《计算机专业英语》Unit 3 What is Hardware

Unit3WhatisHardware?ContentsLearningObjectives1Words&Expressions2Text3Exercises4Learning

ObjectivesAfteryouhavereadthisunit,youshouldbefamiliarwith:1.Thecomponentsofmicrocomputersystem.2.Themainfunctionofeachcomponent.

Words&Expressionsintegratev.结合，使成整体，一体化translatevt.翻译,解释,转化,转变为,调动vi.翻译,能被译出peripherala.外围的n.外围设备floppydiskn.软盘RAMn.随机读写存储器productivea.生产性的,生产的,能产的,多产的volatilea.飞行的,挥发性的,可变的,不稳定的,轻快的,爆炸性的comfortablyadv.安乐地,舒适地,充裕地typewritern.打字机conveniencen.便利,方便,有益,有用的,方便的用具、安排等switchv.转换,转变n.开关,电闸,转换TextYourPC(PersonalComputer)isasystem,consistingofmanycomponents.Someofthosecomponents,likeWindowsXP,andallyourotherprograms,aresoftware.Thestuffyoucanactuallyseeandtouch,andwouldlikelybreakifyouthrewitoutafifth-storywindow,ishardware.Noteverybodyhasexactlythesamehardware.Butthoseofyouwhohaveadesktopsystemprobablyhavemostofthecomponentssuchasmonitor,systemunit,keyboard,mouse,speakerandmicrophone.Thoseofyouwithnotebookcomputersprobablyhavemostofthesamecomponents.Onlyinyourcasethecomponentsareallintegratedintoasinglebook-sizedportableunit.TextThesystemunitistheactualcomputer;everythingelseiscalledaperipheraldevice.Yourcomputer'ssystemunitprobablyhasatleastonefloppydiskdrive,andoneCDorDVDdrive,intowhichyoucaninsertfloppydisksandCDs.There'sanotherdiskdrive,calledtheharddiskinsidethesystemunit.Youcan'tremovethatdisk,orevenseeit.Butit'sthere.Andeverythingthat'scurrently"inyourcomputer"isactuallystoredonthatharddisk.(Weknowthisbecausethereisnoplaceelseinsidethecomputerwhereyoucanstoreinformation!).ThefloppydriveandCDdriveareoftenreferredtoasdriveswithremovablemediaorremovabledrivesforshort,becauseyoucanremovewhateverdiskiscurrentlyinthedrive,andreplaceitwithanother.Yourcomputer'sharddiskcanstoreasmuchinformationastensofthousandsoffloppydisks,sodon'tworryaboutrunningoutofspaceonyourharddiskanytimesoon.Asarule,youwanttostoreeverythingyoucreateordownloadonyourharddisk.UsethefloppydisksandCDstosendcopiesoffilesthroughthemail,ortomakebackupcopiesofimportantitems.RandomAccessMemory(RAM)There'stoomuch"stuff"onyourcomputer'sharddisktouseitallatthesametime.Duringtheaveragesessionsittingatthecomputer,you'llprobablyuseonlyasmallamountofallthat'savailable.Thestuffyou'reworkingwithatanygivenmomentisstoredinrandomaccessmemory(oftenabbreviatedRAM,andoftencalledsimply"memory").TheadvantageusingRAMtostorewhateveryou'reworkingonatthemomentisthatRAMisveryfast.Muchfasterthananydisk.Foryou,"fast"translatestolesstimewaitingandmoretimebeingproductive.SoifRAMissofast,whynotputeverythinginit?Whyhaveaharddiskatall?TheanswertothatliesinthefactthatRAMisvolatile.Assoonasthecomputerisshutoff,whetherintentionallyorbyanaccidentalpoweroutage,everythinginRAMdisappears,justasquicklyasalightbulbgoesoutwhentheplugispulled.Soyoudon'twanttorelyonRAMtoholdeverything.Adisk,ontheotherhand,holdsitsinformationwhetherthepowerisonoroff.TheHardDisk Alloftheinformationthat's"inyourcomputer",sotospeak,isstoredonyourcomputer'sharddisk.Youneverseethatactualharddiskbecauseit'ssealedinsideaspecialhousingandneedstostaythatway.UnlikeRAM,whichisvolatile,theharddiskcanholdinformationforever--withorwithoutelectricity.Mostmodernharddiskshavetensofbillionsofbytesofstoragespaceonthem.WhichinEnglish,meansthatyoucancreate,save,anddownloadfilesformonthsoryearswithoutusingupallthestoragespaceitprovides.Intheunlikelyeventthatyoudomanagetofillupyourharddisk,Windowswillstartshowingalittlemessageonthescreenthatreads"Youarerunninglowondiskspace"wellinadvanceofanyproblems.

Infact,ifthatmessageappears,itwon'tuntilyou'redowntoabout800MBoffreespace.And800MBofemptyspaceisequaltoabout600blankfloppydisks.That'sstillplentyofroom!TheMouseObviouslyyouknowhowtouseyourmouse,sinceyoumusthaveusedittogethere.Butlet'stakealookatthefactsandbuzzwordsanyway.Yourmouseprobablyhasatleasttwobuttonsonit.Thebuttonontheleftiscalledtheprimarymousebutton,thebuttonontherightiscalledthesecondarymousebuttonorjusttherightmousebutton.I'lljustrefertothemastheleftandrightmousebuttons.Manymicehaveasmallwheelbetweenthetwomousebuttons.Theideaistorestyourhandcomfortablyonthemouse,withyourindexfingertouching(butnotpressingon)theleftmousebutton.Then,asyoumovethemouse,themousepointer(thelittlearrowonthescreen)movesinthesamedirection.Whenmovingthemouse,trytokeepthebuttonsaimedtowardthemonitor--don't"twist"themouseasthatjustmakesitallthehardertocontrolthepositionofthemousepointer.Ifyoufindyourselfreachingtoofartogetthemousepointerwhereyouwantittobeonthescreen,justpickupthemouse,moveittowhereit'scomfortabletoholdit,andplaceitbackdownonthemousepadordesk.Thebuzzwordsthatdescribehowyouusethemouseareasfollows:Point:Topointtoanitemmeanstomovethemousepointersothatit'stouchingtheitem.Click:Pointtotheitem,thentap(pressandrelease)theleftmousebutton.Double-click:Pointtotheitem,andtaptheleftmousebuttontwiceinrapidsuccession-click-clickasfastasyoucan.Right-click:Pointtotheitem,thentapthemousebuttonontheright.Drag:Pointtoanitem,thenholddowntheleftmousebuttonasyoumovethemouse.Todroptheitem,releasetheleftmousebutton.Right-drag:Pointtoanitem,thenholddowntherightmousebuttonasyoumovethemouse.Todroptheitem,releasetherightmousebutton.TheKeyboardLikethemouse,thekeyboardisameansofinteractingwithyourcomputer.Youreallyonlyneedtousethekeyboardwhenyou'retypingtext.Mostofthekeysonthekeyboardarelaidoutlikethekeysonatypewriter.ButtherearesomespecialkeyslikeEsc(Escape),Ctrl(Control),andAlt(Alternate).TherearealsosomekeysacrossthetopofthekeyboardlabeledF1,F2,F3,andsoforth.Thosearecalledthefunctionkeys,andtheexactroletheyplaydependsonwhichprogramyouhappentobeusingatthemoment.Mostkeyboardsalsohaveanumerickeypadwiththekeyslaidoutlikethekeysonatypicaladdingmachine.Ifyou'reaccustomedtousinganaddingmachine,youmightwanttousethenumerickeypad,ratherthanthenumbersacrossthetopofthekeyboard,totypenumbers.Itdoesn'treallymatterwhichkeysyouuse.Thenumerickeypadisjustthereasaconveniencetopeoplewhoareaccustomedtoaddingmachines.Mostkeyboardsalsocontainasetofnavigationkeys.Youcanusethenavigationkeystomovearoundaroundthroughtextonthescreen.Thenavigationkeyswon'tmovethemousepointer.Onlythemousemovesthemousepointer.Onsmallerkeyboardswherespaceislimited,suchasonanotebookcomputer,thenavigationkeysandnumerickeypadmightbeoneinthesame.TherewillbeaNumLockkeyonthekeypad.WhentheNumLockkeyis"on",thenumerickeypadkeystypenumbers.WhentheNumLockkeyis"off",thenavigationkeyscomeintoplay.TheNumLockkeyactsasatoggle.Whichistosay,whenyoutapit,itswitchestotheoppositestate.Forexample,ifNumLockison,tappingthatkeyturnsitoff.IfNumLockisoff,tappingthatkeyturnsNumLockon.CombinationKeystrokes(Shortcutkeys)ThosemysteriousCtrlandAltkeysareoftenusedincombinationwithotherkeystoperformsometask.Weoftenrefertothesecombinationkeystrokesasshortcutkeys,becausetheyprovideanalternativetousingthemousetoselectmenuoptionsinprograms.Shortcutkeysarealwaysexpressedas:key1+key2wheretheideaistoholddownkey1,tapkey2,thenreleasekey1.Forexample,topressCtrl+EscholddowntheCtrlkey(usuallywithyourpinkie),taptheEsckey,thenreleasetheCtrlkey.TopressAlt+FyouholddowntheAltkey,taptheletterF,thenreleasetheAltkey.Exercises1.Answerthefollowingquestionaccordingtothetext.(1)Whatdevicesmicrocomputerhardwareconsistof?(2)Whatareinputdevices?(3)Whatisthesystemunit?(4)Whichdevicescanholddataandprogramspermanently?(5)Howdoescommunicationhardwarework?2.TranslatethefollowingtermsorphrasesfromEnglishintoChineseandviceversa:(1)PC(6)鼠标(2)RAM(7)功能键(3)memory(8)双击(4)harddisk(9)软盘(5)keyboard(10)数字键盘key3.Fillintheblankswiththeinformationgiveninthetext:

(1)TheadvantageusingRAMtostorewhateveryou'reworkingonatthemomentisthatRAMisvery

.(2)UnlikeRAM,whichisvolatile,theharddiskcan

withorwithoutelectricity.(3)Theideaistorestyourhandcomfortablyonthemouse,withyour

touching(butnotpressingon)theleftmousebutton.(4)Onsmallerkeyboardswherespaceislimited,suchasonanotebookcomputer,the

and

mightbeoneinthesame.(5)Weoftenrefertothesecombinationkeystrokesas

,becausetheyprovideanalternativetousingthemousetoselectmenuoptionsinprograms.key4.Choosethebestonefromtheitemsgivenbelowtocompletethefollowingpassage.OriginallyintroducedbyNetscapeCommunications,(1)areamechanismwhichHTTPServersideapplications,suchasCGI(2),canusetobothstoreandretrieveinformationontheHTTP(3)sideoftheconnection.Basically,Cookiescanbeusedtocompensateforthe(4)natureofHTTP.Theadditionofasimple,persistent,client-sidestatesignificantlyextendsthecapabilitiesofWWW-based(5).(1) A.Browsers B.Cookies C.Connections D.Scripts(2) A.graphics B.processes C.Scripts D.texts(3) A.Client B.Editor C.Creator D.Server(4) A.fixed B.flexible C.stable D.stateless(5) A.programs B.applications C.frameworks D.constrainskey5.MarkthefollowingstatementswithT(true)orF(false)accordingtothetext.(1)ThebasicoperatinginstructionsarestoredinROMandareerasedwhenthecomputeristurnedoff.(2)RAMisn’tapermanentstorageplaceforinformation.(3)Yourmouseprobablyhasatleasttwobuttonsonit.Thebuttonontheleftiscalledthesecondarymousebutton,thebuttonontherightiscalledtheprimarymousebutton.(4)Onsmallerkeyboardswherespaceislimited,suchasonanotebookcomputer,thenavigationkeysandnumerickeypadmightbeoneinthesame.(5)Alloftheinformationthat's"inyourcomputer",sotospeak,isstoredonyourcomputer'sharddisk.key6.Selecttheoneanswertoeachquestion.(1)A(n)

isanelectronicdevicethatacceptsinput,processesdata,andproducesoutput.A.InputB.inputdeviceC.outputdevice D.computer(2)Whichofthefollowingisan“outputdevice”?

A.CDROM B.Microphone C.Printer D.Alltheabove(3)WhichofthefollowingstatementsisFALSE?

A.AntivirussoftwarecandetectvirusesonaCD-ROM.B.VirusescanbefoundinE-mailattachmentsC.YoucangetavirusbydownloadingaprogramfromtheInternetD.Youcangetavirusbyreadingawebpage(4)Whenacomputerisswitchedon,whereistheoperatingsystemloaded?A.BIOS B.ROM C.POST D.RAM(5)CD-ROMstandsfor?

A.Centralprocessingunit B. CD-remoteopenmouseC.CD-resizeorminimizeD. CD-readonlymemory(6)ThepartofthecomputerthatdoesthemathcalculationsA. arithmeticlogicunitB. monitorC. MemoryD. keyboard