words:

provides, hypertext, information, Web sites, clicking, links

1. By … the computer’s mouse on an element, the user gives the

computer command.

2. The Internet … computers and computer networks around the

world.

3. The Web is made up of electronic addresses called ….

4. A Web browser is a software package used to locate and display … on the Web.

5. Another major feature of the Web is ….

6. World Wide Web is the part of the Internet that … sounds, pictures, and moving images in addition to text.

IV. Choose

a) nouns:

1) move, movement, moving, moved

2) know, known, knowledge, unknown

3) understanding, understand, understandable, misunderstand

4) locate, location, located, locating

5) imagine, imaginary, imagination, imaginable

b) adjectives:

1) wide, widen, widely, width

2) short, shortly, shorten, shortage

3) physics, physicist, physical, physically

4) specific, specify, specification, specifically

5) introduce, introduction, introductory, introducing

V. Read the text and say which paragraph contains the information about hypertext.

1. World Wide Webis the part of the Internet that provides sounds, pictures and moving images in addition to text. The Internet links computers and computer networks around the world, but the portion of the network not on the World Wide Web (often called the Web, for short) contains only text information. The Web, however, has multimedia capabilities – including graphics, audio, and video. The Web is made up of electronic addresses called Web sites, which contain Web pages that hold the multimedia information. Web sites and their pages reside in computers connected to the Internet.

2. Tim Berners-Lee, an English computer scientist at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland, wrote the Web software in 1990. The Web became part of the Internet in 1991. The introduction of the Web helped make the Internet popular and easier to use.

3. Many computer users find the Web's multimedia contents more attractive than text-only contents. In addition, Web browsers make the Web easy to use. A Web browser is a software package used to locate and display information on the Web. To find information on other parts of the Internet requires complex software and knowledge of specific computer commands. A Web browser is easier to use because it employs a graphical user interface – a way of interacting with a computer using pictures as well as words. The pictures represent commands in a manner that is easy to understand. For example, a small picture of a printer represents the command to print a document. By clicking the computer's mouse on an element, the user gives the computer command represented by that element.

4. Another major feature of the Web is hypertext. Hypertext enables a user to jump from one document to another – even if the documents are stored on different parts of the Internet. For example, in a Web site concerning space exploration, the words space shuttle might be highlighted. Clicking on these words would bring information about the shuttle to the screen. Pictures, too, can be used as hyperlinks (hypertext links). Words and pictures that hyperlink to other documents are called hot spots. Hot spots and their hyperlinks are created by the author of a Web page.

VI. Answer the questions:

1. What does World Wide Web provide?

2. What is the main function of the Internet?

3. How are electronic addresses called?

4. Who wrote the Web software in 1990?

5. When did the Web become part of the Internet?

6. What is a Web browser?

7. What enables a user to jump from one document to another?

VII. Match parts of the sentences in columns A and B.

A B

VIII. Divide the text into logical parts and find the topical sentences in

each part.

IX. Give a short summary of text B.

Part C

I. Read the following text and entitle it.

1. One of the most interesting developments in telecommunication is the rapid progress of optical communication where optical fibers are replacing conventional wires and cables. Just as digital technologies greatly improved the telephone system, optical communication promises a considerable increase in capacity, quality, performance and reliability of the global telecommunication network. New technologies such as optical fibers will increase the speed of telecommunication and provide new, specialized information service. Voice, computer data, even video images, will be increasingly integrated into a single digital communication network capable to process and transmit virtually any kind of information.

2. It is a result of combining two technologies: the laser, first demonstrated in 1960, and the fabrication 10 years later of ultra-thin silicon fibres which can serve as light wave conductors. With the further development of very efficient lasers plus continually improved techniques to produce thin silica of incredible transparency, optical systems can transmit pulses of light as far as 135 kilometers without the need for amplification or regeneration.

3. At present high-capacity optical transmission systems are being installed between many major US cities at a rapid rate. The system most widely used now operates at 147 megabits (thousand bits) per second and accommodates 6,000 circuits over a single pair of glass fibres (one for each direction of transmission). This system will soon be improved to operate at 1.7 gigabits (thousand million bits) per second and handle 24,000 telephone channels simultaneously.

4. A revolution in information storage is underway with optical disk technology. The first optical disks appeared in the early 1970s. They were and are used to record video films, but in a continuous spiral rather than digitally.

5. The first digital optical disks were produced in 1982 as compact disks for music. They were further developed as a storage medium for computers. The disks are made of plastics coated with aluminum. The information is recorded by using a powerful laser to imprint bubbles on the surface of the disk. A less powerful laser reads back the pictures, sound or information. An optical disk is almost indestructible and can store about 1000 times more information than a plastic disk of the same size.

6. The latest optical disk development is a system which enables computer users to record their own information on a glass or plastic disk coated with a thin film of tellurium. Such a disk can store 200 megabytes (200 million characters).

7. Besides, it is reported that an optical equivalent of a transistor has been produced and intensive research on optical electronic computers is underway at a number of US companies as well as in countries around the world.

8. It is found that optical technology is cost-effective and versatile. It finds new applications every day – from connecting communication equipment or computers within the same building or room to long-distance transcontinental, transoceanic and space communications.

II. Read the text and find the information about high-capacity optical transmission systems.

III. Which paragraph contains the information about first digital optical disks?

IV. Answer the following questions on the contents of the text.

1. What are optical fibers replacing?

2. What kinds of systems are being installed at present?

3. When did the first optical disks appear?

4. When were the first digital optical discs produced?

V. Give the main points of the text in 5-6 sentences.

UNIT 3

Part A