IX. Define the predicates in the passive form the translation of which starts with the preposition.

1. the pattern is influenced (was influenced, is being influenced, will be influenced);

2. the report was followed (has been followed, will have been followed, was being followed);

3. the experiments were watched (are being watched, will be watched, had been watched);

4. the results are affected (were being affected, have been affected, will have been affected).

XI. Give the Russian equivalents of the sentences below. Pay attention to the translation of the predicates in the passive form:

1. This paper was shortly followed by another by the same author. 2. The first question is readily answered. 3. There are circuits which are not influenced by the temperature. 4. The rates and molecular weights are affected by lowering the temperature. 5. The experiment will be followed by testing the end product. 6. The level of oxygen is constantly watched by the operator. 7. Every thing is affected by its relations to everything else. 8. Methods employed in solving a problem are strongly influenced by the research objective. 9. The reaction was followed by measuring temperature. 10. The question arises as to how the behaviour of metals is affected by the changes in temperature.

XII. Explain the way of word formation of the verbs in bold type. Give their Russian equivalents. (see Appendix, p. …)

1. I work on a keyboard connected to a computer. 2. Will traditional newspapers ever disappear? 3. You’ve seen brilliant people devisecomputer viruses that bring down whole systems. 4. These inks are designed to provide better halftones, which are necessary to reproduce photographs. 5. The microprocessor, or CPU, works with the operating system to control the computer. 6. Many people believe that in 1796 Cugnot created the first mechanical vehicle moving by itself.

XIII. Match each English word with the correct Russian equivalent.

XV. Arrange in pairs the words with а) similar meaning, b) contrary meaning.

a) Accident, appear, invent, emerge, device, forecast, trouble, propose, cause, appliance, count, suggest, devise, experiment, calculate, reason, test, predict.

b) Easy, independently, cheap, several, multiply, together, forward, divide, buy, complicated, modern, send, backward, sell, receive, expensive, ancient, few.

XVI. Look through the text. Define its main idea.

The First Calculating Devices

1. Let us take a look at the history of computers that we know today. The very first calculating device used was the ten fingers of a man's hands. This, in fact, is why today we still count in tens and multiples of tens.

2. Then the abacus was invented. People went on using some form of abacus well into the l6^th century, and it is still being used in some parts of the world because it can be understood without knowing how to read.

3. During the I7^th and 18^th centuries many people tried to find easy ways of calculating. A mechanical way of multiplying and dividing was invented by J.Napier, a Scotsman. Now it is the modern slide rule works. Henry Briggs used Napier's ideas to produce logarithm tables which are used by all mathematicians today.

4. Calculus, another branch of mathematics, was independently invented by both Sir Isaac Newton, an Englishman, and Leibnitz, a German mathematician. The first real calculating machine appeared in 1820 as the result of several people's experiments.

5. In 1830 Charles Babbage, a gifted English mathematician, proposed to build a general-purpose problem-solving machine that was called "the analytical engine". This machine was showed at the Paris Exhibition in 1855. Babbage never finished this work, but many of his ideas were the basis for building today's computers.

XVII. Answer the questions below:

1. What was the very first calculating device?

2. What is the abacus?

3. What is the modern slide rule?

4. How did Newton and Leibnitz contribute to the problem of calculation?

5. When did the first calculating machine appear?

6. Whose ideas were the basis for building today's computers?

XVIII. Translate passage 2 into Russian.

XIX. Read the text. Define its subject.

Computers Then and Now

1. The world first electronic computer was built at the University of Pennsylvania in 1946, although computer-like machine was built in the 19^th century. Computers were sold commercially for the first time in the 1950s, and a lot of progress has been made since then. Computers are now much smaller and more powerful, and they can be bought much more cheaply.

2. Computers are used in many fields – in education, medicine, science, for example. They can be used to forecast the weather or to control robots which make cars. A lot of difficult calculations can be done very quickly on a computer.

3. A computer can’t think – it must be told exactly what to do. And they don’t make mistakes. Stories are heard sometimes about computers paying people much money or sending them bills for things they don’t buy. These mistakes are made by the programmers. Some years ago, a computer-controlled rocket belonging to the USA went out of control and had to be destroyed. The accident was caused by a small mistake in one line of the programme. This mistake cost the USA $ 18 million.

4. Progress is being made all the time. Today people know more about computers then they used to. And many believe we can look forward to the day when even our household jobs like cleaning will be done by computer-controlled robots.

XX. Say which of the statements below are true.

1. Computers haven’t been changed since the mid of the 19^th century.

2. Different complicated tasks are solved by computers rapidly.

3. In several years students will be taught by computer-controlled robots.

XXI. Translate passage 1 into Russian.

Predicates with modal verbs

Сказуемое с модальными¹глаголами

Значения модальных глаголов

¹Модальные глаголы указывают на отношение к действию, поэтому обычно употребляются с другим глаголом, который обозначает действие и стоит в форме инфинитив.