Ever Tried Talking to a Computer?

(Reader’s Digest, April, 2002, p.25)

Technology has changed people and their lives. No period in history has had as many significant changes as the past century. Improvements of all kinds, such as those in communication and transportation have seriously changed many people’s lives – not all positively. Many people are conservative. They do not like and cannot accept the new results of technology. Conservative people often resist the new. They might prefer to take trains instead of airplanes and to receive letters instead of phone calls. They might like soft, gentle music rather than fast, noisy modern music. Above all, many conservative people find the increasing use of computers confusing, annoying and impersonal.

Computers are an obvious part of technology that reaches into most people’s lives. Computers answer telephones, retrieve information instantly, read and answer letters, and make mathematical computations in much less time than a person can. However, how do people react as the use of the computer increases in their daily lives? There is a big difference between talking to a human being about a mistake on a bill and trying to tell a computer. A computer does not treat people in a human way. After all, it is only a machine. A person who learns to use any machine can benefit from its services. The same is true for the computer. The investment of time and patience that a person makes in learning how to use a computer pays off many times. What can a computer do? A computer can easily perform simple and complex calculations. It can record all kinds of information. It can sort material either alphabetically or in number of sequence. It can classify, report, and edit data, information that is put in. The only requirement is that the computer must be correctly programmed to perform these functions, or jobs. Once a program is set, many people can use it to make it work for them. A computer programmer is a person who is trained to program or communicate with computers. In a sense, he teaches the computer to do the work by writing a program. He uses special computer languages to control and instruct the different parts of the computer. He writes a program, the detailed set of instructions for the computer, in a computer language.

Computers have so many everyday uses that the business world would stop without them. They can reserve airplane tickets, keep bank accounts, rent cars, control prices, order goods and supply, process registrations cards, keep inventories, record grocery items, and houses for sale. All of these jobs can be done, and many more, in a fraction of the time that a person would need. By using computers, people in business save large amounts of time. Whether people realize it or not, computers control so many parts of society that, without them, people’s lives would be much more difficult. For every mistake on a bill, the computer does a million others right. Computers save great amounts of time by doing uninteresting jobs that take people a long time. Computers are designed for repetitive projects, for processing and storing a large amount of data, and for accuracy and speed. By using computers, human beings can free themselves to do more human projects.

By Peter Swanson

An Unsolved Mystery

(Newspaper “English“, 23/2002, p.13)

In the summer of 1978 an English farmer named Ian Stevens was driving his tractor through a field of wheat when he discovered something strange. Some of his wheat was lying flat on the ground. The flattened wheat formed a circle about six meters across. Around this circle were four smaller circles of flattened wheat. The five circles were in a formation like five dots on dice.

Three years later a farmer who lived nearby discovered similar circles in one of his fields. These circles were larger – nearby 15 meters across. That same year, yet another English farmer discovered three circles of flattened wheat on his land – one large circle between two small circles.

During the following years, farmers in England found the mysterious circles in their fields more and more often. In 1987 they discovered 50 circles; in 1988, 98 circles; and in 1989, 270 circles.

The circles are called “crop circles” because they appear in the fields of grain – usually wheat or corn. The grain in the circles lies flat on the ground but is never broken; it continues to grow horizontally, and farmers can later harvest it. Farmers always discover the crop circles in the morning, so the circles probably form at night. They appear only in the months from May to September. What causes the crop circles?

At first, people suspected that the circles were a hoax. They thought that teenagers were making them as a joke, or that farmers were making them to attract tourists. (In fact, in 1991, two men said they made the circles themselves, but many scientists don’t believe them.) To prove that the circles were a hoax, people tried to copy them: they tried to make circles exactly like the ones the farmers had found. They couldn’t enter a field of grain without leaving tracks, and they couldn’t flatten the grain without breaking it. The crop circles are apparently not a hoax.

Many people believe that beings from outer space are making the circles. Some think that the beings are trying to communicate with us from far away and that the crop circles are messages from them. Others believe that the beings have actually landed on earth and that the circles are marks left by their spaceships. Several times people reported seeing strange flying objects near the fields where crop circles later appeared.

Scientists who have studied the crop circles say they are not sure what causes them. They have suggested several theories. For example, some scientists say that “microbursts” of wind create the circles. A microburst is a download rush of air that sometimes causes an airplane to crash. Other scientists say that forces within the earth cause the circles to appear. There is one problem with all the scientific theories. Crop circles often appear in formations, like the five-dot formation that Ian Stevens found. It is hard to believe that any natural force could create those formations. And recently farmers have discovered not only circles but also rectangles, triangles, and other shapes in their fields. Could any natural force create a perfect triangle in a field of grain?

In the summer of 1990 some scientists spent three weeks in the part of England where many circles have appeared. They had all the latest high-tech equipment. This equipment – worth 1.8 million dollars – recorded nothing. But one night, as the scientists were watching a field, crop circles formed in the field behind them. The scientists had neither seen nor heard anything.

When Ian Stevens discovered the crop circles on his land in 1978, he said, “It was just like something had landed in the field from the air and gone back up again. I don’t know what to make of these things.”

Crop circles have appeared not only in England, but also in fields of Japan, the United States, the Soviet Union, and New Zealand. Experts from all over the world have studied them. What do experts say about the crop circles? They say what Ian Stevens said: They don’t know what to make of these things.

By Margaret Luis

The Story of Atlantis

(Newspaper “English“, 23/2002, p.16)

Over 11,000 years ago there existed an island nation located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean populated by a noble and powerful race. The people of this land possessed great wealth thanks to the natural resources found throughout their island. The island was a centre for trade and commerce. The rulers of this land held sway over the people and land of their own island and well into Europe and Africa. This was the island of Atlantis.

Atlantis was the domain of Poseidon, god of the sea. When Poseidon fell in love with a mortal woman, Cleito, he created a dwelling at the top of a hill near the middle of the island and surrounded the dwelling with rings of water and land to protect her.

Cleito gave birth to five sets of twin boys who became the first rulers of Atlantis. The island was divided among the brothers with the eldest, Atlas, first King of Atlantis, being given control over the central hill and surrounding areas.

At the top of the central hill to honour Poseidon, a temple was built which housed a giant gold statue of Poseidon riding a chariot pulled by winged horses. It was here that the rulers of Atlantis would come to discuss laws, pass judgments, and pay tribute to Poseidon.

To facilitate travel and trade, a water canal was cut through of the rings of land and water ran south for 5,5 miles (~9 km) to the sea.

The city of Atlantis sat just outside the outer ring of water and spread across the plain covering a circle of 11 miles (1,7 km). This was a densely populated area where the majority of the population lived.

Beyond the city lay a fertile plain 330 miles (530 km) long and 110 miles (190 km) wide surrounded by another canal used to collect water from the rivers and streams of the mountains. The climate was such that two harvests were possible each year. One in the winter fed by the rains and one in the summer fed by irrigation from the canal.

Surrounding the plain to the north were mountains which soared to the skies. Villages, lakes, rivers, and meadows dotted the mountains.

Besides the harvests, the island provided all kinds of herbs, fruits, and nuts. An abundance of animals, including elephants, roamed the island.

For generations the Atlanteans lived simple, virtuous lives. But slowly they began to change. Greed and power began to corrupt them. When Zeus saw the immorality of the Atlanteans he gathered the other gods to determine a suitable punishment. Soon, in one violent surge it was gone. The island of Atlantis, its people, and its memory were swallowed by the sea.

This is a summary of the story told by Plato around 360 BC in his dialogues Timaeus and Critias. These writings of Plato are the only specific known references to Atlantis. They have prompted controversy and debate for over two thousand years.

By Nadezhda Plotnikova