Вопрос № 844670 - Английский язык

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INFORMATION SYSTEMS

1. The future of information systems may be gathered from several areas of current research. As all information carriers (text, video, and sound) can be converted to digital form and manipulated by increasingly sophisticated techniques, the ranges of media, functions, and capabilities of information systems are constantly expanding. Evolving techniques of natural-language processing and understanding, knowledge representation, and neural process modelling have begun to join the more traditional range of methods of content analysis and manipulation. The use of these techniques opens the possibility of receiving new knowledge from existing data.

2. Computer visualisation, a new field that has grown expansively since the early 1990s, deals with the conversion of masses of data coming from instruments, databases, or computer simulations into visual displays - the most efficient method of human information reception, analysis, and exchange.

3. Related to computer visualisation is the research area of virtual reality or virtual worlds, which denotes the generation of synthetic environments through the use of three-dimensional displays and interaction devices. A number of research directions in this area are particularly relevant to future information systems: knowledge-based world modelling; the development of physical analogues for abstract quantitative and organisational data; and search and retrieval in large virtual worlds.

4. Present-day computers are remarkably versatile machines capable of assisting humans in nearly every problem-solving task that involves symbol manipulations. Television, on the other hand, has penetrated societies throughout the world as a noninteractive display device for combined video and audio signals. The forthcoming convergence of three digital technologies - namely, the computer, very-high-definition television (V-HDTV), and data communications - is inevitable. In such a system, a large-screen multimedia display monitor, containing a 64-megabit primary memory and a billion-byte hard disk for data storage and playback, would serve as a computer and, over fibre links, an interactive television receiver.

(Encyclopedia Britannica)
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What does “virtual reality” mean?

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INFORMATION SYSTEMS

1. The future of information systems may be gathered from several areas of current research. As all information carriers (text, video, and sound) can be converted to digital form and manipulated by increasingly sophisticated techniques, the ranges of media, functions, and capabilities of information systems are constantly expanding. Evolving techniques of natural-language processing and understanding, knowledge representation, and neural process modelling have begun to join the more traditional range of methods of content analysis and manipulation. The use of these techniques opens the possibility of receiving new knowledge from existing data.

2. Computer visualisation, a new field that has grown expansively since the early 1990s, deals with the conversion of masses of data coming from instruments, databases, or computer simulations into visual displays - the most efficient method of human information reception, analysis, and exchange.

3. Related to computer visualisation is the research area of virtual reality or virtual worlds, which denotes the generation of synthetic environments through the use of three-dimensional displays and interaction devices. A number of research directions in this area are particularly relevant to future information systems: knowledge-based world modelling; the development of physical analogues for abstract quantitative and organisational data; and search and retrieval in large virtual worlds.

4. Present-day computers are remarkably versatile machines capable of assisting humans in nearly every problem-solving task that involves symbol manipulations. Television, on the other hand, has penetrated societies throughout the world as a noninteractive display device for combined video and audio signals. The forthcoming convergence of three digital technologies - namely, the computer, very-high-definition television (V-HDTV), and data communications - is inevitable. In such a system, a large-screen multimedia display monitor, containing a 64-megabit primary memory and a billion-byte hard disk for data storage and playback, would serve as a computer and, over fibre links, an interactive television receiver.

(Encyclopedia Britannica)
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Computer networking is the way to develop distributed information systems.

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FIRST PERSONAL COMPUTERS

1. Personal computer is a computer designed for use by only one person at a time. It is a type of microcomputer - i.e., a small digital computer that uses only one microprocessor. A typical personal computer assemblage consists of a central processing unit, primary, or internal, memory, consisting of hard magnetic disks and a disk drive; various input/output devices, including a display screen, keyboard and mouse, modem, and printer; and secondary, or external, memory, usually in the form of floppy disks or CDs.

2. Computers small and inexpensive enough to be purchased by individuals for use in their homes first became feasible in the 1970s, when large-scale integration made it possible to construct a sufficiently powerful microprocessor on a single semiconductor chip. A small firm named MITS made the first personal computer, the Altair. This computer, which used the Intel Corporation's 8080 microprocessor, was developed in 1974. Though the Altair was popular among computer hobbyists, its commercial appeal was limited, since purchasers had to assemble the machine from a kit.

3. The personal computer industry truly began in 1977, when Apple Computer, Inc. introduced the Apple II, one of the first pre-assembled, mass-produced personal computers. Radio Shack and Commodore Business Machines also introduced personal computers that year. These machines used 8-bit microprocessors and possessed rather limited memory capacity. But because personal computers were much less expensive than mainframes, they could be purchased by individuals, small and medium-sized businesses, and primary and secondary schools.

4. The IBM Corporation, the world's dominant computer maker, did not enter the new market until 1981, when it introduced the IBM Personal Computer, or IBM PC which was only slightly faster than rival machines, but it had about 10 times their memory capacity, and it was backed by IBM's large sales organization.

(Encyclopedia Britannica)
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ENGINEERING

1. Engineering is the professional art of applying science to the optimum conversion of the resources of nature to the uses of humankind. The word engine is derived from the Latin root ingenerare, which means «to create». The engines of war were devices such as catapults, floating bridges, and assault towers; their designer was the «engineer», or military engineer. The counterpart of the military engineer was the civil engineer, who applied essentially the same knowledge and skills to designing buildings, streets, water supplies, sewage systems, and other projects.

2. The function of the scientist is to know, while that of the engineer is to do. The scientist adds to the store of verified, systematised knowledge of the physical world; the engineer brings this knowledge to bear on practical problems. Engineering is based principally on physics, chemistry, and mathematics and their extensions into materials science, solid and fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, transfer and rate processes, and systems analysis.

3. Unlike the scientist, the engineer is not free to select the problem that interests him; he must solve problems as they arise; his solution must satisfy conflicting requirements. Usually efficiency costs money; safety adds to complexity; improved performance increases weight. The engineering solution is the optimum solution, the end result that is most desirable. It may be the most reliable within a given weight limit, the simplest that will satisfy certain safety requirements, or the most efficient for a given cost. In many engineering problems the social costs are significant.

4. Engineers employ two types of natural resources - materials and energy. Materials are useful because of their properties: their strength, ease of fabrication, lightness, or durability; their ability to insulate or conduct; their chemical, electrical, or acoustical properties. Important sources of energy include fossil fuels, wind, sunlight, falling water, and nuclear fission. Since most resources are limited, the engineer must concern himself with the continual development of new resources as well as the efficient utilisation of existing ones.

(Encyclopedia Britannica)
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Thermodynamics is one of the basic parts of engineering.

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ASSEMBLY LINE

1. An assembly line is industrial arrangement of machines, equipment, and workers for continuous flow of workpieces in mass-production operations. It is designed by determining the sequences of operations for manufacture of each product component as well as the final product. Each movement of material is made as simple and short as possible. Work assignments, numbers of machines, and production rates are programmed so that all operations performed along the line are compatible.

2. An automotive assembly line starts with a bare chassis; components are attached successively as the growing assemblage moves along a conveyor. Parts are matched into subassemblies on feeder lines that intersect the main line to deliver body parts, engines, and other assemblies. As the units move past, each worker along the line performs a specific function. Each part and tool is delivered to its point of use in synchronisation with the line. A number of different assemblies are on the line simultaneously, but an intricate system of scheduling and control ensures that the appropriate body type and colour, trim, engine, and optional equipment arrive together to make the desired combinations.

3. Automated assembly lines consist entirely of machines run by machines. In such continuous-process industries as petroleum refining and chemical manufacture and in many modern automobile-engine plants, assembly lines are completely mechanised and consist almost entirely of automatic, self-regulating equipment.

4. Most products, however, are still assembled by hand because many component parts are not easily handled by a simple mechanism. The number of products automatically assembled is steadily increasing but at a low rate because a product must be designed for automatic assembly and must be accurately and consistently manufactured. Expensive and somewhat inflexible, automatic assembly machines are economical only if run at very high outputs. However, the development of versatile automatic machinery and industrial robots is increasing the flexibility of fully automated assembly operations.

(Encyclopedia Britannica)
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Automatic assembly lines are economical only if run at a very high speeds.

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ENGINEERING

1. Engineering is the professional art of applying science to the optimum conversion of the resources of nature to the uses of humankind. The word engine is derived from the Latin root ingenerare, which means «to create». The engines of war were devices such as catapults, floating bridges, and assault towers; their designer was the «engineer», or military engineer. The counterpart of the military engineer was the civil engineer, who applied essentially the same knowledge and skills to designing buildings, streets, water supplies, sewage systems, and other projects.

2. The function of the scientist is to know, while that of the engineer is to do. The scientist adds to the store of verified, systematised knowledge of the physical world; the engineer brings this knowledge to bear on practical problems. Engineering is based principally on physics, chemistry, and mathematics and their extensions into materials science, solid and fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, transfer and rate processes, and systems analysis.

3. Unlike the scientist, the engineer is not free to select the problem that interests him; he must solve problems as they arise; his solution must satisfy conflicting requirements. Usually efficiency costs money; safety adds to complexity; improved performance increases weight. The engineering solution is the optimum solution, the end result that is most desirable. It may be the most reliable within a given weight limit, the simplest that will satisfy certain safety requirements, or the most efficient for a given cost. In many engineering problems the social costs are significant.

4. Engineers employ two types of natural resources - materials and energy. Materials are useful because of their properties: their strength, ease of fabrication, lightness, or durability; their ability to insulate or conduct; their chemical, electrical, or acoustical properties. Important sources of energy include fossil fuels, wind, sunlight, falling water, and nuclear fission. Since most resources are limited, the engineer must concern himself with the continual development of new resources as well as the efficient utilisation of existing ones.

(Encyclopedia Britannica)
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Engineers employ material resources because they are unlimited.