Unit 13 Text a. Working from Home

----It’s Monday afternoon and Mr Frost is asking Rosa about her weekend. "Were you lonely all by yourself in the house while we were in Oxford?" Rosa decides to tell him the truth.

"Actually, I spent Saturday and Sunday in Brighton with a friend."

Before they can finish the conversation, the door bell rings and Mr Frost leaves the room. There is a box for him. He thanks the delivery man who carries the box to his office. Then he returns to the living-room where Rosa and the children are waiting with interest.

"Daddy, what have you got?" Elisabeth asks.

"Come and see!" is Mr Frost’s answer.

They all go upstairs. The children do not often enter Mr Frost’s office.

"This is daddy’s new toy," they say.

Rosa and Mr Frost unpack the boxes and take out a very modern laptop computer.

The children watch Mr Frost plug the machine in and press the ON/OFF button.

"This computer is very easy to use!" Rosa tells him.

Mr Frost does not often leave the house. He works at home on his computer. He translates books from French, Italian and Spanish into good English.

"Well, now it will be easier for you to work with your translation",Diana tells Mr Frost.

The two children enjoy the paint program on the new machine and fill the screen with colour. But Mr Frost is very impatient. He cannot wait to start working on his new computer.

Exercise 1.

• Read the text and find sentences describing:

a) the new computer’s arrival in Mr Frost’s flat; b) the children’s interest in the new computer; c) Mr Frost’s job.

Exercise 2.

• Do the following:

a) Write a list of the main parts of a computer.

b) Write the names of things you can do on your computer.

c) What computer software can you use?

Exercise 3.

• Answer the following questions in writing:

Is the new computer really Mr Frosts’s new toy?

Do you use computer translation programs when doing your English homework?

Do you use computers in your country for your work? for study? for playing games?

Which person in your family knows most about computers?

Would you prefer to spend money on clothes or a new laptop computer?

Why do some people work from home?

• Agree or disagree with the following statements. Explain your choice.

You don’t need to know how a computer works.

Playing computer games can make you stupid.

Basic Patterns

Mr Frost plugged the machine in. Пан Фрост підключив машину до мережі (вставив вилку в розетку).

Never let your friends down. Ніколи не підводь друзів.

Exercise 4.

• Translate the following sentences into Ukrainian. Explain why you think your translation is correct:

He gave up drinking two years ago.

I am sorry to hear that he has taken to drugs.

No wonder the lamp didn’t come on, it’s not plugged in!

I think it’s time I turned in; goodnight, everybody!

• Ask other students:

When did you first take up smoking?

Text b. Hardware and Software

It's hard to imagine that just 20 years ago, most homes didn't have a personal computer. Now, it's harder to find a home that doesn't have one or more computers. With a computer, you can access the Internet, send and receive e-mail, chat with your friends, play games, share photos and videos, manage your personal finances, and do a lot of other fun and productive activities.

If you want to buy a computer you don’t need to know how it works. But first of all, you should know about hardware and software.

Hardware refers to (називають) the actual (реальний, фізичний) machine and its parts. Software is a list of instructions stored on media (носії інформації) such as diskettes or CD-ROMs, or stored in the computer’s memory. Without some kind of software, hardware is useless. A computer without any programs would simply do nothing.

A computer has several main parts. If we compare a computer to a human body, the CPU (Central Processing Unit) is like a brain. It does most of the 'thinking' and tells the rest of the computer how to work. The CPU is on the motherboard, which is like the skeleton. It provides the basis for the other parts, and carries the nerves that connect them to each other and the CPU. The motherboard is connected to a power supply, which provides electricity to the computer. The various drives (CD drive, floppy drive, and on many newer computers, flash drive) act like eyes, ears, and fingers, and allow the computer to read different types of storage (збережена інформація), in the same way that a human can read different types of books. The hard drive is like a human's memory. Most computers have a sound card or another method of making sound, which is like vocal cords (голосові зв’язки). Connected to the sound card are speakers, which are like a mouth. Computers might also have a graphics card, which helps the computer to create visual effects.

One of the most important jobs that computers do for people is helping with communication. Computers have helped people move forward in science, medicine, business, and education. They also let other people communicate with each other, do their jobs almost anywhere, learn about almost anything, or share their opinions with each other. The Internet is the thing that lets people communicate between their computers.

Blogs are used by many people to say what they want on the Internet. Some people spend most of their time reading and writing blogs. Many people write about things that happen to them. Experts can use them to help people learn more. Some blogs are used by companies to sell things.