Unit Three
Text A
A Look at Tomorrow
Text A
A Look at Tomorrow
Text-related information
Pre-reading tasks
Detailed study of the text
Outline and summary
Home assignment
Text-related Information
1,Digital computer,Two main types of computers
are in use today,analog and digital,but the term
computer is often used to mean only the digital type,
Digital computers solve problems by performing
sums and by dealing with each number digit by digit,
A digital computer is not actually a single machine,in
the sense that most people think of computers,
Instead,it is a system composed of five distinct
elements,(1) a central processing unit; (2) input
devices; (3) memory storage devices; (4) output
devices; and (5) a communications network,called a
"bus," that links all the elements of the system and
connects the system to the external world,
2,IBM,IBM (International Business
Machines) is the largest computer
manufacturer,IBM made office
equipment long before the 1950s,
when it started making computers,In
1981 IBM introduced the IBM PC,
which quickly became one of the most
popular microcomputers,Now many
other companies produce software or
peripherals designed to be used with
the IBM PC,and several companies
produce computers designed to run
the same programs as the IBM PC,
The headquarters of IBM is in Armonk,
New York,
IBM大中华地区董
事长兼首席执行总
裁 周伟焜
PRE-READING TASK
1,Where can the computer find its
applications?
2,What is the silicon microchip?
3,What is the future of computers?
Detailed Study of the Text
1,after all,for a good reason that you should
remember (used with emphasis on all)
eg,I know he hasn't finished the work but,after all,
he's very busy,
2.,..,as tiny as a baby's fingernail,.,
-- It is a simile describing how small microchips
are,Simile is the use of an expression which
describes one thing by directly comparing it to
another,Metaphor,however,is an expression which
means or describes something else with very similar
qualities without using the words "as" or "like",
eg,as white as snow / as busy as a bee (similes)
3,inspire,to fill someone with thoughts,feelings or aims
eg,His travels in the Far East inspired the book that soon
turned out to be the best seller,
The good news from the market inspired them with the
confidence in the products,
4,deaf,unable to hear well or at all
e.g,She's partially deaf in her right ear,
The deaf find social life difficult,
5,respond to,to react to; answer
e.g,It seems that the children responded badly to that kind
of teaching,
The car suddenly stopped responding to the controls,
6,some day,also spelled someday,At some time in the future
which is not yet known or not stated,
e.g,Some day it will be possible to fly between Australia and
Europe in a couple of hours,
7,predict,to say in advance that (something) will happen;
forecast
e.g,The weather service predicts heavy rain for tomorrow,
8,explore,to travel into or through (a place) for the purpose
of discovery
e.g,Columbus discovered America but did not explore the
new continent,
9,be equipped with,to be provided with
e.g,The expedition was fully equipped with food,tents,
medicine and other supplies,
10,communicate with,to share or exchange (news,
information,etc.)
e.g,We can now communicate with people in most parts of the
world by telephone,
communicate sth,(to),to pass on
e.g,Radio,television,and newspapers quickly communicate
news to all parts of the world,
11,costly,expensive; costing much
Note,Many adjectives can be made into adverbs by adding -ly,
but some words that end in -ly are adjectives,not adverbs,For
example,friendly,lovely,lonely,likely,ugly,deadly,cowardly,silly,
costly,etc,These words cannot be used as adverbs,Some words
that end in -ly can be both adjectives and adverbs,Examples are
daily,weekly,monthly,yearly,early,etc,
12,generation,a single stage in the development of a type of
a product
e.g,The new computers are much better in performance than
the previous generation,
cf,He left those thoughts which still influence our
generation,(all people born at about the same time)
13,try out,to experiment with sth,in order to test it,
e.g,The idea seems good but it needs to be tried out,
cf,try on,to put on a piece of clothing to see if it fits you or
if it suits you
e.g,She tried the shoes on but they were too small,
14,come up with,to think of (a plan,reply,idea,etc.)
e.g,The airline has come up with a new solution to the
airsick problem,
15,be,to exist; remain untroubled
e.g,Whatever is,is right,
To be or not to be,that is the question,
If the baby is sleeping,let her be,
16,tricky,difficult to handle or deal with; full of hidden or
unexpected difficulties
e.g,I'm in a rather tricky position,can you help me out?
This problem may prove rather tricky for the
government,
17,justify,to be a good reason for; show that (a person,
statement,act,etc.) is right,reasonable or proper
e.g,No company in Britain had enough annual output
to justify installing a moving assembly line until 1932,
Summary of the Text
Nowadays computers are widely used in different fields
and you will see video games,computerized special
effects on movies and real life training machines for the
army and computerized robots "hired" in some factories
as well,All these we owe to the invention of microchips
which make computers small enough to make all sorts of
tasks faster and easier,What's more,some computer
experiments are causing some people to predict the
possible near-normal brain control for the disabled and the
use of home computer terminals for banking and shopping,
Futurists think increasingly complex microchips would
show their limitless possibilities,
Outline
A,The Lead-in Topic (Para,1)
B,The Exciting Visions of the Future (Paras,2 - 5)
C,The Role of the Silicon Microchip and Its Possible
Future (Paras,6 - 8)
D,The Conclusion (Para,9)
Computers will be one of the necessities for humans
of the future,
Home assignment
Recite the text
Do the exercises after the text
Read three passages
Thanks!
Text A
A Look at Tomorrow
Text A
A Look at Tomorrow
Text-related information
Pre-reading tasks
Detailed study of the text
Outline and summary
Home assignment
Text-related Information
1,Digital computer,Two main types of computers
are in use today,analog and digital,but the term
computer is often used to mean only the digital type,
Digital computers solve problems by performing
sums and by dealing with each number digit by digit,
A digital computer is not actually a single machine,in
the sense that most people think of computers,
Instead,it is a system composed of five distinct
elements,(1) a central processing unit; (2) input
devices; (3) memory storage devices; (4) output
devices; and (5) a communications network,called a
"bus," that links all the elements of the system and
connects the system to the external world,
2,IBM,IBM (International Business
Machines) is the largest computer
manufacturer,IBM made office
equipment long before the 1950s,
when it started making computers,In
1981 IBM introduced the IBM PC,
which quickly became one of the most
popular microcomputers,Now many
other companies produce software or
peripherals designed to be used with
the IBM PC,and several companies
produce computers designed to run
the same programs as the IBM PC,
The headquarters of IBM is in Armonk,
New York,
IBM大中华地区董
事长兼首席执行总
裁 周伟焜
PRE-READING TASK
1,Where can the computer find its
applications?
2,What is the silicon microchip?
3,What is the future of computers?
Detailed Study of the Text
1,after all,for a good reason that you should
remember (used with emphasis on all)
eg,I know he hasn't finished the work but,after all,
he's very busy,
2.,..,as tiny as a baby's fingernail,.,
-- It is a simile describing how small microchips
are,Simile is the use of an expression which
describes one thing by directly comparing it to
another,Metaphor,however,is an expression which
means or describes something else with very similar
qualities without using the words "as" or "like",
eg,as white as snow / as busy as a bee (similes)
3,inspire,to fill someone with thoughts,feelings or aims
eg,His travels in the Far East inspired the book that soon
turned out to be the best seller,
The good news from the market inspired them with the
confidence in the products,
4,deaf,unable to hear well or at all
e.g,She's partially deaf in her right ear,
The deaf find social life difficult,
5,respond to,to react to; answer
e.g,It seems that the children responded badly to that kind
of teaching,
The car suddenly stopped responding to the controls,
6,some day,also spelled someday,At some time in the future
which is not yet known or not stated,
e.g,Some day it will be possible to fly between Australia and
Europe in a couple of hours,
7,predict,to say in advance that (something) will happen;
forecast
e.g,The weather service predicts heavy rain for tomorrow,
8,explore,to travel into or through (a place) for the purpose
of discovery
e.g,Columbus discovered America but did not explore the
new continent,
9,be equipped with,to be provided with
e.g,The expedition was fully equipped with food,tents,
medicine and other supplies,
10,communicate with,to share or exchange (news,
information,etc.)
e.g,We can now communicate with people in most parts of the
world by telephone,
communicate sth,(to),to pass on
e.g,Radio,television,and newspapers quickly communicate
news to all parts of the world,
11,costly,expensive; costing much
Note,Many adjectives can be made into adverbs by adding -ly,
but some words that end in -ly are adjectives,not adverbs,For
example,friendly,lovely,lonely,likely,ugly,deadly,cowardly,silly,
costly,etc,These words cannot be used as adverbs,Some words
that end in -ly can be both adjectives and adverbs,Examples are
daily,weekly,monthly,yearly,early,etc,
12,generation,a single stage in the development of a type of
a product
e.g,The new computers are much better in performance than
the previous generation,
cf,He left those thoughts which still influence our
generation,(all people born at about the same time)
13,try out,to experiment with sth,in order to test it,
e.g,The idea seems good but it needs to be tried out,
cf,try on,to put on a piece of clothing to see if it fits you or
if it suits you
e.g,She tried the shoes on but they were too small,
14,come up with,to think of (a plan,reply,idea,etc.)
e.g,The airline has come up with a new solution to the
airsick problem,
15,be,to exist; remain untroubled
e.g,Whatever is,is right,
To be or not to be,that is the question,
If the baby is sleeping,let her be,
16,tricky,difficult to handle or deal with; full of hidden or
unexpected difficulties
e.g,I'm in a rather tricky position,can you help me out?
This problem may prove rather tricky for the
government,
17,justify,to be a good reason for; show that (a person,
statement,act,etc.) is right,reasonable or proper
e.g,No company in Britain had enough annual output
to justify installing a moving assembly line until 1932,
Summary of the Text
Nowadays computers are widely used in different fields
and you will see video games,computerized special
effects on movies and real life training machines for the
army and computerized robots "hired" in some factories
as well,All these we owe to the invention of microchips
which make computers small enough to make all sorts of
tasks faster and easier,What's more,some computer
experiments are causing some people to predict the
possible near-normal brain control for the disabled and the
use of home computer terminals for banking and shopping,
Futurists think increasingly complex microchips would
show their limitless possibilities,
Outline
A,The Lead-in Topic (Para,1)
B,The Exciting Visions of the Future (Paras,2 - 5)
C,The Role of the Silicon Microchip and Its Possible
Future (Paras,6 - 8)
D,The Conclusion (Para,9)
Computers will be one of the necessities for humans
of the future,
Home assignment
Recite the text
Do the exercises after the text
Read three passages
Thanks!
