The new wired world

The Internet, a global computer network which embraces millions of users all over the world, began in the United States in 1969 as a mil­itary experiment. It was designed to survive a nuclear war. Information sent over the Internet takes the shortest path available from one com­puter to another. Because of this, any two computers on the Internet will be able to stay in touch with each other as long as there is a single route between them. This technology is called packet swithing. Owing to this technology, if some computers on the network are knocked out (by a nuclear explosion, for example), information will just route around them. One such packet-swithing network already survived a war. It was the Iraqi computer network which was not knocked out dur­ing the Gulf War.

Most of the Internet host computers (more than 50 %) are in the United States, while the rest are located in more than 100 other coun­tries. Although the number of host computers can be counted fairly accurately, nobody knows exactly how many people use the Internet, there are millions, and their number is growing by thousands each month worldwide.

The most popular Internet service is e-mail. Most of the people, who have access to the Internet, use the network only for sending and receiving e-mail messages. However, other popular services are avail­able on the Internet: reading USENET News, using the World-Wide Web, telnet, FTP, and Gopher.

In many developing countries the Internet may provide business­men with a reliable alternative to the expensive and unreliable telecom­munications systems of these countries. Commercial users can com­municate over the Internet with the rest of the world and can do it very cheaply. When they send e-mail messages, they only have to pay for phone calls to their local service providers, not for calls across their countries or around the world. But who actually pays for sending e-mail messages over the Internet long distances, around the world? The answer is very simple: an user pays his/her service provider a monthly or hourly fee. Part of this fee goes towards its costs to connect to a larg­er service provider. And part of the fee got by the larger provider goes to cover its cost of running a worldwide network of wires and wireless stations.

But saving money is only the first step. If people see that they can make money from the Internet, commercial use of this network will drastically increase. For example, some western architecture compa­nies and garment centers already transmit their basic designs and con­cepts over the Internet into China, where they are reworked and refined by skilled - but inexpensive - Chinese computer-aided-design spe­cialists.

However, some problems remain. The most important is security. When you send an e-mail message to somebody, this message can travel through many different networks and computers. The data are constantly being directed towards its destination by special com­puters called routers. Because of this, it is possible to get into any of computers along the route, intercept and even change the data being sent over the Internet. In spite of the fact that there are many strong encoding programs available, nearly all the information being sent over the Internet is transmitted without any form of encoding, i.e. "in the clear". But when it becomes neces­sary to send important information over the network, these encoding programs may be useful. Some American banks and companies even conduct transactions over the Internet. However, there are still both commercial and technical problems which will take time to be resolved.

Vocabulary.

embrace - включать

military - военный

designed - предназначен

survive - выжить, пережить

nuclear war - ядерная война

path - путь

available - доступный

stay in touch - поддерживать контакты

route - путь

knock down - здесь: поражать

explosion - взрыв

owing to - из-за, благодаря

route around - обойти

host - узловой

while - в то время как

the rest - остальные

accurately - точно

access (to) - доступ (к)

reсeive - получать

message - сообщение, послание

developing - развивающийся

provide - обеспечить, предоставить

reliable - надежный

expensive - дорогой

communicate - общаться

cheaply - дешево

actually - на самом деле

fee - оплата

connect - соединять

cover - здесь: оплатить

wireless - беспроволочный

saving - экономия

drastically - резко, решительно

increаse - возрастать

garment - одежда

remain - оставаться

security - безопасность

data - мн.ч. данные

directed - направленный (на)

destination - назначение

along - вдоль, по

in spite of - несотря на

encoding - расшифровка, декодирование

in the clear - в чистом (незашифрованном) виде

conduct transactions - проводить сделки

resolve - решать, разрешать

Word Study.

Ex. 1. Match the phrases with their Russian equivalents:

1. global network a/ почасовая оплата

2. garment center b/ развивающаяся страна

3. developing country c/ благодаря этому

4. shortest path available d/ глобальная сеть

5. growing number e/ центр изготовления одежды

6. hourly fee f/ кратчайший свободный путь

7. owing to this g/ возрастающее число

Ex. 2. Match the phrases with their Russian equivalents:

1. to resolve problems a/ экономить деньги

2. to receive messages b/ пережить атомную войну

3. to intercept a message c/ направляться

4. to survive a nuclear war d/ общаться по...

5. to be in touch e/ получать сообщения

6. to embrace millions of users f/ поддерживать контакты

7. to count accurately g/ катастрофичести возрастать

8. to communicate over... h/ проводить сделки

9. to increase drastically i/ решать проблемы

10. to save money j/ точно подсчитать

11. to conduct transactions k/ включать миллионы пользователей

12. to be directed (to) l/ перехватить сообщение

Ex. 3. Translate the following sentences into English.

1. Интернет - глобальная компьютерная сеть, которая насчитывает (embrace) миллионы пользователей во внешнем мире.

2. Сеть выросла из военного эксперимента, который начался в США в 1969 г.

3. Целью его было выживание в ходе ядерной войны.

4. Информация, посылаемая по Интернету, идет от одного компьютера к другому по кратчайшему возможному пути.

5. Никто не может точно подсчитать, сколько людей в мире пользуются Интернетом, ибо их миллионы и число это ежемесячно возрастает на несколько тысяч.

6. Большинство людей, которые имеют доступ к Интернету, используют Сеть только для передачи и получения сообщений.

7. Но есть и другие услуги, предоставляемые Интернетом.

8. Во многих развивающихся странах Интернет может обеспечить бизнесменов надежной связью, в отличие от дорогих и ненадежных систем телекоммуникации.

9. Кто же на самом деле оплачивает отправку сообщений по Интернету на дальние расстояния? Ответ прост: пользователь платит ежемесячную плату фирме - поставщику электронных услуг (провайдер! у).

10. Все остальные вопросы решает провайдер.

11. Экономия денег - не единственное преимущество Интернета.

12. В настоящее время многое можно осуществлять через Интернет, в том числе проведение сделок.

Comprehension Check.

Answer the following questions:

1. What is Internet?

2. How did it start/appear?

3. How many Internet users are there in the world?

4. What is the path of the information sent ovet Internet?

5. What is the most populat Internet service?

6. Are Internet services expensive?

7. Why is it possible to intercept or even change the data,

while they are travelling to the point of their destination?

8. Is the information sent over Internet coded?

9. What can be done with the help of Internet?

Topics to Discuss.

1. Global Network, its origin and current aims.

2. Providers.

3. Security of the information sent over the Internet.

Text I-B

FAXES & COPIERS

Of all the electronic equipment in today's of­fice, the PC is the most important and widely used. But only if PC means "photo­copier." The personal computer doesn't even rank second. That distinction belongs to the fax. Now here's another surprise: after the telephone, the fax is the most important modern of­fice innovation to be created in the 19th century.

Alexander Bain, a Scotchman, patented the first fax process in 1843. As a schoolboy, Bain was obsessed on clocks. After he moved to Lon­don, he developed the so-called master-slave mechanism, which, among other things, syn­chronized systems of school clocks. Barn's synchronization skills were necessary for early fax technology. It required the transmitter of an image to send, via precisely timed teleg­raphy, successive lines of the image to a receiver, which were then reassembled at the exact same speed with the help of electromagnetic pendulums.

Nearly a century later, the idea for "electrophotography" came to Chester Carlson, a poor Caltech grad working in a New York City patent office. It was 1934, and Carlson found himself in constant need of duplicate copies of patent specifications. Loath to hand-copy everything, he began thinking about saving himself time. Since he knew that large companies were already exploring photographic and chemical copy processes, he turned his apartment into an electrostatics laborato­ry.

It took Carlson four years to send his first photocopied message: "10-22-38 astoria." Carlson sold his idea to a New York firm that wanted an exotic name for its new process. A consultant, William Robert Jones, an Ohio State Uni­versity classics professor, chose the Greek word for "dry writing": xerography. A decade later, the company renamed itself Xerox. Its breakthrough 914, a 650-pound monster that cost $29,500, debuted in 1960. By the 1970s Xerox had permeated corporate America.

As the copier bloomed, the much older fax finally began taking root. The first com­mercial fax machine, then called long-dis­tance xerography, went into service in 1964. The fax boom began in 1980, when the price dropped below $2,000 and a digital stand­ard made it possible to network all faxes worldwide. Between 1985 and 1990, the number of fax machines increase from 500,000 to 5 million.

Both pieces of equipment have played their roles in his­torical dramas. In 1962 the CIA used a Xerox repairman to mount an 8-mm movie camera inside the Xerox 914 at the Sovi­et Embassy in Washington, D.C. For its part, the fax has de­veloped into a propaganda tool for democratic movements. During the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstration, Chinese students in the United States faxed pro-democracy mani­festoes to random Chinese fax numbers. Mikhail Gorbachev beat back a coup attempt in 1991 with the help of Russian citizens who faxed updates to the Voice of America that in turn were read back over the airwaves to millions of Russians.

Though they seem indispen­sable to modern life, the fax and photocopier may have be­gun their inevitable decline. Some experts predict that e-mail and the Web will make the fax and photocopier unnecessary. But not for another two decades, predicts Columbia University's Michael van Biema. "We have this view of America being cutting edge," he says. "But an awful­ly large number of our documents still take four days to get from A to B by way of the U.S. mail

Vocabulary.

equipment - оборудование

innovation - новшество, нововведение

skill - умение, навык

necessary - необходимый

require - требоваться

transmitter - передатчик

precisely - точно

timed - рассчитанный по времени

successive - последовательный

receiver - приемник

reassemble - вновь собрать

exact same - тот же самый

pendulum - маятник

duplicate - размножать

loath (to) - несклонный (к), нежелающий

save - спасать, экономить

explore - исследовать

turn into - превратиться в

message - послание, сообщение

dry - сухой

decade - десятилетие

breakthrough - прорыв, шаг вперед

monster - чудовище, монстр

permeate - проникать, распространять(ся)

take* root - распространять(ся)

boom - бум, шумиха, сенсация

drop - падать

below - ниже

increase - возрастать

capitalize (on) - полагаться (на)

promote - продвигать

high-speed - высокоскоростной

disaster - катастрофа, бедствие

mount - установить, вставить

embassy - посольство

for its part - в свою очередь

tool - орудие, средство

random - случайнo, наугад

beat* back - отбить, отразить

coup - путч

attempt - попытка

airwaves - радиоволны

indispensable - неотъемлемый

inevitable - неизбежный

decline - упадок

predict - предсказывать

awfully - ужасный

cutting edge - критическое положение

Word Study.

Ex. 1. Match the words and phrases with their Russian equivalents:

1. innovation a/ неизбежный упадок

2. equipment b/ прорыв

3. transmitter c/ катастрофа, бедствие

4. receiver d/ чудовище

5. breakthrough e/ новшество

6. а decade later f/ получатель

7. monster g/ попытка путча

8. disaster h/ оборудование

9. inevitable decline i/ передатчик

10. a coup attempt j/ лесятилетие спустя

Ex. 2. Match the phrases with their Russian equivalents:

1. to duplicate copies a/ экономить время

2. to save time b/ отбиваться

3. to promote heavily c/ предсказывать будущее

4. to mount a camera d/ копировать материалы

5. to predict future e/ установить камеру

6. to beat back f/ энергично продвигаться

Ex. 3. Translate the following sentences into English.

1. Иэ всего электрооборудования в современном офисе персональный компьютер является наиболее важным и широко применяемым.

2. После телефона, факс является самым современным новшеством, созданном в ХIХ веке шотландцем Александром Бейном.

3. Он запатентовал первый факс-процесс в 1843 г.

4. В школе Александр был помешан на часах.

5. После того, как он переехал в Лондон, он изобрел механизм, который, наряду с прочими функциями, синхронизировал системы школьных часов.

6. Позже его умения стали необходимы для начальной (early) технологии факса.

7. Спустя почти столетие, идея электрофотографии пришла в голову Честеру Карлсону, работавшему в патентном бюро Нью-Йорка.

8. Это произошло в 1934 г.

9. Карлсону необходимо было постоянно делать копии патентных спецификаций.

10. Несклонный к копированию вручную всех документов, он задумался об экономии времени.

11. Ему потребовалось 4 года, чтобы изобретси нечто новое.

12. Впоследствии он продал свою идею одной нью-йоркской фирме.

13. Консультант Уильям Роберт Джоунс выбрал греческое слово "Xerography" в качестве названия для этого нового процесса.

14. Спустя десятилетие компания переименовала себя в "Ксерокс".

15. К 1970-м гг. ксерокс проник во все фирмы США и начал распространяться во всем мире.

Comprehension Check.

Answer the following questions:

1. What is the most important equipment (gadgetry) in modern offices?

2. When was fax invented?

3. Why did Carlson begin thinking about duplicating of materials?

4. What name was given to the invented process?

5. When did Xerox come to all American offices?

6. Can e-mail and the Web make faxes and copiers unnecessary?

Topics to Discuss.

1. Chester Carlson and his invention.

2. Fax as a propaganda tool.

Text I-C

USE THE WEB TO CONNECT WITH “IDEAS IN MOTION”

Two years ago, I began to notice that my students had stopped writing and had begun pointing. And clicking. They were down­loading information from the World-Wide Web and pasting it together, effortlessly in a document on the computer screen. That was what the modern term paper had be­come.

I wrote an essay about the change for The Chronicle and to my surprise, I soon found my words reprinted all over the world and myself cast as a voice of dissent enemy of technology. That was when I learn­ed that the right few words written at the right time in the right place can have more influence than those big books that I had written over for many years, for the edification of the few and the dedi­cated.

Ours is an age of in­stant data and sudden polarity. We are all supposed to be for or against things and if we waver, protest, or point out the complexities, supposed to be for or against things, and if we waver, protect, or point out the complexities we are dismissed as academic wafflers who have forgotten the value of clarity.

I resented being called anti-technology. When we examine something seriously, we almost always find that it has both good and bad points. So it was with my examination of the Web. Improving dramatically each season, the Web offers instant ac­cess to information that previously we would have needed days or weeks to collect. That is truly remarkable.

We take knowledge all themore for granted if we confuse it with information. They are by no means the same thing. Information is the details, all those data that are now so easy to locate. Knowledge is being able to put the details together and make a clear conclusion. That is what students are not being trained to do. They trust the data they download a lot more than their own ideas.

But I don't want to complain any more about students' honest efforts to save themselves some time. I teach engineers Philosophy, Literature, and the Meaning of Communication. I love Technology, and I use it all the time. from clarinets and cars to word processors and digital audio sys­tems.

A teacher's duty it to inspire, and you can't inspire by complaining. I don't want to be re­membered as that cranky professor who pointed out that the Web makes students forget how to think for themselves. The Web can have that effect, but it also can do much that is positive. I've changed my approach to the Web. I now insist that my students use it as much as possible. But I don't want them to sim­ply download information, and I especial­ly don't want them just to print out a number of Web pages and hand them in to me with a satisfied grin: "Sir, I've been working hard on research." Instead, I want my stu­dents to use the Web for what it was first designed to do - to allow an individual user to connect with other people, and with their developing ideas.

Printed material is still the best place for well-formed and clearly articulated ideas. But on the Web, you can find ideas in mo­tion and you can communicate far more easily with the people who produced the printed material than was possible before we all went on line. If student writes a well-worded, careful and important question, then the mind at the other end might very well answer - not just direct the student to some published reference, but respond directly to the question. Some of us are besieged by lots of unwanted e-mail messages, but most of us still consider the genuine in­quiries with gravity as we sort out the chaff.

In fact, communicating with people is an obvious way to use the Web, and students are already doing it all the time from mak­ing dates to buying stocks and auctioning cars. But when it comes to college, they still use the Web only to download data to add their own thinking with juicy-sounding facts and sound bites.

In another class I teach on technology and human values. My students have to find their own read­ings on the topic, and then they have to check each item's legitimacy by finding out who is ' behind the material and what that person's biases are. I insist that they not simply look up information about the Web pages' makers, but ask those peo­ple pointed questions in e-mail messages. People are always behind information, sometimes they hide from the public, but most often they are accessible. We need to teach our students to use their computer, to have a dialogue with the people behind the ideas. The biggest difference between the computer and the television set should not be how close we're allowed to sit to the screen, but how much we are able to communicate with what is behind the images

By David Rothenberg

David Rothenbers is an associate professor philosophy at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He is a co-editor, with Michael Tobias and, Patrick Fitzgerald of A Parlia­ment of Minds: Philosophy for a New Millennium, to be published by SUNY Press this fall in conjunction with the PBS series of the some name.

Vocabulary:
web - паутина, сеть (компьютерная);
to connect (with) - связывать(ся), соединять(ся);
in motion - в движении;
to notice - замечать;
to point - указывать;
to click - щелкать ("мышкой", кнопками клавиатуры);
to down-load - доставать, извлекать;
to paste - склеивать, соединять вместе; отпечатывать;
effortlessly - без усилий;
screen - экран, дисплей;
term - здесь: семестр;
essay - эссе, очерк;
to destroy - разрушить;
quality - качество;
research - исследование, изучение;
point of view - точка зрения;
cast - здесь: играть роль, звучать;
dissent - амер. оппозиционер;
influence - влияние, воздействие;
edification - назидание, поучение;
dedicated - преданный, посвятивший себя (долгу, делу);
instant - мгновенный;
to suppose - полагать, предполагать, считать;
to waver - колебаться, быть в нерешительность; дрогнуть;
complexity - сложность, запутанность;
to dismiss - увольнять; отвергать;
waffler - англ. несущий чепуху; трепач;
value - ценность;
clarity - ясность, прозрачность;
to resent - негодовать, возмущаться; обижаться;
to examine - рассматривать;
point - точка, пункт; сторона;
to improve - улучшать, совершенствовать;
to offer - предлагать;
access (to) - доступ (к);
previously - предварительно, заранее, ранее;
remarkable - замечательный, удивительный;
cartoon - мультфильм;
op-ed - страница в газете, дающая противоположные мнения;
piece - здесь: статья;
to take smth. for granted - принимать как должное;
to confuse (with) - смешивать (с), путать;
detail - деталь, подробность;
to put together - соединять;
conclusion - заключение;
to prefer - предпочитать;
to trust - верить, доверять;
to complain - жаловаться;
honest - честный;
communication - общение;
clarinet - кларнет;
digital - цифровой;
duty - обязанность, долг;
to inspire - вдохновлять, воодушевлять;
oracle - оракул; предсказание, прорицание;
cranky - эксцентричный;
approach - подходи;
to insist - настаивать;
to hand in - вручать;
grin - усмешка;
designed - предназначен(ный);
to allow - позволять, разрешать;
clearly-articulated - четко сформулированный;
reference - справочник;
to respond - отвечать;
besieged - осажденный;
genuine - подлинный, истинный;
inquiry - расследование; следствие, допрос;
gravity - важность, серьезность; торжественность;
to sort out - сортировать;
chaff - отбросы;

thinking with juicy-sounding facts and sound bites.

obvious - очевидный, явный;
stocks - акции;
to auction - продавать с аукциона;
sound - здравый;
value - ценность;
to focus on - уделять основное значение, подчеркивать;
item - вопрос, пункт;
legitimacy - законность, узаконенность;
to find out - выяснить, обнаружить;
bias - пристрастие;
to insist (on) - настаивать (на);
to hide - прятать(ся); скрывать(ся);
accessible - достижимый.

Word Study.
Ex. 1. Match the phrases with their Russian equivalents:
1. term paper a/ лучше обученный
2. under protection b/ четко сформулированные мысли
2. voice of dissent c/ век мгновенного получения данных
4. environmental-ethics class d/ человеческие ценности
5. right place e/ под защитой
6. age of instant data f/ ни в коем случае
7. person's bias g/ семестровая работа (письменная)
8. better trained h/ энергичный студент
9. cranky professor i/ нужное/верное место
10. instant access j/ курс экологической этики
11. by no means k/ голос оппозиционера
12. human values l/ опубликованный справочник
13. clearly-articulated ideas m/ эксцентричный профессор
14. oracle of complaint n/ человеческое пристратие
15. spirited student o/ настоящее исследование
16. astonishing ease p/ инициативный студент
17. enterprising student q/ мгновенный доступ
18. published reference r/ оракул жалоб
19. genuine inquiry s/ поразительная легкость

Ex. 2. Match the phrases with their Russian equivalents:
1. to hide from the public a/ ценить ясность
2. to inspire students b/ изменить подход
2. to trust the data c/ соединять
4. to hand in the papers d/ заставлять кого-то делать что-то
5. to buy stocks e/ покупать акции
6. to put together f/ драматически изменять
7. to locate the data g/ вручать письменные работы
8. to value clarity h/ доверять данным
9. to make smb. do smth. i/ продавать машины с аукциона
10. to improve dramatically j/ вдохновлять студентов
11. to auction cars k/ скрываться от публики
12. to change one's approach l/ размещать/находить данные

Ex. 3. Translate the following expressions. Use them in the sentences below.
to take smth. for granted; to one's surprise; to hide from public; instant
data, accessible; previously; warning of impending danger; the teacher's
duty; to connect with; was first designed for; to amass information; to
improve dramatically each season; to complain; to separate truth from
fantasy; to hand in; behind information; to be worth of responding; to mean
the same; to inspire students; giant in his field; to be besieged by scads
of e-mail messages; protection of wilderness; reprinted all over the world;
instant access to information; to find out; printed materials, term paper;
to represent ideas in motion; to mean the same; clearly-formulated ideas.

1. Современные студенты считают мгновенный доступ к информации как само
собой разумеющееся (как данность).

2. Информация и знания не означают одно и то же.

3. Гигант в своей области, Брауэр выступает в защиту дикой природы.

4. Некоторых из нас забрасывают множеством электронных посланий/сообщений.

5. Я вскоре обнаружил свои слова распечатанными по всему миру.

6. Нужные слова, напечатанные в нужное время в нужном месте, могут оказать огромное влияние.

7. ХХ век подарил нам мгновенный доступ к информации.

8. Задача учителя - вдохновлять, но ты не сможешь вдохновлять студентов, если все время жалуешься.

9. Как мы можем отделить правду от фантазии в предупреждениях о грозящей опасности?

10. Он вручил мне семестровую работу.

11. Я хочу, чтобы мои студенты пользовались Интернетом с той целью, для которой он изначально предназначался - позволить индивидуальному пользователю соединяться с другими людьми и с их идеями.

12. Ежесезонно претерпевая драматические изменения (улучшения), Web предлагает мгновенный доступ к информации, на сбор которой ранее нам требовались недели и месяцы.

13. Печатные материалы предлагают четко сформулированные идеи, а в Интернете вы можете найти идеи/мысли в движении.

14. За информацией всегда стоят люди; иногда они скрываются от публики, но большинство из них легко достижимы.

Comprehension Check.

Answer the following questions:
1. What is WWW? What was it first designed for? What opportunities does itprovide?

2. Who is the author of this publication? What is his profession?

3. What subjects/courses does he teach (he mention 5 of them)?

4. Complete the phrase "The right few words written in the right time..."

5. What is the author's conclusion?

6. What is the teacher's duty?

7. In what case it's impossible to inspire?

8. Is it easy now to track down the e-mail addresses of the prominent

writers and thinkers?

9. Under what condition they will respond a student's question?

10. What does professor mean, saying "People are always behind information".?

Topics to Discuss.

1. Knowledge and Information. Difference between them.

2. Communicating with people by means of Internet.

Text I-D

GIVE ME A HOME WHERE MONITORS ROAM

“Welcome to the Rose residence.” That's what visi­tors hear when they approach the front door of Michael T.Rose's home in Potomac, Md. The greeting is not offered by Rose, however, but by the house itself. Rose's automated residence takes care of a lot of daily details. Sensors on the roof detect snow and trigger heating elements in the driveway. The house has a series of "living modes" - from "good morning," which fills the bathtub and turns on the TV, to "night time party," which sets temperature and lighting and plays music. "In 1990, when we did it, it was considered very ahead of its time," says Rose, a real-estate developer, "but I think by the beginning of next millennium, it's going to be more and more common."

The Roses' home, with its brick exterior provides some down-to-earth insights into the way our living areas are likely to evolve in the 21st century. Besides being automated, it's a "casual, fun house," says Rose, and, in that respect, it's the shape of things to come.

The rise of the so-called great room, a combined space that re­places the traditional living, dining and family rooms, has been one of the most noticeable shifts in our architec­tural preferences over the past decade or so - and is likely to persist.

Unfortunately, at the moment, great rooms have a tendency simply to become bigger, louder television rooms. There are forecasts, though, that the portability promised by wafer-thin, flat-screen TVs will break this social logjam, as no one room will ever again need to be dominated by the box. TVs, by the way, aren't the only appliances that will have a different look in the future. Refrigerators and other home devices in the next millennium will "shift toward cool tonalities" - sky blue, say - and also move toward metallics like chrome and copper. Say what you will, but we'll all be a lot thinner if we have to see ourselves re­flected on a chrome refrigerator door.

Our houses are likely to evolve struc­turally as well. Lumber prices are up, so builders are already turning to materials like steel and concrete. Someday, we may even have homes made largely of plastic. But we will not be living in domes or pyra­mids. Architects point to the cur­rent neo-traditionalist movement, marked by the return of the front porch. "As tech­nology becomes impersonal," he says, "we long for a connection back to the personal, and the home is one of the things that can be that for us."

But technology doesn't have to be im­personal. Smart houses will allow us to personalise nearly every facet of our envi­ronments, and, as time goes on, do it in ever more personal ways. Tod Machover, professor of music and media at the MIT Media Lab, is engaged in a 10-year re­search project entitled "Things That Think," exploring ways to sever the tech­nological tethers that force us to sit at a computer in order to use one. Machover envisions a time when you will not only send information to your house - to dim the lights, say, or play music - but will re­ceive information from it without the need to operate a keyboard or remote. Sensors in your shoes might transmit your vital signs into the floor. Your home could then monitor your medical condition, or just your mood, and respond appropriately. "It might act as a counterpoint," says Machover. "If it saw you were very tense, it might pull you toward relaxation." They say home is where the heart is. In the fu­ture, it may be where the brain is.

THE MILLENNIUM NOTEBOOK

kendall hamilton

Vocabulary.

residence - жилище

approach - приближаться

front - входной

greeting - приветствие

roof - крыша

trigger - включать (сеть эл-тов)

heating - нагревательный

driveway - подъездная дорожка

mode - здесь: режим

bathtub - ванная

be considered - считаться

be ahead (of) - быть впереди

real-estate - недвижимость

common - обычный

brick - кирпич

exterior - экстерьер, внешний вид

space - космический

provide - обеспечивать

down-to-earth - земной

insight (into) - проникновение

likely - очевидно, вероятно

evolve - развиваться, эволюционировать

casual - случайный

in that respect - в этом отношении

shape - размер, форма

replace - заменять, замещать

noticeable - заметный

shift - сдвиг, изменение

preference - предпочтение

decade - десятилетие

persist - здесь: оставаться, сохраняться

fewer - меньше

desire - желание

be social - общаться

unfortunately - к сожалению

forecast - предсказывать

portability - портативность

wafer - вафля

flat screen - плоский экран

logjam - амер. затруднение, препятствие

dominate - господствовать, доминировать

appliance - прибор

predict - предсказывать

device - прибор

copper - медь

be reflected - отражаться

lumber - лесоматериалы

turn to - обращаться к

steel - сталь

concrete - бетон

dome - купол

current - текущий, современный

movement - движение, тенденция

porch - амер. внутренняя терраса

long for - страстно желать

smart - (остро)умный, сообразительный

facet - здесь: грань

environment - окружение

be engaged (in) - заниматься (чем-то)

explore - исследовать

tether - путы; предел, ограничение

envision - предвидеть

dim - притушить, приглушить

keyboard - клавиатура

remote - дистанционный пульт

transmit - передавать

vital - (жизненно) важный

monitor - контролировать, отслеживать

respond - реагировать

appropriately - соответственно

counterpart - равноправный партнер

tense - напряженный

Word Study.

Ex. 1. Match the phrases with their Russian equivalents:

1. to long for smth. A/ работать на клавиатуре

2. to approach the front door b/ действовать в кач-ве равноправного партнера

3. to respond appropriately c/ приглушать свет

4. to trigger heating elements d/ передавать сигналы

5. to detect snow e/ опережать свое время

6. to be engaged in f/ исследовать способы

7. to fill the bathtab g/ заниматься чем-то

8. to evolve structurally h/ наполнять ванну

9. to be ahead of its time i/ эволюционировать в структурном плане

10. to act as a counterpart j/ включать обогревательные элементы

11. to dim the lights k/ страстно желать чего-то

12. to transmit signals l/ реагировать соответственно

13. to explore the ways of m/ обнаружить снег

14. to operate a keyboard n/ приближаться к входной двери

Ex. 2. Match the phrases with their Russian equivalents:

1. keyboard or remote a/ состояние здоровья

2. automated residence b/ космический шлем

3. current movement c/ домашние приборы

4. in that respect d/ клавиатура или дистанц. пульт

5. space helmet e/ телевизор с плоским экраном

6. steel and concrete f/ современная тенденция

7. flat-screen TV g/ повседневные мелочи

8. vital signal h/ сталь и бетон

9. the shape of things i/ жизненно важные сигналы

10. wafer-thin j/ хром и медь

11. daily details k/ автоматизированное жилище

12. home devices (appliances) l/ толщиной с вафлю

13. chrome and copper m/ размер предметов

14. medical condition n/ в этом отношении

Ex. 3. Translate the following sentences into English.

1. "Добро пожаловать" - вот что могут слышать гости, приближаясь к входной двери дома Мишель Т.Роуз.

2. Автоматизированное жилище г-жи Роуз заботится о множестве повседневных мелочей.

3. Сенсоры на крыше обнаруживают снег и включают нагревательные элементы в подъездной дорожке.

4. Существует несколько режимов, каждый из которых имеет свое название и осуществляет свои функции.

5. Режим "доброе утро" отвечает за наполнение ванны и включение телевизора; режим "вечеринка" устанавливает соответствующую температуру и освещение, включает музыку.

6. К сожалению, в настоящее время большие комнаты имеют тенденцию становиться еще больше, и в них обычно доминирует телевизор.

7. Специалисты предсказывают разного рода тенденции в дальнейшем развитии нашего жилища.

8. Эти тенденции касаются цвета, материалов, дизайна дома и т.д.

9. Но главное, что они отмечают (mark) - технологии не должны быть безличными.

10. Макговер предвидит время, когда вы не только будете посылать информацию к себе домой, но и получать в ответ сообщения.

11. Все это можно будет осуществлять без клавиатуры или пульта дистанционного управления.

12. Сенсоры в ваших туфлях смогут передавать жизненного важные сигналы через пол.

13. Ваш дом сможет контролировать ваше состояние здоровья или просто ваше настроение, и соответственно реагировать на это.

14. Если он (дом) "увидит", что вы напряжены, он сможет привести вас в состояние релаксации.

15. Говорят, дом там, где сердце.

16. В будущем все будет выглядеть совершенно по-другому (absolutely differently).

Comprehension Check.

Answer the following questions:

1. What are the first words heard by visitors approaching Rose's residence?

2. What does Rose's automated house take care of?

3. What kind of "living modes" does the house have?

4. Why is it considered to be a prototype of the house of the 21st century?

5. What do Sarah Susanka nd Margaret Walch predict?

6. Will our houses evolve structurally?

7. What is the current neotraditionalist movement marked by?

8. What is Tod Machover engaged in?

9. What are his predictions for the future?

10. What will the house be able to monitor in future?

Topics to Discuss.

1. Rose's automated residence and its "living modes".

2. A tendency in the home interior.

3. Predictions of Sarah Susanka nd Margaret Walch.

4. Structural evolution of houses in the future.

5. Impersonal technology.

6. House as your counterpart.

Text II-A