Ex. VIII. Translate into English.
Експертна система — це тип програми, що використовується для прийняття рішень або вирішення проблем у певній галузі. Людина-експерт в цій галузі вкладає в цю програму свої знання та аналітичні здібності настільки, наскільки їх можна формалізувати. Два головні компоненти інформаційної системи — база знань та інтерфейс. Оболонка інформаційної системи складається з тих самих компонентів, що й експертна система, окрім бази знань. Офісна інформаційна система використовується для того, щоб допомогти робітникам інтелектуальної галузі керувати підготовкою, сортуванням, відновленням, копіюванням та обліком інформації в офісі та між офісами. Людина, яка створює, обробляє та розповсюджує інформацію, зветься "робітником знань" ("knowledge worker").
Part II
Ex. I. Answer the following questions:
Where do you usually buy things?
Have you ever bought anything on-line?
Ex. II. Read the following text:
E-commerce
During the last few years the phenomenal growth of the Internet has been the dominant theme in computers and information systems. New World Wide Web-based companies became familiar names; ordinary people bid in on-line auctions; and traditional companies, such as banks, pursue e-commerce strategies.
E-commerce is growing with meteoric speed, powered by Internet retailers that expanded beyond selling books on-line to offering toys, consumer electronics, videos, music, auctions, gifts, and electronic greeting cards and prepared to get into the on-line grocery business. E-commerce sites continue to pop up as investors seem to believe that e-commerce will provide big paybacks in the future.
Meanwhile, technology is being adopted that will make shopping on-line more attractive. Among the new techniques are three-dimensional on-line catalogs that allow products being viewed on the screen to be rotated so they can be viewed from any angle. In addition, models with the same physical measurements as the viewer can "try on" clothes and be viewed from all angles on a computer screen. Booksellers use software to track the buying preferences of customers; the software recommends a book to a customer on the basis of buying habits of other consumers with similar tastes.
Other forms of commerce are also blooming on the Net, particularly on-line Wall Street brokerages that allow investors to buy stock at lower commission prices and to trade stocks at times when the stock exchanges are not open. These stock-trading sites have proved to be so popular, recording hundreds of thousands of stock trades daily, that the number of would-be participants often overwhelms them.
Non-Web businesses are also getting into the e-commerce act. The Bank of America disclosed a pilot project for viewing and paying bills on-line, in effect acting as a billing intermediary for other companies. Banks are said to have an interest in allowing consumers to pay bills on-line because it allows the banks to maintain control over transactions. Other nonbanking firms are pursuing a similar strategy by consolidating bills from such varied companies as utilities, credit card firms, mortgage companies, and cable TV firms.
Not everyone is happy about the growth of e-commerce. State governments fear losing substantial sales tax revenues to on-line purchases that are not currently taxed. The states complain that a lack of taxes will hamper the ability of state and local governments to deliver essential services, such as fire protection. The Internet Tax Freedom Act, a law passed in 1998, prohibited states from taxing on-line sales and on-line access for three years. Late in the year, however, a congressional panel began studying potential Internet taxes in light of projections by firms such as Forrester Research, which predicted that e-commerce would total $64.8 billion in 2003.
The arrival of e-commerce also created problems with unorthodox selling efforts. On-line sales of prescription drugs raised concerns about medical ethics when it became clear that some on-line pharmacies were shipping drugs across state lines without the proper authority and that some doctors were writing prescriptions for people on the Net whom they had never examined or even met.
Other types of on-line fraud are also troublesome. While on-line auction sites are public, the resulting transactions are between buyer and seller, and some sellers proved to be swindlers who took money without providing the purchased goods. In addition, some auctioned merchandise was shown to be stolen property. Authorities recommend that consumers minimize fraud by using credit cards for Internet transactions rather than check, money order, or cash. Credit-card purchases in particular can be disputed if fraud is suspected.
E-commerce also raises privacy issues. European and U.S. trade negotiators become enmeshed in a dispute over data-privacy issues, with the European Union advocating stronger privacy protections than its U.S. counterpart. In addition to protecting consumer privacy, Europeans are concerned about whether consumers will have access to data companies collected on them as a result of Net transactions.
Active Words and Phrases:
| to bid | пропонувати ціну на торгах | mortgage | застава (що стосується нерухомого майна) |
| counterpart | колега | unorthodox | неправомірний, не загальноприйнятий |
| payback | віддача, повернення | prescription drugs | прописані ліки |
| on-line | неавтономний, управляючий ЕВМ | shipping | Відвантаження |
| utilities | комунальні послуги | sales tax | податок з обороту |
| brokerage | брокерські операції | revenue | дохід, надходження |
| stock | акція (на біржі) | panel | група фахівців - учасників публічної дискусії |
| stock exchange | фондова біржа | fraud | обман, шахрайство |
| overwhelm | заливати, оволодівати | swindler | шахрай |
| intermediary | посередник | privacy | таємність |
Ex. III Are the sentences true or false? If they are false, correct them.
1. Internet retailers stopped selling books on-line.
2. E-commerce is very profitable because investors receive big paybacks.
3. New on-line catalogs allow users to rotate products on the screen.
4. On-line brokerages are popular because investors can buy stock at lower prices.
5. Nonbanking firms often act as billing intermediaries to maintain control over transactions.
6. Governments aren’t allowed to collect taxes from on-line sales.
7. To minimize fraud customers should use check, money order, or cash for Internet transactions.
