Then we saw how a new technical invention, colour television, was rapidly replacing black-and-white television. Recently it was reported that the first pocket-size3 colour television set had been developed. It was stated that a liquid-crystal display4 was used similar to those on calculators and watches and that it weighed less than a pound.
A few years ago it became evident that the next major advance for TV would be digital television. In a digital system the usual continuous signal is replaced by a digital code containing detailed information on brightness, colour, etc. A digital TV set hangs on the wall like a picture. Essentially, it is a minicomputer with a visual display. Once a week5 you put the programs you like into the memory, and the TV set will automatically switch on the desired channel at the right time. You can watch several programs simultaneously on miniscreens and then produce one of them in full format. Also, the TV set can automatically video-record the programs when you are absent or occupied.
By the end of 1980s television has moved to a new and the most important stage in its development since the appearance of colour television. Technically it is called high-definition television (HDTV)6 or Hi-Vision. This is the much higher resolution television7 of the 21st century. This revolution was started by Japanese manufacturers when they developed a new video system with a picture resembling a wide-screen film more than traditional television. The new system increases the screen's width-to-height ratio8 (16:9). The result is a picture several times sharper than in the existing TV sets. Besides, recent developments in plasma display panel technology9 make HDTV commercially practicable. The plasma display makes it possible to produce a large, bright, colour, flat TV screen so thin and light that it can also be hung on a wall like a framed picture. The engineering problem that has existed almost since the first days of television may be solved now.
Notes to the Text
To have a look ,
To break out ,
Pocket-size
4. liquid-crystal display
5. once a week
6. high-definition television (HDTV)
7. high resolution television
8. width-to-height ratio
9. plasma display panel technology
11. 4 .
1. When did the first TV set appear? 2.Were people interested in the new invention? 3. Why was the TV production stopped in 1940? 4. What is cable television? 5. What is digital television? 6. What is high-definition television?
12. , 4.
1. A lot of people owned television sets in the first years after its invention. 2. First television black-and-white pictures were excellent. 3. Only few people owned television sets in the next few years after their appearance. 4. Black-and-white television was rapidly replacing colour television. 5. First television black-and-white pictures were not very good. 6. Only a few years ago colour television was rapidly replacing black-and-white television. 7. When the war was over, TV sets stopped coming off factory assembly lines. 8. After World War II TV sets began coming off factory assembly lines.
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13. 4 , , .
14. .
1. It was reported in 1939 that the first TV set was shown at the World Fair in New York. 2. The students wanted to know whether colour television sets were produced at that plant. 3. After the war when the mass production of TV sets began, people realized they wanted to have a TV set at home. 4. Experiments proved that electricity could travel instantly over a long piece of wire. 5. Can you tell me whether satellites are used for telephone communication? 6. It became clear television had a great influence on people's life.
7. Russian newspapers informed that about 2,000 satellites had been launched into the orbit. 8. We did not know whether the development of television had continued during the war. 9. We know he works at the problem of space communication.
15. , .
1. Some years ago India began its Satellite Instructional Television Experiment. This experiment showed (that) satellite television programs had been a success with schoolchildren, their knowledge level had increased considerably. It was found that children could remember and speak about programs which they had seen several weelc^back. 2. Many experts could not decide whether so much TV was harmful to the individual's health and mental activity or not. 3. Specialists did not know if it was possible to continue modernizing the electronic equipment of this kind the costs were too high. 4. There appeared some reports that we had technical means to use much more channels on a TV set and we should be able to see many sports and news programs from all parts of the world soon. 5. At first it was not clear whether new telephone and teletype communication with ships via six satellites was economical and reliable or not. 6. It was announced that the cryogenic cable had been invented in Russia. 7. We read that for the first time electricity had been applied for industrial use in silver workshops in Paris. 8. We know different transmitters are used in a television system one for the sound channel and the other for the picture channel. 9. We learnt from the lecture that electricity was still considered the main source for new technological developments.
16. :
attention , , ; surprisingly , , ; recorder , , ; convenient , , ; numerous , , .
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17. , :
development, conveniently, communication, production, continuous, beginning, transmitter, action, recorder, electronic, si-
multaneously, different, usable, central, calculator, possibility, disconnect.
18. , .
tiny small; to disappear to appear; a lot of many; different various; next following; short long; to watch to see; program show; commonly usually; less more; possible impossible; true untrue; small large; nowadays at present, now; large tremendous; advance progress; to start to begin; major main; to report to announce; to occur to take place; convenient suitable.
19. .
true, picture, telephone, communication; world, research, assembly, invention; own, beginning, telegraph, central; satellite, first, artificial, convenient; turn, videotape, transmit, size.
20. .
concept/concert; complete/compare; invention/invasion; available/availability; commonly/commonless; commune/commit; compulsory/compunction.
21. , .
boxes, matches, beginning, tinier, owned, boundaries, possibly, replacing, less.
22. .
1. The Japanese companies developed the first pocket-size colour television set. 2. Man first set foot on the Moon in July, 1969.
3. Special telephone sets are used at plants in tropical sea climate.
4. A great Russian scientist A.N. Krylov took an active part in the work of the first Atomic Commission set up at the Optical Institute. 5. It was Popov who constructed the first radio set. 6. One of the global tasks nowadays is to set up solar power plants on high orbits. 7. Ships are equipped with radar sets helping them to orient at sea.
23. .
1. New directions of research in robotics were discussed at the last conference. 2. There is no direct connection between those
processes. 3. This program is directed toward the scientific study of various physico-chemical processes. 4. Our scientists must direct their attention to the development of new technologies. 5. Further human progress is directly connected with the scientific and technological progress. 6. Our task is to develop technological processes without a direct participation of man. 7. The future of mankind depends on the direction in which scientific and technological progress will be developing. 8. There is a direct communication between spacecrafts and the Earth, and between spacecrafts as well.
24. , , .
The Life of a Student
While I (walk) across the campus ( ) the other day, I (meet) my old friend Bill, whom I (see, not) since May. Naturally, we (stop) (talk) to each other for a few minutes. I asked him how he (do) in his classes that semester. He told me that he (take) a course in English that semester. He said that he (complete) the elementary course two semesters before, and by the next semester he (be) ready (take) the most difficult English course offered at this school. He also said that he (be) interested in getting his degree as soon as possible and he (ask, already) his adviser for permission to take the final examination. I am glad (hear) that you (make) such good progress, I (say) to Bill. Then I asked him if he (can) tell me the secret of his success. He answered that the secret of his success (be) simple and he (study) at least two hours a day to improve his English.
After that I told Bill I (have) a little difficulty with my course in French at the moment. I said that I (study, not) very hard the last semester, but I (work) harder in the future.
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25. . , .
Albert Einstein liked the film with Charlie Chaplin. Once he wrote a letter to Chaplin:
Everybody in the world understands your film "Golden Fever" (" "). You will become a great man by all means.
Chaplin's answer was:
I like you even more. Nobody in the world understands your "Theory of Relativity" and you have already become a great man.
26. , . find, broke, putting, hung, began, seen.
27. .
Recently it was reported in the press that the USA was trying to build bigger, better and much more expensive TV sets. Experts declared that it was the most important change in television since the invention of colour television. They informed that a new kind of television had images so clear that watching it was like looking through a window.
But it became known that Japanese specialists had started their work on HDTV when nobody else in the world was thinking how to improve TV. The inventors expected that their standard for high-definition television would be used throughout the world. However, the Europeans have announced that they would set their own standard. And now it is not clear whether the Japanese standard will be used or not. Some people consider that a single high-definition TV standard will allow to exchange news and may bring nations together.
CONVERSATION Exercise 1. Answer the questions.
1. What invention was the center of attention at the World Fair in New York in 1939? (the first black-and-white television set) 2. What stopped the TV production? (World War II) 3. What influence has had television on people's life and way of thinking? (great influence; boundaries of time and space have disappeared) 4. What kinds of TV exist now? (satellite, cable, colour, digital and high-definition television) 5. What is the latest and the most important stage in the development of television since the appearance of colour television? (high-definition television) 6. What is the advantage of high-definition television? (the television of much higher resolution) 7. What technology makes HDTV commercially practicable now? (plasma display panel technology)
Exercise 2. Make a sentence out of the two parts.
