Talking via Space
Communication has come a long way from the time when an Indian beat a drum () in the forest to the time when a scientist receives messages from a satellite. In this space age communication has become a highly developed field. The system of communica-
tion in large countries is unthinkable today without space satellites. Besides large distances, there is a great time difference: the territories of some countries comprise up to 11 zones. Satellites help to minimize all the difficulties that may appear. They rapidly transmit TV and radio programs to different towns, cities, and distant areas.
Space systems and electronic technology have made it possible to set up an automatic system of communication designed for rapid transmission of all kinds of information.
People write letters and send telegrams. But at the same time people living in various cities like to exchange () news on the telephone. Statistics reports that the number of longdistance telephone calls is about 2, 000 million per year. A person in Moscow talking on the phone with Vladivostok must know that this conversation is carried on through a satellite.
Trains and cars can use mobile radio telephones to make calls. Businessmen can use fax machines which provide electronic transmission of documents and messages over telephone lines. Even photographs can be sent and received over telephone wires.
Practically all the population in large countries can watch TV via satellites. The orbital communication systems make it possible for people from different continents to see and hear one another.
The importance of space means of communication is increasing every year. The communication satellites of the international organization INTERSAT enable people to keep reliable telephone, telegraph, telex and fax communication in any weather with ships practically in every part of the World Ocean.
1. . 4 .
1. TV sets began coming off factory assembly lines
2. on people's life and way of thinking
3. it weighed less than a pound
4. the desired channel
5. when you are occupied
. .
a. unit of weight
b. programme
c. busy with smth.
d. where parts of large machines are put together in mass pro
duction
e. the way you think
2. cell, network, area, set .
A cellular phone (cellphone) is a lightweight, portable radio transceiver, which can transmit and receive telephone calls anywhere in cellular network area. It is a mobile telephone, which communicates through base stations situated in areas called cells. Cell is a subdivision of communication area in a cellphone network. In the network, the same frequencies can be used for many different telephone calls at the same time. Each cell has its own small electronic base station and set of transmission frequencies. The sizes of the cell vary between 1 km to about 30 km across, depending on the output power of the cellphone transmitter.
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1. cell
a) a small room for one person
b) apparatus for producing electricity by chemical action
c) a compartment in a larger structure (e.g., in a honeycomb)
2. network
a) a system of lines that cross
b) a complex system of interconnected radio and TV devices
c) a connected system
3. area
a) a zone, region, district
b) surface measure
c) range of activity
4. set
a) a number of smth. of the same kind
b) radio, TV, phone apparatus
c) direction
3. .
1. link up to
2. exchange news
3. send a signal, message, fax
4. show
5. take the place of
6. have, possess
7. make it illegible
8. have
a. contain
b. connect
replace
d. make it difficult and impos
sible to read
e. own
f. communicate
g. transmit
h. indicate
4. .
1. A Fax system can now send texts, graphics and documents to several places at the same time in less than a minute. The information may have photographic images as well as words. The latest Fax machines must be linked up to a special digital phone line. A few seconds' interference () on the phone line can make several lines of a document or text illegible.
2. Digital systems of information transmission have taken the place of analog systems in the last 25 years.
3. Most phones now have memories to store frequently used numbers. Some telephone manufacturers make phones with LCDs (liquid-crystal displays) which show the duration of calls.
4. Before World War II few people had television sets.
5. A lot of people have cellphones, answerphones and mobile phones now.
6. It is possible to exchange news with people in most parts of the world by telephone.
5. connect, transmit, communicate .
1. A small radio receiver called a radiopager makes it possible for people to... with each other wherever they are.
2. Data... services, known as teletext... text and graphics over a long distance as part of the television video signal.
3. In telecommunication the information can be directed between... and receivers by cables of various kinds.
4. The lines which... telephones within a building are the simplest type of... line.
5. Mobile phone systems normally do not... directly with other mobile phones. They send messages to the control base station.
6. How long will the... of the new telephone take?
7. You can now... your computer to computers all over the world by means of the Internet.
6. . 1015 Means of communication.
8. Speak about:
Your favourite TV programmes at the moment.
Do you often watch football match live (as it happens) on TV or do you watch recorded highlights (parts of the game after it has been played)? Do you enjoy watching the commercials (the advertisements in programmes)? Do you watch satellite TV and/or cable TV?
LESSON 5
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carry mean
-/ve, -
super-
Text 5. Is there an End to the Computer Race?
Text 5B. Computers Concern You
Text 5C.
Text 5D. The Library of Congress
1. , .
a new invention, to be of great importance, books available in this library, at this time, our professor's lectures, the building of their institute, an institute's library, a television programme, our central TV programme, the first television set, the first pocket-size colour television set, today's shows, a tiny nine-by-twelve inch box, the 1939 World Fair, a reading room, people living in different time zones of the country, modern TV sets appearing now, a written text, a factory built in Siberia, an article to translate, the first to translate those texts.
2. , .
1. Complex systems of radio transmission networks have been set up throughout the world. 2. Scientists all over the world were quick to realize the importance of radio and contributed much to
its further development. 3. The Russian scientist A.S.Popov worked much at the problem of radio communication. 4. It is necessary to radio the latest news to distant parts of the country. 5. The system of communication in any country is unthinkable today without satellites. 6. Electronic technology has made it possible to set up automatic communication systems. 7. A new international orbital system provides telephone, telegraph and telex communication with ships practically in every part of the World Ocean. 8. It is known that a photon is a particle of light. 9. Some specialists expect that a photon can greatly increase the operation of a computer. 10. Photon computers are quite possible in the not so far future.
3. .
A. 1. There are twenty-five students in our group, five students
got excellent marks for all their exams. 2. Students studying at our
institute must know mathematics well. 3. The device made at our
laboratory will be used in industry. 4. It is a short and easy text, our
students don't need a dictionary to translate it. 5. Scientists work
ing at new computers have a lot of different problems to solve. 6. A
citizen of our country was the first to circle the globe. 7. The first
television black-and-white pictures produced a sensation in 1939.
8. A tiny nine-by-twelve inch box was displayed at the 1939 World
Fair. 9. Now we can see many different radio and TV sets in every
house. 10. Computers of different types and sizes have appeared in
every country of the world.
B. 1. Materials necessary at present to produce supercomputers
are difficult to make. 2. A system capable of transmitting long dis
tance messages was developed at the end of the last century. 3. Peo
ple present at the World Fair in New York were interested in the new
invention. 4. Some general engineering subjects difficult for the
first-year students are necessary for studying specialized subjects.
4. , , .
1. Morse invented a code that used dots and dashes for letters of the alphabet. 2. Al. Bell found an assistant who was a specialist in electrical engineering. 3. They wanted to build a machine which people could use to talk over long distances. 4. A television screen and camera that will be used with a usual telephone are very small. 5. People who come to the Aircraft Fair in Paris see new designs of aircraft from different countries. 6. Bell did not know German
which most writers of scientific and technical papers used at the time. 7. The decimal system that was developed by French scientists was introduced in Russia by D.I. Mendeleev.
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5. , , .
A. : The experiments which Popov made were discussed at the Univer
sity meeting. The experiments Popov made were discussed at the University meeting.
1. Newton's great work which was published in 1687 is called Principia. 2. The Russian Chemical Society which is named after Mendeleev was organised more than a century ago. 3. The subjects that the students study in the first and second years are very important for their future speciality. 4. The invention which Popov made did not interest the government.
B. : The laboratory in which the students will work is in a new build
ing. The laboratory which the students will work in is in a new building. The labora
tory the students will work in is in a new building.
1. The film about which we were told had been made several years before. 2. The magazine in which a very interesting article is published is available in our library. 3. The material of which this instrument is made is a new one. 4. This is a subject about which we don't know much. 5. The cosmonauts about whom we heard so much came to our town. 6. Have you seen the main components which the new device consists of?
6. , .
1. The building our students live in is not far from the institute. 2. Bell was making his experiment in a room next to the room Watson worked in. 3. For a long time Bell couldn't get the results he was looking for. 4. The discovery of Newton's mistake we shall read about was made by a young physicist. 5. When Roentgen made his discovery the room he was experimenting in was dark. 6. The plant this material is produced at is in the Urals. 7. The problem this article deals with is connected with the subject we study. 8. It is difficult to imagine the world we live in without radio, television and telephone.
7. , . .
1. this means that; this means; it means; new means; this means is. 2. this increase is; this increases; it increases; nothing increases;
its increase. 3. these results; this results in; both results; this result; both result in; it results from.
8. , carry,
1. During the course of study students carry out practical work in well-equipped laboratories. 2. People are carried by airplanes, ships, trains and cars equipped with electronic devices. 3. Intensive work and research are being carried out on new robots in many countries. 4. A new computer carries out a few hundred thousand calculations in a few seconds. 5. Peter, help me carry this heavy box, please.
9. .
to be in general usage; electronically controlled; in other words; of a few square millimetres; commonly; the more..., the more; operation by operation; according to; advantage over; a thousand times faster.
; ; ; ..., ; ; ; ; 1000 ; ; .
10. . :
+ -ive =
to act - active
intensity- -> intensive-
to conserve conservative, progress progressive, effect effective, mass massive, to react reactive;
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- nature ; culture
structure, manufacture, future, measure, feature, agriculture; super- (, ) supernatural ; superpower
supergenius, supercomputer, superman, supermarket, supersonic, superhot, superconductor.
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