Let's get digital!

Technology has really advanced over the years. A few years ago we didn’t use to have computers and children spent most of their time playing outdoors with their friends while these days children spend most of their tie indoors playing computer games.

Today’s teens live in a world surrounded by communication technologies. The Internet and cell phones have become a central force that drives the rhythm of daily life.

The number of teenagers using the Internet has grown by 24% in the past four years, and 87% of US teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17 are now online.

Not only has the number of users increased, but also the variety of  technologies teens use to support their communication, research and entertainment preferences. These technologies have enabled a variety of methods and channels by which youth can communicate with one another as well as their parents and other authorities: e-mail, instant messages (IM), text messaging are ways to connect with their friends. 

Видеословарь: Computer

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Words and Their Stories (VoA)

Glossary:

Digital

Domain name

Check e mail

Log on / log off

Download

Browse / search

Type in

Click

Connect to

A link

Internet provider

Password

Hacker

Internet link

Spam

Online / offline

Surf / surfer

Homepage

Hypertext

Attachment

Text file, sound file, image file

E-mail address / e-mail message

Access the Internet

Positive tool for everyday use

Multifunctional

Innovative

Portable

Remote control

Speakers

Tuner

Headphones

Plug

Adapter

Record

Play

Rewind

Pause

 Access smth – to find information

To process - обрабатывать

Current – belonging to the present time

On-line – connected with the computer network

Predict sth – see or predict the future

prediction

Provide sb with sth

Remain – continue to be unchanged

 web site (site)

WWW – World Wide Web

To monitor – to watch or listen to something carefully over a certain period of time for a special purpose

(a monitor)

a printer – a machine which is connected to a computer and makes a printed record of computer information 

(to print)

a technician

Outlook on – one’s general point of view

To plug into – connect to

To reduce the time – save the time

To search for info – look for

User-friendly – easy to use

Integral part – a necessary part

Crash – a complete breakdown of a computer

Database – a large amount of information stored in computer system

E-mail (electronic mail) – a system that allows messages to be sent from one computer to another

Hard disk – magnetic disk inside a computer that stores data and programs

Hardware – the electrical and mechanical parts of a computer system including the screen, the keyboard and the hard disk

Laptop – a computer small enough to be held on one’s knees for use

Multimedia – the combination of sound, graphics and video to present information on a computer

Software – programs that run a computer

The Internet – an International network of computers

The Internet era

VR – virtual reality – the effect produced by using computer images to make places or situations look real when they are not

Virus – program secretly introduced into a computer, which makes copies of itself and often damages other programs

Web site – a place on the Internet that gives you information about a particular subject or product

WWW – the system that stores information for computer users around the world

 Computerised education

In what school subjects can computers be especially important? What for?

In what areas of your studies can you easily do without computers?

Decide – decision – decisive

We decided on …

Decisions can be difficult.

It’s difficult to decide which carreer to choose: …

To solve – solution – solvable.

We solved our problem by buying a car.

There are no simple solutions to this problem.

We didn’t have all necessary information, so we couldn’t solve the problem.

Changing Words…

Words often change their meaning to suit the new realities of life. The use of computers has started an intensive process of change, which is still going on. Much of Russian language seems quite foreign to a Russian speaker.

A site, memory, web, a mouse, paste, keyboard, a program, a net, a virus, a window, a web…

Memory was something you lost with age

A keyboard on piano was making a sound

A program was a TV show

And the net was for playing around

A mouse pad was where a mouse lived

Paste you did with glue

A web was a spider’s home

And a virus was the flu

A computer Quiz:

1.       What computer system makes it possible to send letters very quickly?

2.       What system allows computer users around the world to send and obtain information?

3.       What programs provide colourful pictures and sound?

4.       What’s the name of a computer-created ‘world’, which seems almost completely real?

5.       What’s a special term, which means ‘to obtain stored information from a computer’s memory’?

6.       What do we call a disk on which a large quantity of information can be stored?

7.       What do you call a sudden, unexpected computer failure?

8.       What’s the term for the electrical or electronic components of a computer?

9.       What do we call a large collection of data that is stored in a computer system?

10.    What is the term for a set of instructions secretly put into a computer that destroys the information stored in it and stops it from working normally?

11.    Where on the Internet can you look for information about products and services offered by a company or organisation?

12.    What is WWW?

13.    What store of information can you easily put into your pocket?

14.    What do we call a set of computer programs to control the operation of a computer?

15.    What kind of computer can you use on the plane?

Speaking

A.       Read the proverbs and interpret them. Think of their Russian equivalents.

1.       You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

2.       Too many cooks spoil the broth.

3.       Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

4.       A fool and his money are soon partied.

5.       There is no place like home.

6.       Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him to use a net and he won’t bother you for weeks.

B.       Compare those computer age proverbs with the ones in part A. What is the effect of the change?

1.       You can’t teach a new mouse old clicks.

2.       Too many clicks spoil the browse.

3.       Don’t byte off more than you can process.

4.       A user and his leisure time a soon partied.

5.       There is no place like http://www.home.com.

6.       Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him to use the Net and he won’t bother you for weeks.

Computer Haiku

A file that big?

It might be very useful.

But now it’s gone.

Yesterday it worked.

Today it is not working.

Windows are like that.

First snow, then silence.

This thousand-dollar screen dies

So beautifully.

A crash reduces

Your expensive computer

To a simple stone.

Having been erased,

The document you’re seeking

Must now be retyped.

Serious error.

All shortcuts have disappeared.

Screen. Mind. Both are blank.