UNIVERSIDADE CATLICA DE BRASLIA

CURSO DE SISTEMA DE INFORMAO E CINCIA DA COMPUTAO

DISCIPLINA INGLS TCNICO I
PROFESSORA ROSNGELA ELIAS
ALUNO(A): ___________________________________MATR.:_________________
DATA: _________________!""!.
ASSUNTO: #ISTOR$ OF COMPUTERS
When you read the following text, you will probably meet words and expressions that are
new to you. First try to understand their meaning from the context - read the same
passage a few times. When you have read the whole text, check new words in a
dictionary. Most of the words in bold typeface are explained in the Glossary at the end of
the text.
(1) Let us take a look at the history of the computers that we know today The !ery
first calculatin" de!ice used was the ten fin"ers of a man#s hands This$ in fact$ is why
today we still count in tens and multiples of tens Then the %&%'() was in!ented$ a %ead
frame in which the %eads are mo!ed from left to ri"ht &eople went on usin" some form
of a%acus well into the 1'th century$ and it is still %ein" used in some parts of the world
%ecause it can %e understood without knowin" how to read
(() )urin" the 1*th and 1+th centuries many people tried to find easy ways of
calculatin" , Napier$ a Scotsman$ de!ised a mechanical way of multiplyin" and
di!idin"$ which is how the modern )*+,- .(*- works -enry .ri""s used Napier#s ideas
to produce */0%.+123 1%&*-) which all mathematicians use today C%*'(*()$ another
%ranch of mathematics$ was independently in!ented %y %oth Sir /saak Newton$ an
0n"lishman$ and Lei%nit1$ a 2erman mathematician
(3) The first real calculatin" machine appeared in 1+(4 as the result of se!eral people#s
e5periments This type of machine$ which sa!es a "reat deal of time and reduces the
possi%ility of makin" mistakes$ depends on a series of ten6toothed "ear wheels /n 1+34
7harles .a%%a"e$ an 0n"lishman$ desi"ned a machine that was called 8The Analytical
0n"ine9 This machine$ which .a%%a"e showed at the &aris 05hi%ition in 1+::$ was an
attempt to cut out the human %ein" alto"ether$ e5cept for pro!idin" the machine with
the necessary facts a%out the pro%lem to %e sol!ed -e ne!er finished this work$ %ut
many of his ideas were the %asis for %uildin" today#s computers
(;) /n 1<34$ the first %4%*/0 computer was %uilt %y an American named =anne!ar
.ush This de!ice was used in >orld >ar // to help aim "uns ?ark /$ the name "i!en
to the first ,+0+1%* computer$ was completed in 1<;; The men responsi%le for this
in!ention were &rofessor -oward Aiken and some people from /.? This was the first
machine that could fi"ure out lon" lists of mathematical pro%lems$ all at a fast rate /n
1<;' two en"ineers at the Uni!ersity of &ennsyl!ania$ @ 0ckert and , ?auchly$ %uilt
the first di"ital computer usin" parts called 5%'((3 1(&-) They named their new
in!ention 0N/A7 Another important ad!ancement in computers$ came in 1<;*$ when
,ohn !on Newman de!eloped the idea of keepin" instructions for the computer inside
the computer#s memory
(:) The first "eneration of computers$ which used !acuum tu%es$ came out in 1<:4
Uni!ac / is an e5ample of these computers which could perform thousands of
calculations per second /n 1<'4$ the second "eneration of computers was de!eloped
and these could perform work ten times faster than their predecessors The reason for
this e5tra speed was the use of 1.%4)+)1/.) instead of !acuum tu%es Second6"eneration
of computers were smaller$ faster and more dependa%le than first6"eneration
computers The third6"eneration computers appeared on the marked in 1<': These
computers could do a million calculations a second$ which is 1444 times as many as
first6"eneration computers Unlike second6"eneration computers$ these are controlled
%y tiny inte"rated circuits and are conseAuently smaller and more dependa%le Bourth6
"eneration computers ha!e now arri!ed$ and the inte"rated circuits that are %ein"
de!eloped ha!e %een "reatly reduced in si1e This is due to 3+'./3+4+%1(.+6%1+/4$
which means that the circuits are much smaller than %eforeC as many as 1444 tiny
circuits now fit onto a sin"le '2+7 A chip is a sAuare or rectan"ular piece of silicon$
usually from 1D14 to E inch$ upon which se!eral layers of an inte"rated circuit are
etched or imprinted$ after which the circuit is encapsulated in plastic$ ceramic or metal
Bourth6"eneration computers are :4 times faster than third6"eneration computers and
can complete appro5imately 1$444$444 instructions per second
(') At the rate computer technolo"y is "rowin"$ today#s computers mi"ht %e o%solete
%y 1<++ and most certainly %y 1<<4 /t has %een said that if transport technolo"y had
de!eloped as rapidly as computer technolo"y$ a trip across the Atlantic Ocean today
would take a few seconds
Exercises
16 M%+4 +,-%
>hich statement %est e5presses the main idea of the te5tF >hy did you eliminate the other
choicesF
( ) 1 7omputers$ as we know them today$ ha!e "one throu"h many chan"es
( ) ( Today#s computer pro%a%ly won#t %e around for lon"
( ) 3 7omputers ha!e had a !ery short history
(6 U4,-.)1%4,+40 12- 7%))%0-
)ecide whether the followin" statements are true or false (TDB) %y referrin" to the
information in the te5t Then make the necessary chan"es so that the false statements
%ecome true
rue False
( ) ( ) 1 The a%acus and the fin"ers are two calculatin" de!ices still in use today
( ) ( ) ( The slide rule was in!ented hundreds of years a"o
( ) ( ) 3 )urin" the early 1++4s$ many people worked on in!entin" a mechanical
calculatin" machine
( ) ( ) ; 7harles .a%%a"e$ an 0n"lishman$ could well %e called the father of the
computers
( ) ( ) : The first computer was in!ented and %uilt in the USA
( ) ( ) ' /nstructions used %y computers ha!e always %een kept inside the computer#s
memory
( ) ( ) * Usin" transistors instead of !acuum tu%es did nothin" to increase the speed
at which calculations were done
( ) ( ) + As computers e!ol!ed$ their si1e decreased and their dependa%ility
increased
( ) ( ) < Today#s computers ha!e more circuits than pre!ious computers
( ) ( ) 14 7omputer technolo"y has de!eloped to a point from which new
de!elopments in the field will take a lon" time to come
36 L/'%1+40 +48/.3%1+/4
Bind the passa"es in the te5t where the followin" ideas are e5pressed 2i!e the line(s) and
para"raph references
!ine"s#$paragraph
GGGGGGGGGGG 1 )urin" the same period in history$ lo"arithm ta%les and calculus were
de!eloped
GGGGGGGGGGG ( /t wasn#t until the 1<th century that a calculatin" machine was in!ented
which tried to reduce manpower
GGGGGGGGGGG 3 /nte"rated circuitry has further chan"ed computers
GGGGGGGGGGG ; &eople used their fin"ers to count
GGGGGGGGGGG : The computers of the future may %e Auite different from those in use
today
GGGGGGGGGGG ' Today#s computer circuits can %e put on a chip
GGGGGGGGGGG * Then an instrument with %eads was in!ented for countin" %efore a
mechanical way for multiplyin" and di!idin" was de!ised
GGGGGGGGGGG + Transistors replaced !acuum tu%es
;6 U4,-.)1%4,+40 9/.,)
Hefer %ack to the te5t and find the synonyms (ie words with similar meanin") for the
followin" words
1 machine (1D//) GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
( desi"ned ((D//) GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
3 a lot ((D///) GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
; errors (3D///) GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
: sol!e (:D/=) GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Now refer %ack to the te5t and find the antonyms (ie words with an opposite meanin")
for the followin" words
' old (3D//) GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
* a few (1D///) GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
+ to include ('D///) GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
< contemporaries (;D=) GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
14 still in use (1D=/) GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
You cannot be a winner without any effort
VOCABULARY
ABACUS : I.A7O 6)ispositi!o para reali1ar cJlculos por meio de peAuenas peKas
(contas)$ em armaKLo Aue "eralmente M de arame e madeira
SLIDE RULE : HN2UA )0 7IL7ULO 6 )ispositi!o simples de cJlculo em forma de
rM"ua com cursor mO!el$ Aue utili1a princPpios lO"icos e lo"arPtmicos
LOGARIT#M TABLES : AL2OH/T?O )0 TA.0LAS 6Ta%elas Aue mostram o
e5ponente do poder ao Aual um nQmero fi5o de!e ser aumentado para produ1ir um
nQmero fi5o
CALCULUS : 7IL7ULO

ANALOG : ANALR2/7O 6 Um computador Aue pode simular medidas diferentes
atra!Ms de meios eletrSnicos 0le tra%alha continuamente com cJlculos
DIGITAL : )/2/TAL 6 Um computador no Aual suas informaKTes sLo representadas por
um ou dois estados 6 li"ado ou desli"ado$ Aue sLo representados por dP"itos 4 e 1
respecti!amente

VACUUM TUBES : =IL=ULA 0L0THUN/7A 6 )ispositi!o eletrSnico no Aual a
conduKLo por elMtrons ocorre atra!Ms de !Jcuo ou do "Js$ dentro de um en!oltOrio selado
TRANSISTORS : THANS/STOH0S 6Um dispositi!o eletrSnico utili1ando propriedades
semicondutoras$ com a finalidade de controlar a corrente
MICROMINIATURI;ATION : Ba1er as coisas em uma escala muito peAuena
C#IP : ?/7HO&LAVU0TA 6 O mesmo Aue 7/ (7ircuito /nte"rado) =Jrios
componentes eletrSnicos$ tais como transistores$ resistores$ diodos etc reunidos em uma
Qnica pastilha de silPcio de redu1idas dimensTes