CHAPTER TWO READING pages 18 and 19 COMPUTERS
[00:10.08]Tony plans to write an article about computers.
[00:17.06]This is some of the information he has collected.
[00:23.30]Hidden helpers
[00:26.78]Not so many years ago.
[00:30.90]You hardly ever saw computers.
[00:35.94]Now they are everywhere.
[00:40.70]There may also be tiny hidden computers in your home that you are unaware of.
[00:50.13]There may be one inside your TV set, telephone or washing machine.
[00:57.78]So maybe you depend on computers more than you realize.
[01:06.04]What kind of jobs can a computer do?
[01:11.60]It is common knowledge that computers are super calculators.
[01:18.97]They can calculate very fast and rarely give wrong answers.
[01:26.91]They can also type, print and draw things like diagrams and graphs.
[01:36.97]They can teach you and play games with you.
[01:42.01]More importantly,they can operate railways
[01:47.89](like the Underground) and fly aeroplanes and spaceships.
[01:55.33]For these reasons,we often call them electronic brains
[02:03.19]Is a computer cleverer than I am?
[02:08.86]The answer to this question is,for the time being,'No'.
[02:16.72]Your brain can understand the meaning of things better and create new ideas.
[02:26.47]However,one day computers may be abl to do most things that a human brain can do
[02:35.61]and do them better.
[02:39.45]They may be better than doctors,judges and teachers at doing their jobs.
[02:49.43]If this is true,it raises interesting questions.
[02:56.98]What will happen to us if computers can do our jobs?
[03:03.82]How will we spend our lives? Will we have nothing to do?
[03:11.97]Computers may change our lives.
[03:16.44]But will they make them better?
[03:20.28]How do we give a computer instructions?
[03:25.92]We give a computer instructions by putting a program into it.
[03:34.70]The program is written by a human being,
[03:40.76]and it is essential that the human does make a mistake.
[03:48.13]If we want a computer to do different jobs,
[03:54.19]we have to give it different programs.
[03:59.46]CD-ROMs
[04:03.41]Many of today's computers have CD-ROM drives.
[04:10.57]A CD-ROM can hold over 300,000 pages of writing,
[04:18.74]and can also contain pictures and sound.
[04:24.80]Thus,for example,you can use your computer
[04:32.17]to read about a famous person in history such as John F Kennedy
[04:39.43]and you can see a photograph or video of him,
[04:44.58]and even listen to him speaking.
[04:49.25]Some people think that CD-ROMs will soon be more popular than books.
[04:57.40]LISTENING Page 21
[05:01.95]Filling in an order form
[05:06.21]Listen to the recording,and complete the details of Mabel's order on the form below.
[05:15.56]The first one is done for you.
[05:20.21]Use the words and pictures to help you.
[05:25.67]After you have finished,work out the grand total.
[05:32.15]A:Top office supplies, how may I help you?
[05:37.71]B:I'd like to play the order please?
[05:42.28]A:Right,may I have your company's name, please?
[05:48.34]B:Yes,it's Hi-Lo Enterprises.
[05:54.09]A:And may I have your name?
[05:58.53]B:Yes,I'm Mabel Wang.
[06:02.76]A:Mabel Wang.And do you have your customer number?
[06:10.00]B:Yes,KY-73620
[06:18.64]A:KY-73620,thank you. Now,what did you want to order?
[06:31.31]B:I'll give you the order reference number,shall I?
[06:36.77]The first is J-1505.That's a box of ball-point pens.
[06:47.93]A:What colour?
[06:50.88]B:Black, we would like 3 boxes please?
[06:56.52]A:3 boxes.There, 38 yuan per box.So that the total of, 114 yuan.
[07:10.08]B:Right,next some paper.The reference number is P-1961.
[07:20.66]A:P-1961.That's A4 paper,what colour, white?
[07:30.93]B:Yes,white.We'd like 10 boxes please?
[07:37.27]A:10 boxes at 30 yuan each.That's 3 hundred yuan.Right, anything else?
[07:48.64]B:Yes,I'd like screen filter.It's No.C-4091
[07:59.29]A:C-4091,a screen filter. What size?
[08:09.43]B:Er.Medium.
[08:13.79]A:Medium.Just one.
[08:18.52]B:Yes,that's 480 yuan, right?
[08:25.47]A:Let me check.Yes, 490 yuan,anything else?
[08:34.43]B:Yes,some floppy disks.Reference No. D-2791.
[08:44.77]A:D-2791,floppy disks. That's a box of 10 floppies.
[08:55.22]B:Yes,we'd like 5 boxes please.That's 75 yuan each,I think
[09:04.47]A:Yes,75 yuan for each box,5 boxes,so the total is 375 yuan.
[09:17.92]B:Right,I just want one more thing,I want a good office chair.
[09:26.18]The No.is C-4083.That's the high-back chair.
[09:34.64]A:A high-back chair, one.Do you want a black or white?
[09:43.39]B:Black please.
[09:46.55]A:Black,right.And the price for that is 1,800 yuan.
[09:57.11]B:Yes,that's all.
[10:01.08]A:Thank you very much. We'll deliver those tomorrow morning.
[10:07.74]B:Good,thank you, good-bye.
[10:11.58]A:Good-bye.
[10:14.45]SPEAKING Page 27
[10:19.10]A Talk time
[10:23.26]Giving opinions, agreeing and disagreeing
[10:29.73]A:I think beef tastes better than pork.
[10:34.70]B:I agree.
[10:37.44]A:In my opinion,Amy is a better cook than you are.
[10:43.97]B:I don't agree.
[10:47.13]Exercise A1
[10:51.18]TONY:I think Shanghainese food is better than Sichuan food.
[10:57.42]JOYCE:I don't agree.
[11:01.19]In my opinion,Sichuan food is better.
[11:07.12]TONY:But Sichuan food is hotter.
[11:12.44]JOYCE:I agree.That's why I like it.
[11:17.20]MORE PRACTICE Page 31
[11:22.37]The History of the Internet
[11:28.01]A research team at the United States Pentagon
[11:33.58]first developed the concept of linking computers together in the 1960s.
[11:42.04]They wanted to have a system that would enable universities,
[11:49.20]research departments and the military to share resources with each other.
[11:56.77]Computers at this time were as large as refrigerators
[12:02.94]and could not be transported easily.
[12:08.19]Another problem was that they were often complicated
[12:14.43]and not compatible with each other.
[12:19.29]The research team had to overcome these difficulties
[12:24.93]to create a network that could share computing power.
[12:31.10]Gradually,more and more scholars came online.
[12:37.05]Years later, businessmen began using the Internet, too.
[12:43.53]The number of people using it is increasing all the time
[12:50.80]and it is becoming more widely available across the world.
[12:57.74]In fact,somewhere in every continent in the world,
[13:03.78]it is possible to use the Internet.
[13:08.74]There is a wide range of services available on the Internet.
[13:15.40]This means that there are many different ways to communicate.
[13:21.33]The most popular way is undoubtedly electronic mail
[13:28.10]more commonly called'e-mail
[13:32.36]The second most popular is browsing on the World Wide Web(WWW).
[13:41.71]Briefly,the WWW is a very big series of connected pages
[13:49.65]containing various forms of multimedia.
[13:54.51]The third most popular way is real time text based communication between users
[14:02.76]such as IRC-Internet Relay Chat.
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