Numbers: Everyone's language
[00:08.70]How many languages do you know?
[00:13.45]Everyone knows at least two his or her own language
[00:22.52]and the international language of numbers.
[00:28.45]Ancient numbers
[00:32.21]In ancient times,
[00:36.15]people wrote numbers in many different ways,
[00:42.42]as these pictures of the number 6 show.
[00:47.99]However,they nearly all counted in the same way--in tens.
[00:56.74]Zero
[00:59.51]The system of numbers that nearly everyone uses today
[01:06.27]consists of the numbers from 1 to 9 and 0 (zero).
[01:13.25]With these ten numbers we can write any number from the biggest to the smallest.
[01:22.99]The Indians first invented and developed the 1 to 9 system of numbers.
[01:32.06]They then invented the zero.
[01:36.71]This was a very important invention
[01:41.75]because it made it easier to write big numbers and to calculate.
[01:49.40]Calculating machines One of the first calculating machines was an abacus.
[01:58.94]Abacuses are so fast and accurate that people still use them today.
[02:07.87]On the abacus in the picture,
[02:12.13]the beads on the wires represent ones, tens,hundreds and thousands
[02:23.67]starting from the bottom wire.
[02:27.62]The picture on the right shows a modern electronic calculator.
[02:34.28]It can add,subtract, multiply and divide.
[02:42.46]It can also calculate percentages and square roots.
[02:50.00]This picture shows a computer.
[02:54.76]Computers are very powerful calculating machines.
[03:01.60]In a flash, a computer can do a calculation
[03:07.56]that you could not do in your whole lifetime
[03:12.91]Brain against computer Some people call the brain a living computer.
[03:22.66]Is a human brain a more powerful calculator than a computer?
[03:29.53]The following story may give an answer.
[03:34.67]Shakuntala Devi is a lady from India with an amazing brain.
[03:42.54]She can calculate like lightning.
[03:47.00]In America,Shakuntala and a very powerful computer
[03:53.85]were given this problem to solve.
[03:58.52]Shakuntala's brain took fifty seconds to find the answer.
[04:05.05]The computer took a minute.
[04:09.29]However,before the computer could begin calculating,
[04:15.63]someone had to program it with instructions,
[04:20.68]and that took many hours.
[04:24.72]No one had to program Shakuntala!
[04:29.30]Use your own living computer to solve the problem above.
[04:36.56]If it is not powerful enough,you will find the answer on page 59.
[04:42.20]LISTENING Page 52
[04:47.16]A quiz about numbers
[04:51.24]Now try a quiz about numbers.
[04:55.99]Listen to the instructions on the recording,
[05:00.96]and draw a circle around the right answer.
[05:06.52]1 Which one of these is an even number?
[05:14.88]2 Which one of these is a fraction?
[05:22.32]3 Which one of these is a percentage?
[05:30.68]4 Multiply 8 by 4.What is the answer?
[05:40.24]5 Subtract 11 from 32 What is the answer?
[05:51.01]6 Which one of these is a decimal number?
[05:58.45]7 Which one of these is an odd number?
[06:06.03]8 Which one of these is a number showing degrees?
[06:14.88]9 Add a half and one point five.What is the answer?
[06:25.83]10 Divide 99 by 9 and add one.What is the answer?
[06:37.58]11 My phone number is 25652881.
[06:54.75]12 You must take the thirteen A minibus from central.
[07:05.01]13 The taxi rate is going up to 18 percent next year.
[07:16.56]14 This ring costs fifty thousand dollars.
[07:25.70]15 The maximum temperature today was 30.5 degrees.
[07:37.74]SPEAKING Pages 55 and 56
[07:43.78]A Talk time
[07:47.72]Numbers
[07:50.36]Exercise A11
[07:54.44]1.3 three 5 five
[07:59.01]6 six 9 nine
[08:03.27]13 thirteen 15 fifteen
[08:08.12]16 sixteen 19 nineteen
[08:13.77]30 thirty 50 fifty
[08:18.63]60 sixty 90 ninety
[08:24.87]32 thirty-two
[08:28.24]55 fifty-four
[08:31.40]67 sixty-seven
[08:35.55]98 ninety-eight
[08:39.03]2.100 one hundred
[08:43.76]200 two hundred
[08:46.79]210 two hundred and ten
[08:50.55]375 three hundred and seventy-five
[08:55.09]1,000 one thousand
[08:58.46]4,189 four thousand one hundred and eighty-nine
[09:04.10]15,362 fifteen thousand three hundred and sixty-two
[09:10.16]100,000 one hundred thousand
[09:13.82]3.284,653 two hundred and eighty-four thousand six hundred and fifty-three
[09:22.89]1,000,000 one million
[09:25.94]one million three hundred and sixty-seven thousand nine hundred and eighty-two
[09:30.48]1,367,982
[09:35.01]Exercise A2
[09:39.16]May is first.
[09:42.71]Alan is second.
[09:46.66]Danny is third.
[09:50.21]June is fourth.
[09:53.97]Peter is twelfth.
[09:57.60]Alice is nineteenth.
[10:01.55]Steve is twenty-eighth
[10:05.81]Exercise A3
[10:09.96].3 point three
[10:12.91]0.3 zero point three
[10:16.57].368 point three six eight
[10:21.82]7.145 seven point one four five
[10:28.30]36.36 thirty-six point three six
[10:34.78]Exercise A4
[10:40.52]2921 5143 2565 1351
[10:58.68]2471 0122 2389 4167
[11:15.32]2010 5100 2724 5566
[11:30.78]2978 1121 2356 4399
[11:46.04]Exercise A5
[11:50.17]2890 6521(two eight nine zero, six five two one).
[11:56.54]Hello,Rita. This is May.
[12:01.29]Hi,May.What can I do for you?
[12:07.22]I think I copied down a homework problem wrongly.
[12:12.06]Can I check it with you?
[12:15.82]Sure.Which one?
[12:20.36]Number 5.
[12:23.52]Is it 0.92(zero point nine two)
[12:29.17]multiplied by 18.18(eighteen point one eight)?
[12:35.41]No.It should be multiplied by 18.16 (eighteen point one six).
[12:45.39]Thanks,Rita. See you tomorrow. Bye.
[12:51.63]Goodbye,May.
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