Научная электронная библиотека

Монографии, изданные в издательстве Российской Академии Естествознания

АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК В СФЕРЕ ИНФОРМАЦИОННЫХ И КОМПЬЮТЕРНЫХ ТЕХНОЛОГИЙ

Тюрина С. Ю.,

Unit 6. INTERNET

WARM UP

Work in pairs. Answer the following questions. Then read the text to check your answers.

1. What is the Internet?

2. What are the most popular Internet services today?

3. What are the most essential problems of the Internet?

INTERNET AND MODERN LIFE

The Internet has already entered our ordinary life. Everybody knows that the Internet is a global computer network, which embraces hundred of millions of users all over the world and helps us to communicate with each other.

The history of Internet began in the United States in 1969. It was a military experiment, designed to help to survive during a nuclear war, when everything around might be polluted by radiation and it would be dangerous to get out for any living being to get some information to anywhere. Information sent over the Internet takes the shortest and safest path available from one computer to another. Because of this, any two computers on the net will be able to stay in touch with each other as long as there is a single route between them. This technology was called packet switching.

Invention of modems, special devices allowing your computer to send the information through the telephone line, has opened doors to the Internet for millions of people.

Most of the Internet host computers are in the United States of America. It is clear that the accurate number of users can be counted fairly approximately, nobody knows exactly how many people use the Internet today.

Nowadays the most popular Internet service is e-mail. Most of the people use the network only for sending and receiving e-mail messages. They can do it either they are at home or in the internet clubs or at work. Other popular services are available on the Internet too. It is reading news, available on some dedicated news servers, telnet, FTP servers, etc.

In many countries, the Internet could provide businessmen with reliable telecommunication systems. Commercial users can communicate cheaply over the Internet with the rest of the world. When they send e-mail messages, they only have to pay for phone calls to their local service providers, not for international calls around the world, when you pay a good deal of money.

But saving money is only the first step and not the last one. There is a commercial use of this network and it is drastically increasing. Now you can work through the internet, gambling and playing through the net.

However, there are some problems. The most important problem is security. When you send an e-mail, your message can travel through many different networks and computers. The data is constantly being directed towards its destination by special computers called routers. Because of this, it is possible to get into any of the computers along the route, intercept and even change the data being sent over the Internet. But there are many encoding programs available.

Another big and serious problem of the net is control. Yes, there is no effective control in the Internet, because a huge amount of information circulating through the net.

In the future, the situation might change, but now we have what we have. It could be expressed in two words– an anarchist’s dream.

SPEAKING ACTIVITIES

1. Fill in the verbs from the text.

1. Internet is a global computer network, which … hundreds of millions of users all over the world.

2. Any two computers on the net will be able to … with each other as long as there is a single route between them.

3. Invention of modems, special devices allowing your computer to … the information … the telephone line, has opened doors to the Internet for millions of people.

4. Most of the people use the network only for sending and … e-mail messages.

5. In many countries, the Internet could … businessmen with reliable telecommunication systems.

6. Now you can work through the internet … and … through the net.

7. The data … constantly … … towards its destination by special computers called routers.

8. A huge amount of information … through the net.

2. Comment on the following statement about the Internet. Agree or disagree with the statement. Give your reasons to support your opinion.

In the future, the situation might change, but now we have what we have. It could be expressed in two words– an anarchist’s dream.

3. What Internet services were mentioned in the text? Match each of the Internet services 1-7 with the uses A-G.

4. Learn more about the history of Internet. Present your report in class.

Suggested online resources:

http://www.internetsociety.org/internet/internet-51/history-internet

http://inventors.about.com/od/istartinventions/a/internet.htm

http://www.ehow.com/internet-history/

5. Read the text CHOOSING INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER. Decide which of the options available offer the best deal to these users. Support your statement using the phrases in the LANGUAGE BOX to help you.

CHOOSING INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER

Using an Internet Service provider, ISP, requires no new technology – all you need is a computer, a modem, a telephone line (preferably broadband), and the appropriate software (which is available free of charge when you sign up with the service).

Most of the services are very similar, but it is still worth looking around for a service that offers at least the following features:

High speed

Connection can be provided by standard dial-up using an ordinary modem or by using a broadband connection. Standard dial-up is the slowest at 56 Kbps. Broadband such as ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) provides different speeds for uploading (sending data) and downloading (receiving data) ranging from 256 Kbps to 2 Mbps.

High Usage Allowance

The amount of data that you are allowed to upload or download in a given time period may be limited. Sending email, browsing the Web or downloading images does not require high usage allowances, downloading MP3 music files requires more. Online gaming and viewing video online will require a high usage allowance. Usage allowance is normally quoted as GB per month.

Good Value Packages

Various packages are available offering different options that can be paid monthly, annually, bi-annually etc. With these packages, after paying the initial fee, Internet access is usually unmetered. You can also opt for pay-as-you-go packages. Look for a package where the initial rate is reduced. You have to compare ISP offers carefully to find a package that provides what you want at the cheapest cost.

CD-ROM or Online sign up

Some ISPs require you to sign up for their service online (which obviously means you already need to have an Internet connection and some experience with setting up a dial-up networking connection). If you are a complete beginner, you’ll need an ISP which can provide its sign-up software on CD-ROM that will automatically conure your computer to access the Internet.

Local rate calls

Nearly all ISPs provide local call access numbers. Any ISP that uses a national rate number or charges an initial set up or administration fee should be avoided.

Email

Having several email accounts is very useful – you can separate business and personal email for example, or provide an address for each member of your family. Many ISPs also offer only Web-based mail which is great if you need to get into your computer on the move as you can access it from any computer with Internet access. POP3 email, however, is faster and more efficient and can be downloaded to your PC to read offline – a combination of the two
is ideal.

Junk mail filtering and virus checking Spam (unsolicited email) is very common. It fills up your storage space and is time consuming to deal with. It is also one of the main sources of viruses that attack your computer. Look for an ISP that provides good filtering services to remove junk mail and viruses before they reach your computer.

Free Web space

A decent amount of free Web space would be around 25-50 Mb. This would be sufficient for most of your own personal website developments. Also check to see if there are any restrictions on your use of web space, since some ISPs will not let you use the space for commercial purposes.

Customer Support

The accessibility and quality of customer support provided by ISPs varies greatly and some ISPs make an additional charge for
support.

Reliable Service

Of course all the features in the world won’t make a scrap of difference if the ISP is unreliable and you find it impossible to log on. Look out for recommendations from friends and shop around.

6. Learn more about Internet service providers.

LISTENING ACTIVITIES

1. Watch video «History of Internet» and answer the following questions.

Suggested online resource:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v = 9hIQjrMHTv4

1. What is «batch processing»?

2. What is «time-sharing» concept?

3. Why was DARPA founded?

4. What does DARPA stand for?

5. What are the three fundamental concepts for the history of the Internet?

6. What is the specific feature of the TCP?

7. What does the term «packet switching» mean?

8. What is the key idea of CYCLADES concept?

2. What do these abbreviations mean?

NCP, TCP, IMP, ISO, NPL.

3. Match the concept (1-3) and the country it was developed in (A-C).