Файл: Английский 1 семестр.docx

Is there an End to the Computer Race?

Today the word «electronics» is in general usage. Millions of people have electron watches. There are a lot of various radio and TV sets, video cassette recorders and CD players in our houses. In factories and plants we are surrounded (нас окружают) with electronically controlled machines and instruments, we are carried by airplanes, ships, trains and cars with built-in (встроенный) electronic devices, and satellites circle the globe. In other words, we are living in an electronic world.

And the center of this world is a tiny (небольшой («миниатюрный»)) silicon plate¹ of a few square millimetres, an integrated circuit², or a chip³, as it is more commonly known. The integrated circuit is undoubtedly (несомненно; без сомнения) one of the most sophisticated⁴ inventions of man, science and technology. It is in the heart of every electronic device and the more cassette recorders, TV sets and computers we need, the more integrated circuits are required.

When we speak about a further development of computers we mean not only quantity (количество), but also high technology⁵ and high speed. As the operation of an integrated circuit depends on microscopic «components», the purity (чистота) of all materials and the cleanness (чистота) at the plant they are produced at must be of the highest quality. A continuous search is going on in laboratories throughout the world for (search for – поиск (чего-л.)) more perfect, reliable and high speed electronic circuits.

In the past it took⁶ scientists and researchers a whole lifetime to make a few thousand calculations, whereas (в то время как) for a modern computer this task is a matter of a few seconds. At present computers capable of performing (to perform, to do, to make – выполнять, производить (расчеты)) billions of operations a second are required. Supercomputers are different from (отличаются от) ordinary computers. The ordinary computer does the computations operation by operation, while the supercomputer operates like a brain: all operations are being done simultaneously.

In the next few years engineers will complete the work on computers of above one billion operations a second. It will take a few more years to produce a 10-billion operations computer. The fifth-generation computers performing 100 billion operations a second will become available in the near future. Is there an end to this race (гонка)?

According to (по (согласно) утверждениям (заявлениям)) some researchers, we are close to what can be regarded (to regard – считать, рассматривать) as a true (настоящий, подлинный, действительный) physical limit. But other specialists think that photons will make the operation a thousand times faster. This means that in the future it will be possible to expect (можно будет ожидать) the appearance of photon computers and that computations will be done by means of light. Light has several advantages over electronics: light beams (beam – луч; пучек) are faster, travel in parallel lines and can pass through (проходить через (сквозь)) one another without interference⁷. Already, the optical equivalent of a transistor has been produced, and intensive research on optical-electronic (электронно-оптический, опто-электронный) computers is being carried out in a number of countries around the world (=all over the world, throughout the world – во всем мире). In a few decades a new age of light may replace the still (все еще) youthful electronic age. The race is going on.

Notes to the Text

Computers Concern You

When Ch. Babbage. a professor of mathematics at Cambridge University, invented the first calculating machine (счетная машинка, калькулятор) in 1812, he could hardly (едва ли) have imagined the situations we find ourselves (оказываемся) in today. Almost everything in modern world is done with the help of computers — the complicated (сложный) descendants (потомки) of his simple machine. Computers are being used more and more extensively (широко) in the world today, for the simple reason (по той простой причине) that they are far more (гораздо более) efficient than human beings. They have much better (зд.: намного больший) memories and can store (запоминать) great amount (большой объем) of information and they can do calculations in a fraction (за долю) of the time required by a human mathematician. No man alive (живой) can do 500,000 sums in one second, but a modern computer can.

In fact (по существу, в сущности), computers can do many things we do, but faster and better. They can control machines at factories, work out (составлять) tomorrow's weather (прогноз погоды на завтра) and even play chess, write poetry or compose music. Let's look now at some of the ways in which computers concern (иметь отношение к) people in their daily lives and work.

Many people associate (связывать (в своем восприятии) что-л. С чем-л.) computers with the world of science and mathematics, but they are also a great help to scholars (ученый; обучающийся, [школьник]) in other subjects: in history, literature and so on. It is now possible for a scholar to find a book or an article he needs very quickly, which (относится ко всему предыдущему высказыванию – поэтому переводится «что») nowadays when a million or more new books are published each year is quite an advantage (большее преимущество). You tell the computer which subject you arc interested in and it produces any microfiche (микрофише, диамикрокарта) you need in seconds.

There are also systems which are being developed to translate articles from foreign magazines by computer and to make up many lists of information which are needed in a modern library. So, computer can help us to deal with (зд.: справиться с… («совладать с»)) the knowledge explosion (зд.: бурный рост) in many ways. One can imagine a time when libraries will be run (to run – одно из значений этого глагола – «управлять (вести дела)») by computers, without human beings at all.

Or, let's take another (другой, еще один) example. When a man drives a car for long distances he has two problems: to keep the car at a constant speed and watch that he does not run into (столкнуться с, налететь на) the car in front of him. Engineers are now experimenting with a system which has a computer control (автоматизированный контроль (управление)) of [при решении] these two problems. The car's computer keeps the speed constant. At the same time the distance between the car and any other car in front of it is measured by a beam (луч) of light transmitted forwards. The beam meets the rear reflectors of the car in front (впереди идущая машина) and it is reflected back, which enables to measure the distance. This information is fed to (подается в) the computer which adjusts (to adjust – регулировать, настраивать; подстраивать) its speed control (регулятор скорости) accordingly (соответственно).

Made in Space

This label (этикетка, ярлык) «Made in Space» for industrial materials will probably (вероятно) surprise no one in the not so distant future (в не столь уж отдаленном будущем). They may include superconductors, new kinds of alloys (сплавы), substances with peculiar (особый, специфический) magnetic properties, supertransparent laser glass¹, polymers, plastics, and so on. Numerous (многочисленный) experiments carried out (to carry out = to conduct – проводить (эксперимент, опыт и т.д..)) at the Russian orbital space stations have paved the way² to the development of methods and means of industrial production of new materials of better quality on board a spacecraft³. Experts estimate (оценивать) that within a few coming years (в течении нескольких ближайших лет) industrial production of various materials will be started in space.

Conditions on board a space vehicle orbiting Earth greatly differ from those on its surface. However, all of these conditions can be simulated⁴ on Earth, except for (за исключением) one — prolonged (длительный) weightlessness. Weightlessness can be created on Earth, but only for a few seconds. A space flight is another matter (другое дело): a satellite orbiting Earth is in a dynamic zero-gravity state, i.e., when gravity is cancelled out⁵ by inertia.

What can weightlessness be used for? Many well-known processes go on (протекают) differently (по другому) due to (благодаря) the absence of weight. The Archimedes principle is no longer (уже не…; больше не…) valid (действительный, имеющий силу) and, consequently (следовательно), stable-state⁶ liquid mixtures can be obtained, the components of which would immediately (непосредственно) separate (от(раз)деляется) on Earth because of (из-за, вследствие) different density (плотность). In case of melts⁷ of metals, glasses or semiconductors, they can be cooled down to the solidification (затвердевание) point even in space and then brought back to Earth. Such materials will possess (обладать) quite unusual qualities.

In space there is no gravitational convection⁸, i.e., movements of gases or liquids caused by difference of temperatures. It is well-known that various defects in semiconductors occur because of (из-за, вследствие; благодаря) convection. Biochemists also have to deal with(бороться с, справиться с; иметь дело с) the worst aspects of convection, for example, in the production of superpure biologically active substances. Convection makes it very difficult (очень сильно затрудняет это) on Earth.

Following (после) the launch (запуск) of the first orbital stations the specialists started experiments aimed at (направленные (нацеленные) на) taking advantage (take advantage of – воспользоваться, использовать [в своих интересах (себе на пользу)]) of the zero-gravity state for the production of certain materials. In this country (в нашей стране) all orbital stations from Salyut 5 onwards (начиная) were used for that purpose, as well as rockets. Since 1976 over 600 technological experiments have been carried out on board (на борту) manned and unmanned space vehicles.

The experiments proved that many of the properties of the materials obtained (to obtain – получать) under the zero-gravity condition were much better than those produced on Earth. Besides, it has been established that it is necessary to develop a new science — physics of the weightless state — which forms the theoretical basis for space industry and space materials study. This science has basically been developed. The methods of mathematical modeling (моделирование) of the hydromechanical process under the zero-gravity condition have been created (to create - создавать) with the help of computers.

Special space vehicles will also be needed for industrial production of new-generation materials. Research has shown that the acceleration rate (скорость изменения ускорения) on board these vehicles must be reduced to (reduce to – сводить к; доводить до) the minimum. It was found that space platforms in independent flight carrying the equipment were most suitable for producing materials. These vehicles will have to use their own propulsion systems (силовые установки, т.е. двигатели) to approach their base orbital station after a certain period of time. The cosmonauts on board the station can replace (заменять) the specimens. Many new and very interesting projects are planned for orbital stations. Here is one of them. Convection does not allow to grow (выращивать) large protein crystals on Earth. But it is possible to grow such crystals under the zero-gravity condition and to study their structure. The data obtained during the experiments can be useful for the work of laboratories on Earth in using the methods of gene engineering⁹. Thus, it may be possible to make new materials in space and also to obtain valuable scientific data for new highly efficient technologies on Earth.

Preparatory work for industrial production in space at a larger scale (в более широких масштабах) is being carried out in Russia, the USA, Western Europe and Japan. It should be said that (следует отметить, что…) according to the estimates of American experts production of materials in space is to bring 60 billion dollars in the future.

Notes to the Text

1. supertransparуnt laser glass — сверхпрозрачное лазерное стекло

2. to pave the way — проложить путь

3. on board (a spacecraft) — на борту (космического корабля)

4. to simulate — моделировать, имитировать

5. to cancel out — уничтожать, уравновешивать

6. stable-state — устойчивое состояние

7. in case of melts — в случае расплавов

8. gravitational convection — гравитационная конвекция

(перенос тепла под действием силы тяжести)

9. gene engineering — генная инженерия