iH ri i Oxford English for i Te 4 | eae Unstelleqn-le i ae war: Cae Teel 7a eneOxford English for Computing Keith Boeckner P. Charles Brown Oxford University PressContents Unit Personal computing Language focus A Contextual reference Unit 2 Portable computers Operating systems Language focus B Word formation. prefixes Unit 3 Online services Data transmission Language focus C Word formation suffixes Unita Progeamming and languages Clanguage Language focus D Organizing information Unit 5 Computer sofware Comparing software packages Language focus E Making comparisons Unit Computer networks Network configurations Language focus F Time sequence unit 7 Computer viruses Computer security Language focus G Listing Unita Computers in the office Information systems Language focus H ‘The passive 78 78 81 86 Unit 9 Computers in education CALL Language focus! Giving examples Unit 10 Computers in medicine Data storage and management Language focus J Explanations and definitions Unit 11 Robotics Robot characteristics Language focus K Compound nouns Unit 12 Virtual reality VR input devices Language focus L Classifying, Unit 13 Machine translation Aland expert systems Language facus M Cause and effect Unit 14 Maltimedia Computer-to-video conversion Language focus N Making predictions Unit 15 Computer graphics 24-bit colour Appendix 2 Glossary of terms 155 160 164 167 167 172 176Personal computing Start-up Task 1 ‘Name these devices. What are they used for? © Listening Task2 TI You will hear two interviews between a markel researcher and visitors to a computer exhibition. As you listen, fll in the missing information in the table opposite,Task 3 Task 4 we wee Interview 1 Interview 2 Name: a Occupation: - - ‘Type of PC used: Reasons for choice: 1 - 2 - Read this extract from Interview 2 and fill in the gaps. To help you, the first letter of each missing word is INTERVIEWER: Do you own a PC? enrigue: Yes, I have an Apple Macinto INTERVIEWER: Why did you cf fee Sa Mac as opposed to an IBM or an IBM e—_____*? ENRIQUE: I think Macs are € -* touse than IBM PCs. Luse the m_—_____* feature a lot. which is s________* on all Maes. Then. there's the graphical user interface and the windows. INTERVIEWER: Graphical user interface? Could you explain that? instead of ENRIQUE: Well, put simply, il means that you click on I typing inc " INTERVIEWER: sce. You mentioned windows. Doesn't IBM also use windows? eNRuQvE: Yes, but I think their windows are harder to s— 7 Tn any case, I'm u—— u___ Now listen again to the interview and check your unswe Reading Before reading the text on the following page, match each word with the correct definition: the set of software that controls a computer system a very small piece of silicon carrying a complex. electrical circuit © «big computer system used for large-scale operations __ the physical portiqn of a computer system, € adevice moved by hand to indicate position on the mainirame mouse oe screen hardware f _ avisual symbol used in a menu instead of natural language microchip g data, programs, etc., not forming part of a computer, but used when operating it,Task 5 [e222 selon computing compeny tack a decision to get ut of the business of making mainframe computers. They 5 believed that there was only a market for four mainframes in the whole world. That company was IBM. The following year thoy reversed their decision. 10 In 1880, 1BM decided that there was a market for 250,000 PCs, so they set up a special team to develop the first IBM PC. It went on sale in 1981 and set a world-wide 45. standard for IBM-compatibility which, over the next ten years, was only seriousty chatlenged by one other company, Appie Computers. Since then, over seventy million 20 PCsmade by IBM and other manufacturers have been sold. Ovor this period, PCs have become commodity items. Since IBM made the design non-proprietary, anyone 26. can make them. The history of the multi-billion dollar PC industry has been one of mistakes. Xerox Corporation funded the initial research on 30. personal camputers in their Palo Alto laboratory in Californie. However, the company failed to capitalize on this work, and the ideas that they put together went 35. into the operating systam developed for Apple's computers. This was a graphical interface: using a mouse, the user clicks on icons which represent the function ae tobe performed. The first 1BM PC was developed using existing available electrical components. With #BM’s badge on the box it became the standard 45 mechine for large corporations to purchase. When IBM were laoking for an operating system, they went initially to Digital Research, who were market leaders in command- 50 based operating systems (these are ‘operating systems in which the users type in commands to perform a function). When the collaboration between IBM and Digital Research 55. failed, IBM turned to Bill Gates, then > Vocabulary commodit 20 *% 26 0 100 108 10 i _ Now read the text and decide on a suitable title for it. 25 years old, to write their operating system, Bill Gates founded Microsoft on the basis of the development of MS/DOS, the initial operating system for the IBM PC. Digital Research have continued to deveiop their operating system, DR/DOS, and itis considered by many people to be a better product than Microsoft's. However, withoutan endorsement from IBM, it has ‘become a minor player in the market. Novel, the leaders in PC networking, now awn Digital Research, so things may change. The original IBM PC had a minimum of 16K of memory, but this could be upgraded to 512K if necessary, and ran with a processor speed of 4.7MH2. Ten years later, in 1991, IBM were making PCs with 16Mb of memory, expandable 10 64Mb, running with a processor speed ‘of 33MHz. The cost of buying the hardware has come down considerably as the machines have become commodity items. Large companies are considering running mejor applications on PCs, something which, ten years ag0, no 0} would have believed po: aPC. In contrast, many. computers in people's homes are just used to play computer games. The widespread availability of computers hasin all probability changed the world for ever. The microchip technology which made the PC possible has put chips not only into computers, bout also into washing-machines and cars. Some books may never be published in paper form, but may only be made available as, part of public databases. Networks of computers are already being used to make information available on a world- wide seale. ems (1. 23) ~ items which can be produced and traded freely non-proprietary (1, 24) ~ not belonging to any capitalize on (I. 33)— profit from, turn fo on single company 's advantageTask 6 Task 8 Task9 eNO When you read the text to decide on a title, which of the following did you de? Did you: (read the text slowly and try to understand every wor (1 read quickly and try to understand the main theme? 11 underline or mark sentences that you thought were important? (1 make notes about important points? Which of these reading strategies do you think is most appropriate for this kind oftask? Which do you think is least appropriate? Answer these questions about the text. How many mainframes did IBM think it was possible to sell in 1952? How many PCs have now been sold? Who paid for the initial research into PCs? Which company later used the results of this research Lo develop their operating system? What ure command-based operating systems? DR/DOS is an acronym. What does it stand for? Since the invention of the IBM PC, many of its features have been improved. Which of the following features does the text not mention in this respect? a = memory b speed © size d cost Give three examples from the text of how the availability of computers has ‘in all probability changed the world for ever’. Using the line references given. look back in the text and find words that have a similar meaning to: international (ines 10-15) contested (lines 15~20) errors (lines 25-30) paid for (lines 25-30) huy (lines 45-50) first (ines 60-65) recommendation (lines 65-70) improved (lines 75-80) ‘Translate the sixth paragraph (starting ‘The original IBM PC...") into your own Janguage. Look carefully at the tenses before you start. Speaking ‘The article states that ‘many computers in people's homes are just used to play computer games’. Discuss the following questions: In what other ways are computers used at home, or outsicle work? Ifyou alreudy have a PC, how do you use it? (Ifnot, how would you use one?)The processor PRL eee # Reading Read this passage about the structure of the processor and filln the gaps using the words below. Structure of the processor ‘The processor consists of a” _.. which isa circuit board on which are mounted? chips, memory chips, and other ‘components linked together by ” __ lines or channels in the form of control, address, and data ______. In addition, a processor has * . which are clectronic circuits providing specialized functions such as graphies, or which connect a system board to . . The system board also consists of electronic devices. such asan electronic? for controlling the speed of operation; - which store numeric data during the course of processing; and various” including sequence control register, address register, and function register. laplor boards registers microprocessor clock conductive buses system bord accurudators input or output devivesReading Task 12 Use the information in the reading passage and the diagram to help you match the terms below with the appropriate explanation or definition. A processor consists of many different electronic circuits and deviees for performing contcol functions, arithmetic and logic operations, and data transfers. Data may be transferred from backing storage to the internal memory or from the internal memory to the arithmetic unit by means of 5 conductive channels known as buses. The part of the processor which controls data transfers between the various input and output devices is called the control unit. Microprocessor onip ‘Arithmetic: [>) Control bus Connecting | fogie unit. ; : enn vom _ dovices Registers | Lm] Address bus i me } ¥ 52 Bort Accumuietors | >| Data bus Lseful expressions: What isjare...? What does/do... do? Word-play Complete the puzzle and find the key word in 12 down. 12 eu 10 u Across ; A conductive line such as # data bus. (7) ’ A visual symbol used ina menu Lo represent a file or program. (4) ‘An input device used in computer games. (7) ‘An device converts the electrical signals inside a computer into 2 form that can exist outside the computer. (6) ‘The name given to system software that is held in ROM. (8) A device with one or more buttons used to point al locations on a computer screen. (5) ‘The part of the CPU that transmits co-ordinating control signals and commands to the computer. (7.4) 1,048,576 bytes. (8) A large store of computerized data. (8) ‘The —___ system was first used commercially on the Apple Macintosh computer, but is now widely used on IBM machines. (7) Asignal route dedicated to sending information about locations within a computer. {7,3} Down A register containing the results of an operation performed by the arithmetic- logic unit. (11)Exercise 1 Language focus A Contextual reference ‘Transitional markers are words used to link ideas together so that the text is, easier to read. When pronouns such as it, they, them, I, he, she, which, who, whose, that, such, one, and demonstrative adjectives such as this, that, these ard those, are used as transitional markers, they refer to a word, or words, mentioned earlier in the sentence or paragraph. Their function is to take your thoughts back to something that has already been mentioned. Other words which are often used to refer backwards are the former, the latter, the first, second, etc., the last. Sample paragraph: 1 Acomputerijike any other machine, is used becau: certain jobs better and more efliciently than humans. It}\can receive more information|and process il faster than any human. The speed at which a computer works means it can replace weeks or even months of pen paper work. Therefore computersiare used when the time sav cost industry, and research. any reasons {hey-are used so much in busines is one of the Using the sample paragraph as a model, draw a rectangle around the word, or words, that the circled words refer to. Then join the and the |_—}with arrows. Modern accounting firms use spreadsheet software to do complicated calculations¢‘heyean providedheiselients with an up-to-date report nd can be integrated whenever itiis needed< This software has many functio with other software, ‘the spreadsheet’s basic component is a cell.Thismay contain a formula which)performs a mathematical operation. I'could also contain a label or data. The formeDdescribes the information on the worksht (The lattepis the information itself. ogram.(I)is made up of aries depending on ‘The worksheet is the basic work area of a spreadsheet pr cells arranged in rows and columns. The number oft the software you are using, You can change the width and format of cells. parameters are usually quite easy to change with just a few keystrokes, ALExercise 2 Noutwne Using the line reference given, look back at the reading passage in Unit 1, page 6, and find the reference for the words in italics. anyone can make them (line 25) the ideas that they put (line 34) ‘This was @ graphical interface (line 37) it became the standard machine (line 44) these are operating systems (line 50) it has become # minor player (line 68) this could be upgraded (line 76)Task 1 Portable computers ‘Those? Those are the batteries.” Start-up Discuss the following questions: How small do you think computers can usefully become? To what extent does the size of a computer influence what it can be used for? Think of examples to Illustrate your answer.Task2 tening Listen to the following extract from a radio talk show called Computerworks in which the host talks with Sandra Cavanah, a writer with a computer maguzine. As you listen, fill in the mis portable computers. Portable Power: Weight: Screen size: Input device Power: Weight Screen size: Input device: Notebook Power: Weight: Screen size: Input device: Clipboard Power: Weight: Screen size: Input device: Power: Weight Screen size: Input device: ing information about the various runson ' between 15 and.’ pounds about ten inches diagonally keyboard runs on rechargeable * generally between 8 and 15 pounds about * _. diagonally keyboard batteries as little as * pounds as smalll as inches keyboard between” _________ and 6 pounds similar wo notebook and laptop can operate on batteries less than very small keysTask 3 a b © d e t g Task 4 Reading Before reading the text, match these words with their det tions: surface on which pictures or data are shown pattern used as a guide for creating letters or characters ig oF writing clipboard I stylus 2 electrical force screen 3 grid 4 individual dot on a computer screen voltage 5 network of ines crossing at right angles pixel 6 pointed implement for draw template 7 portable board with a clip at the top for holding papers Read the text and decide why the author chose the title Delete Keys. Can you suggest a better title? w 1s Delete Keys - Clipboard Technology Paty sas aavenatios Silicon Valley and Tokyo have been working to design computers that are cver casier to use, There is one thing, however, that has prevented the machines from becoming their nser-friendliest: you still have to input data with a Keyboard, and that can require you to doa lot of typing and to memorize a lot of elaborate commands, Enter the clipboard computer, a technology that has been in development for the last 20 years but took hold in the mass market, only this year. Clipboard PCs— which, as theic name suggests, are not much bigger than an actual clipboard - replace the keyooard with a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen and an electronic stylus. Users input data by printing individual letters directly on the sereen. There are two technologies at work in a clipboard PC: one allows raw data to get into the computer and the other allows the computer to figure ont what that data means. The first technology relies principally on hardware and varies, depending on the particular computer. In one system, marketed under the name GRIDPad, the computer's LCD screen is covered by a sheet of glass with a transparent conductive coating. Voltage is sent 0 45 on ~” 7 across the glass in horizontal and vertical lines forming a fine grid: at any point on the grid, the voltage is slightly diferent. When the stylus — which is essentially a voltmeter — touches the screen, itinforms the computer of the voltage at that point. The computer uses this information to determine where the stylus is and canses a liquid crystal pixel to appear at those coordinates. The position of the stylus is monttored several hundred times a second, so as the stylus moves across the glass, whole strings of pixels are activated. ‘What we do is sort nf eanneet the dots,’ says Jeff Hawkins, the creator of GRIDPad. “Users can then write whatever they want on the screen with a kind of electronic ink.’ Making that writing comprehensible to the computer, however, requires the help of some powerlul software. When the stylus is being sed, the ‘computer is programmed to look for moments when the tip does not touch the screen for a third ofa second or more. Every time this happens —and it happens a lot when somebody is printing — the software assumes that one letter or number has been written, The pixel positions ofTask5 16 “4 this fresh character are then passed and Sony's Palmtop and Canon's on to the computer's pattern AL Note, both sold only in Japan. recognition software, which, 11 TBMand Apple are also pouring 80 instantly identifies the letter or millions of dollars into the umber written, technology. ‘The software does this by first In addition to this hardware. a cleaning up the character — variety of software is also smoothing ont croaked lines and 115. making its way to the market 85 removing errant dots. The Depending on the power of the remaining lines und curves are then computer and the sophistication compared with a series of templates ofthe software, clipboard {in the computer's memory that systems can be programmed to represent hundreds of thousands of 120 understand the particular quirks oo different versions of every Tetter in ofa particular user’s printing: the Bnglish alphabet and all ten this is an especially useful numerals, When the computer finds feature in Japan, where tbe closest match, it encodes the elaborate kanji characters make character in memory and displaysit 125 up most of the written language. 85. on the screen asifit had been typed Improvements in software may The entire process takes just a soon allow machines sold in the fraction of a second. To delete a US to understand not only word, you simply draw a line printing but continuous seript as through it. To move to the next 130 well 200 page, you flick the stylus at the Given such flexibility, the bottom of the screen as if you're designers of clipboard computers flicking the page of a book, aire predicting big things ~ and a There are a handful of clipboard big market ~ for their products computers now on the market, 135. ‘There's no doubt about it,” says 105. including GRIDPad, which is sold in an optimistic Hawkins. ‘You're the US; Penvision, manufactured by going to own one of these things NCR gnd sold around the world: in the not-too-distant future.” Wl Vocabulary printing (I. 73)—{in this case) writing separated letters or numbers by hand Kanji (1. 124) — Japanese script which uses Chinese characters Decide whether the following statements are true (1) or false (B) in celation to the information in the text. If you think a statement is false, change it to make it ue. (1 The Americans and the Japanese are working together to produce user- friendlier computers. ‘The chipboard computer was first sold twenty years ago. On a clipboard, an electronic pen replaces the traditional keyboard. In the GRIDPad system, when the pen touches the screen, itinforms the computer and a liquid crystal pixel appears at that point. ‘The software decides that one character or number is complete if the tip of the stylus Is not in contact with the sereen for more than half a second. ‘The whole process of recognizing letters or numbers and printing them on the screen takes very little time. ‘There are many clipboard computers sok today which arc all available the world, stems can be made to understand any kind of writing, OO 00 000Task6é Use the information in the text to complete the dialogue in your own words. A. How bigis a clipboard P A Does it have a keyboard? A How does the stylus work? A And how does the computer recognize different letters? B ae A. Can you delete a word after you have written it? B Yes. A. Are these systems capable of recognizing joined writing? Task7 Using the line reference given, look back in the text and find the reference for the words in italics. from becoming their user-friendli one allows raw data to get (line 27) it informs the computer (line 45) Every time this happens (line 72) which instantly identifies (line 79) it encodes the character in memory (line 93) this is an especially (line 122} for their products (line 134) ‘(line 7) eNO ene Task 8 Using the line references given, look back in the text and find words or phrases that have a similar meaning to: understand (lines 25-30) sold (lines 30-35) covering (lines 35-40) points (lines 50-55) join (lines 55-60) making even (lines 80-85) not straight (lines 80-85) made by mistake (lines 85-90) move quickly and sharply (lines 95~100) unique features (lines 115-120) Seeuangune 17Task9 Choose the correct word to complete each sentence. You may have to change some words slightly. 1 electron, electronic, electronics, electronically a An__.____ penis one example of an input device. 1b A computer solves problems © Many. students go on to work as engineers. 2 technology, technological, technologically, technologist a The computers the greatest invention of the twentieth century, b There are two involved in a clipboard PC. ‘Today's computers ace ._____._ far superior to those used a few years ago. 3 identify, identifying, identifiable, identity a The clipboard’s pattern recognition software immediately _ - ‘the letters and numbers written by the stylus. b Most computer companies will not allow people without an card to enter their premises. © A password is a mechanism for ___.__ the computer-user and allowing access, 4 compute, computing, computation, computerize, computertzation a The, short term, but cost-effective in the long term, __ of the manufacturing division will be expensive in the 1b We should be able to.___ our profit for next year fairly accurately with the new program. © [could tell from all the _____on the board that a maths lesson was in progress. Writing ‘Translate the third paragraph (starting “There are two technologies... )into your language. Check the meaning of any unfamiliar technical words in the glossary at the back of this book, Speaking Task 11 Discuss the following questions: 1 Whatare the limitations of portable computers? 2 Do you think students should be allowed to use portable computers in class? 18Task 12 Writing CF-170 Notebook Computer. Somat get are Mihegeosin Meee fn finn Just the right size and specification from Panasonic. Technical features S640 Rk RAM 14d NO 23° | lmao since 6¢RROS {tam t= 254 (2) Seo {6 Fy MS DOS ape Sk gd oo oe te Soon PED iy #4 toujours cs * Epon of fan an RAM card ray orabec hata hey at fear try eyo | re 95 100 pri 0% Write an advertisement for a real or imaginary notebook computer. Your material should include its name and type, its size, price, and capacity, and the features that make it superior to other models. ‘You may base your material on the advertisement above, but do not copy straight from the text. 19Task 13 Task 14 20 Speaking Work in pairs. Student A: You arc a sales representative trying to sell your company's notebook computer. You are presenting your product to the Sales Director ofa manufacturing company which is thinking of buying 30 notebook computers, for the sales staif. Decide on the specifications and complete the table below. Then try to persuade the Sales Director to buy your product, Name — Type (size) Processor type —___ Operating speed Memory a Display — Power supply — Cost — Otherfeatures > Usefull expressions Itcost It runs/operates on... Ie weighs... Student B: You are the Sales Director of a manufacturing company. You are considering buying 30 notebook computers for your sales staff. Find out about all the specifications of the model on offer. Decide whether it is suitable for your needs. » useful expressions How much does it cost? What power source does it use? How big/heavy fs 2 Operating systems Before you read the text, try to'answer the following questions: What is an operating system and what is its purpose? Where is an operating system stored and how is it transferred to internal memory? List some of the tasks typically performed by an operating system. Now read the text and check your answers.20 20 35 40 General features of operating systems An operating system is a master control program which controls the functions of the computer system as a whole and the running of application programs. All computers do not use the same operating systems. It is therefore important to assess the operating system used on a particular model before initial commitment because some software is only designed (o run under the control of speciic operating systems. Some operating systems are adopted as ‘industry standards’ and these are the ones which should be evaluated because they normally have a good software base. The reason for this is that software houses are willing to expand resources on the development of application packages for machines functioning under the control ofan operating system which is widely used. The cost of software is likely to be lower in such circumstances as the development cosis are spread over a greater number of users, both actual and potential. Mainframe computers usually process several application programs concurrently, switching from one to the other. for the purpose of Increasing processing productivity, This is known as multiprogramming (multi-tasking in the context of microcomputers), which requires a powerlul operating system incorporating work scheduling facilities to control the switching between programs. This entails reading in data for one program while the processor is performing computations on another and printing out results on vet another. In multi-user environments an operating system is required to control terminal operations on a shared access basis as only one user can access the system at any moment of time. The operating system allocates control to cach terminal in turn. Such systems also require a system for record locking and unlocking, to prevent one user attempting to read a record whilst another user is updating it, for instance. The first user is allocated control to write to a record (or file in some instances} and other users are denied access until the record is updated and unlocked. Some environments operate in concurrent batch and real-time mode. This means that a ‘background’ job deals with routine batch processing whilst the ‘foreground’ job deals with real-time operations such as airline seat reservations, on-line booking of hotel accommodation, or control of warehouse stocks, etc, The real-time operation has priority, and the operating system interrupts batch processing operations to deal with real- time enquiries or file updates. The stage of batch processing attained at the time of the interrupt is temporarily transferred to backing storage. Alter the real-time operation has been dealt with, the interrupted program is transferred back to Internal memory from backing storage. and processing recommences fram a ‘restart’ point. The operating system also copies to disk backing storage the state of the real-time system every few minutes (periodic check points} to provide a means of ‘recovering’ the system in the event of a malfunction, An operating systems stored on disk and has to be booted Into the internal memory (RAM) where it must reside throughout processing so that commands are instantly available, The operating system commands may excced the intemal memory capacity of the computer in which case only that portion of the OS which is frequently used is retained internally, other modules being read in Irom disk as required. Many microcomputers function under the vontrol of a disk operating system known as DOS. 21Task 15 wn Task 16 ON aur enea Task 17 eA hee © 10 Answer these questions about the text. Why is it important to assess the operating system on a computer before buying it? What is multiprogramming? “The text gives some examples of real-time processing. Can you think of some examples of batch-processing? ss performed by an operating system. In each case the the blanks trom the words given. Somet mes Here is a list of typical tas main verb has been omitted. Fil more than one may apply. A typical operating system will: _—. Input and output devices. a the status of hardware devices. a ———. hardware interrupts. ~ new disks. - _- disk divectories. _— disk reading and writing operations. —— disk errors. __—.. disk commands relating to the deletion, copying, renaming, and dumping of files, execute monitor format diagnose Match these common DOS commands with the appropriate explanation. BACKUP. a searches for a specific string of text in a file. CHDIR or CD b allows. text file from the current directory to be displayed on screen. CHKDSK ¢ _ullows the user to change the name ofa CLs saves the contents of the hard disk to a floppy disk for security purposes. DEL eis used when itis necessary to change the current directory. DIR‘SORT +f clears data from the screen. REN g alphabetically sorts and lists a disk directory. TYPE fh makes back-up copies of the contents of one disk to another. FIND i deletes a specilied file from the current directory, specified drive, or specilied path. DISKCOPY — j_prodaces a status report of the currently loggcd-on disk, indicating the amount of disk space used. the available capacity (in bytes), and the number of liles on disk.Task 18 ee NOMeWNe Word-play Pind the hidden words in this square. Some appear vertically, some horizontally, and some diagonally. They may be upside-down or back to front, Use the clues below to help you. The number oflletters in each word and the first letter of the word appear in brackets after the clue. The first one has been done for you. Pou ke AH Be BEX sre v ke uomlely 4 RON D ry wus a Find words which mean: a. computer that is small enough to hold in the hand. (7, P) an electronic pen. (6, S) to crase or omit. (6, D) one type of portable computer which operates with an electronte pen. (9, C) the information that the computer processes. (4, D) a network of lines crossing at right angles. (4, G) a signal {0 a processor to suspend temporarily the current sequence of instructions. (9, 1) a pattern used as a guide for creating letters or characters. (8, T) an individual dot on a computer screen. (5, P) a24 Language focus B Word formation: prefixes When you are reading, you will come across unfamiliar words. It is often possible to guess the meanings of these words if you understand the way words in English are generally formed. suffixes prefix >| stem ‘An English word can he divided into three parts: a prelix, a stem, and a sulfix. Pre-means ‘before’. A prefix, therefore, is what comes before the stem. Consider, as an example, the prefix de- (meaning ‘reduce’ or ‘reverse’) in a word like demagnetize (meaning ‘to deprive of magnetism’). A sullix is what is attached to the end of the stem. Consider, as an example, the suflix -er (meaning ‘someone who") in programmer (‘a person who programs’). Sufixes change the word from one pact of speech to another. For example, -ly added to the adjective quick gives the adverb quickly. Prefixes, on the other hand, usually change the meaning of the word. For example. un- changes a word to the negative, Unmagnetizable means ‘not capable of being magnetized’ Letus now consider some prefixes, their usual meanings, and how they change the meanings of English words. Prefixes Negative Size Location Time and Number and positive order un- semi- inter- pre- mono- non- mini- super: ante- bic in- micro- twans- fore- hex- dis- ex. post- oct- re: extra: multi- periExercise 1 Study these tables. Try to find additional examples. using your dictionary if necessary. Negative and positive prefixes: Meaning Negative not non- not connected with mis- ms } bad, wrong dis [opposite feling opposite action anti- against de- reduce, reverse under too little Positive re- do again over- too much Prefixes of size: Prefix Meaning sem half, partly equi- equal mini- small micro- very small macro- } large, great mega- Prefixes of lacation: Prefix Meaning inter- between, among. super- over trans- across ex: out extra- beyond sub- under infra- below peri- around Examples unmagnetized incomplete impossible illegal irregular, irrelevant non-programmabl misdirect malfunction disagree disconnect antiglare demagnetize, decode underestimate reorganize overload Examples semiconductor equidistant minicomputer microcomputer macroeconomics megabyte Examples interface, interacti supersonic ‘transmit, transfer exclude, extrins extraordinary subschema infra-red peripheralExercise 2 4 Prefixes of time and order: Prelix Meaning Examples ante- antecedent before 4. pre- prelix prime- first primary, primitive _ post- after postdated 5 retto- backward retroactive 5. Prefixes of numbers: Prefix Meaning Fxamples semi- half semicirele mono- one monochromatic bi- two binary tie three triangle quad- four quadruple penta- five pentagon hex- six hexadecimal sept(em)- seven September oct- eight octal dec: ten decimal malti- many multiplexor 6 Other prefixes: Prefix Meaning Examples before, in advance program pro- forward, progress auto- self automatic co together, with °o-etdinate con- connect Read the following prelix, try to decide what the p help. ene mistake. entences and circle the prelixes. For each word that hes a means, Reler back to the table if you need Floppy disks are Inexpensive and reuseable. Ifa printer malfunctions, you should check the interface cable. ‘The mukiiplexor was not working because someone had disconnected it by 4 Improper installation of the antiglare shield will make it impossible to read what is on the screen. 5 After you transfer text using the ‘cut and paste’ feature, you may have to reformat the text you have inserted. 6 Youcan maximize your chances of finding a job if'you are bilingual or even wilingual,Peripheral devices can be either input devices (such as keyboards) or output devices (such as printers). Your pay rise is retroactive to the beginning of June and you will receive a bi- enoual bonus. ‘The octal and hexadecimal systems are number systems used us a form of shorthand in reading groups of four binary digits ‘As the results are irregular, the program will have to be rewrilien. Tillin the gaps with the correct prefix from the following list, auto de dec inter maxi = mega=—smicro. mini mono — multi semi sub _chrome screen. Most people prefer a colour screen to a _script is a character or symbol written below and to the right of a number or letter, often used in science. ‘A.____byte equals approximately one million bytes. Once you finish your program, you will have to test it and .___bugit to remove all the mistakes. ‘The introduction of conductor technology revolutionized the computer industry. a computer system hus two or more central processors which are under common control, itis called processor system The imal system is a number system with a base of 10. ‘When the user and the computer are in active communication on a graphics system, we refer to this as _ active graphics.Online services Task 1 Task 2 N w O 0000 oo es we 28 Discuss the following questions: What online services are available in your country? What kind of facilities do online services provide? Reading Decide whether the following statements are teue (T) or false (F) in 1 the information in the text which follows. Ifyou think a statement change it to make it true. [1 Most people choose an online service because of the price or the numter of available files. Everybody has one service which he/she likes more than all the others. You should judge each service according to whether it is better or worse overall than the service you are currently using. Eventually, all services will be accessible from the service you are using. MeGraw-Hlill is owned by BIX. Tammy Ray and Jeanette Shearer think the BIX service is average. French Minitel users have free access to an English-language version of CompuServe, although they cannot use the e-mail facility. DELPLU's Hobby Shop now has two special-interest areas: one on elassic vehicles, and one on new cars and technology.