《计算机专业英语》unit 1 Brief Introduction of Computer

Unit1BriefIntroductionofComputer

ContentsLearningObjectives1Words&Expressions2Text3Exercises4Learning

ObjectivesAfteryouhavereadthisunit,youshouldbefamiliarwith:1.Theproductionofcomputers.2.Theapplicationsofcomputers.

Words&Expressionscomputerlike

a.计算机似的electromechanicala.机电的,电机的purposen.vt.目的，意图，用途，打算，企图accuratelya.精确的，正确的missilesn.导弹，发射物numericala.数字的，用数字表示的dispatchingn.vt.调度，派遣分派，派遣searchesn.v.检索，搜寻搜索，探求，调查real-timea.实时的matchvt.n.匹配，相配火柴，匹配，比赛Words&Expressionsvacuumtubes 真空管thousandsof 成千上万的CensusBureau 人口普查局knownas 通常所说的，以……著称officeautomation 办公自动化refersto 指的是artificialintelligence 人工智能inthematterof 在某方面，关于turnedout 诞生，产生takeadvantageof 利用makebasisfor 为……奠定基础Words&ExpressionsENIAC(ElectronicNumericalIntegratorandComputer) 电子数字积分计算机，ENIAC计算机EDSAC(ElectronicDelayStorageAutomaticComputer) 延迟存储电子自动计算机BINAC(BinaryAutomaticComputer) 二进制自动计算机UNIVAC(UniversalAutomaticComputer) 通用自动计算机TextComputeriselectronicequipmentwhichcanmakearithmeticandlogicalcalculation,processinformationrapidly.Itishardtosayexactlywhenthemoderncomputerwasinvented.Startinginthe1930sandthroughthe1940s,anumberofmachinesweredevelopedthatwerelikecomputers.Butmostofthesemachinesdidnothaveallthecharacteristicsthatweassociatewithcomputerstoday.Thesecharacteristicsarethatthemachineiselectronic,thatithasastoredprogram,andthatitisgeneralpurpose.

OneofthefirstcomputerlikedeviceswasdevelopedinGermanybyKonrad

Zusein1941.CalledtheZ3,itwasgeneral-purpose,stored-programmachinewithmanyelectronicparts,butithadamechanicalmemory.AnotherelectromechanicalcomputingmachinewasdevelopedbyHowardAiken,withfinancialassistancefromIBM,atHarvardUniversityin1943.ItwascalledtheAutomaticSequenceControlCalculatorMarkI,orsimplytheHarvardMarkI.Neitherofthesemachineswasatruecomputer,however,becausetheywerenotentirelyelectronic.TextTheENIACPerhapsthemostinfluentialoftheearlycomputerlikedeviceswastheElectronicNumericalIntegratorandComputer,orENIAC.ItwasdevelopedbyJ.PresperEckertandJohnMauchlyattheUniversityofPennsylvania.Theprojectbeganin1943andwascompletedin1946.Themachinewashuge;itweighed30tonsandcontainedover18,000vacuumtubes.TheENIACwasamajoradvancementforitstime.Itwasthefirstgeneral-purpose,electroniccomputingmachineandwascapableofperformingthousandsofoperationspersecond.Itwascontrolled,however,byswitchesandplugsthathadtobemanuallyset.Thus,althoughitwasageneral-purposeelectronicdevice,itdidnothaveastoredprogram.Therefore,itdidnothaveallthecharacteristicsofacomputer.

WhileworkingontheENIAC,EckertandMauchlywerejoinedbyabrilliantmathematician,JohnvonNeuman.Together,theydevelopedtheideaofastoredprogramcomputer.Thismachine,calledtheElectronicDiscreteVariableAutomaticComputer,orEDVAC,wasthefirstmachinewhosedesignincludedallthecharacteristicsofacomputer.Itwasnotcompleted,however,until1951.BeforetheEDVACwasfinished,severalothermachineswerebuiltthatincorporatedelementsoftheEDVACdesignofEckert,Mauchly,andvonNeuman.OnewastheElectronicDelayStorageAutomaticComputer,orEDSAC,whichwasdevelopedinCambridge,England.ItfirstoperatedinMayof1949andisprobablytheworld’sfirstelectronicstored-program,general-purposecomputertobecomeoperational.ThefirstcomputertooperateintheUnitedStateswastheBinaryAutomaticComputer,orBINAC,whichbecameoperationalinAugustof1949.TheUNIVACILikeothercomputingpioneersbeforethem,EckertandMauchlyformedacompanyin1947todevelopacommercialcomputer.ThecompanywascalledtheEckert-MauchlyComputerCorporation.TheirobjectivewastodesignandbuildtheUniversalAutomaticComputerorUNIVAC.Becauseofdifficultiesofgettingfinancialsupport,theyhadtosellthecompanytoRemingtonRandin1950.EckertandMauchlycontinuedtoworkontheUNIVACatRemingtonRandandcompleteditin1951.KnownastheUNIVACI,thismachinewasthefirstcommerciallyavailablecomputer.ThefirstUNIVACIwasdeliveredtotheCensusBureauandusedforthe1950census.ThesecondUNIVACIwasusedtopredictthatDwightEisenhowerwouldwinthe1952presidentialelection,lessthananhourafterthepollsclosed.TheUNIVACIbeganthemodernofcomputeruse.Computersareappliedinsuchfields:1.sciencecalculationThepurposeofinventinganddevelopingcomputeristomakearithmeticcalculationsrapidlyandaccurately.Computerscanbeusedforallkinksofsciencecalculations,whichhavebeenbecomingoneofimportantfieldsofcomputerapplication,forexample,calculationsintheprocessoflaunchingsatellitesandmissilesetc.2.dataprocessingWiththedevelopmentofsciencetechnique,moreandmoreinformationincludingnumericaldataandnone-numericaldatacomeout.Atthepresent,dataprocessinghasbeenthewidestfieldofcomputerapplication.Productionmanagement,datacounting,officeautomation,trafficdispatching,informationretrievalbelongtothisfield.Especiallyintheseyears,withthedevelopmentofdatabaseandcomputernetworktechnique,computerusersindifferentdistrictsandcountriescansharemanyvaluableinformationresourcesthroughnetwork.3.real-timecontrolReal-timecontrolisthecontrolofprocedureintheprocessofpracticalproductionswherecomputersareapplied.Realtimereferstothatthetimeofcontrolledobject’spracticalrunningorworking.4.adjuvantdesignTakeadvantageoftheabilityifcomputer’scalculatingandmapping,wecanimprovethequalityandefficiencywhendoingengineeringdesignsinthematterofarchitecture,machineryandelectron.now,asCAM,CAD,andCAIbeingusedverywidely,completeautomationfromdesigntoproductionhasfulfilledinmanyfields.

5.artificialintelligenceComputerscansimulatepeople’sfeelingsandthoughts,replacingpartlaborsofhuman.Exercises1.Answerthefollowingquestionaccordingtothetext.（1）Whatiscomputer?（2）Whatarethecharactersofthecomputerstoday?（3）Whatisreal-timecontrol?（4）Whatisthepurposeofinventinganddevelopingcomputer?（5）Whichfieldarecomputersappliedin?2.TranslatethefollowingtermsorphrasesfromEnglishintoChineseandviceversa:(1)sciencecalculation

(6)办公自动化(2)dataprocessing

(7)人工智能(3)real-timecontrol

(8)二进制自动计算机(4)adjuvantdesign(9)电子数字积分计算机，ENIAC计算机(5)vacuumtubes

(10)通用自动计算机key3.Fillintheblankswiththeinformationgiveninthetext:

(1)Thesecharacteristicsarethatthemachineis________,thatithasastoredprogram,andthatitisgeneralpurpose.(2)PerhapsthemostinfluentialoftheearlycomputerlikedeviceswastheElectronicNumericalIntegratorandComputer,or________.(3)ENIACwashuge;itweighed30tonsandcontainedover________vacuumtubes.(4)AlthoughENIACwasageneral-purposeelectronicdevice,itdidnothavea________program.(5)ThefirstcomputertooperateintheUnitedStateswastheBinaryAutomaticComputer,or________,whichbecameoperationalinAugustof1949.

key4.Choosethebestonefromtheitemsgivenbelowtocompletethefollowingpassage.ThefirstUNIVACIwas(1)totheCensusBureauand(2)forthe1950census.ThesecondUNIVACIwasused(3)predictthatDwightEisenhowerwouldwinthe1952presidential(4),lessthananhourafterthepollsclosed.TheUNIVACI(5)themodernofcomputeruse.(1)A.continuedB.wentC.gaveD.Delivered(2)A.readB.designedC.usedD.Erased(3)A.toB.withC.inD.On(4)A.disksB.electionC.detailsD.Organizations(5)A.beganB.usedC.workedD.drivedkey5.MarkthefollowingstatementswithT(true)orF(false)accordingtothetext.(1)Dataprocessinghasbeenbecomingoneofimportantfieldsofcomputeapplication.(2)Withthedevelopmentofsciencetechnique,moreandmorenumericaldatacomeout.(3)Onlycomputerusersinthesamedistrictandcountrycansharemanyvaluableinformationresourcethroughnetwork.(4)Computerscansimulatepeople’swordsandactions,replacingallthelaborsofhumanbeing.(5)ENIACwasveryhuge,withveryhighperformance.

key6.Selecttheoneanswertoeachquestion.(1)________wasthefirstgeneral-purpose,electroniccomputingmachineandwascapableofperformingthousandsofoperationspersecond.A.BINACB.EDVACC.ENIACD.EDSAC(2)WhichofthefollowingstatementsisFALSE?A.Z3wasthefirstcomputerlikedevices.B.Z3wasgeneral-purpose,stored-programmachinewithmanyelectronicparts,butithadamechanicalmemory.C.Z3wasnotatruecomputer.D.Z3wasdevelopedbyHowardAiken,withfinancialassistancefromIBM,atHarvardUniversityin1943.

(3)WhatwasthefirstcomputertooperateintheUnitedStates?A.ENIACB.EDSAC C.BINACD.EDVAC

(4)Whatwasthefirstmachinewhosedesignincludedallthecharacteristicsofacomputer?A.ENIAC B.EDSAC C.Z3 D.EDVAC

(5)Whatwasthefirstcommerciallyavailablecomputer?A.UNIVACIB.BINAC C.EDVAC D.ENIAC

key7.TranslatethefollowingsentencesintoChinese.(1)Itishardtosayexactlywhenthemoderncomputerwasinvented.(2)Itwascontrolled,however,byswitchesandplugsthathadtobemanuallyset.(3)Thismachine,calledtheElectro