Английский язык для студентов радиотехнических специальностей вузов (стр. 30 )

The fibres, made from glass so pure that a block of it 20 km thick would theoretically be as transparent as a window pane2, have many advantages over metal wires. Small, light and easy to handle, they are made from an abundant raw material, sand. They can carry the same number of telephone calls as metal cables ten times as thick – dozens of fibres, carrying around, 100,000 telephone calls, could all pass through the eye of a needle4, at the same time – and they are immune to electrical interference which affects the quality of calls. An optical fibre cable the thickness of a finger could bring a hundred TV channels to a receiver.

The tiny strands are playing a key role5 in the digital revolution which is sweeping through modern telecommunications. The telecommunications network developed for the telephone used a system which turned the air pressure waves created by speech into continuous and variable "analogues" of electrical waves and turned them back to speech at the receiver. Expensive conversion equipment or separate networks were needed to handle text, TV or computer data. In the digital world, however, all forms of information are translated into bits6, the standard international language of today's computers, and represented as pulses of light. Information in this form can be processed easily and sent anywhere in seconds in a single multi-purpose network. Optical fibres are ideal for digital working and open the door to a host of services not possible on an analogue system.

Each strand of fibre consists of an inner core7 to channel the light and an outer cladding8 to keep it in by reflecting it back along the core. To make the glass for the fibres, the ingredients are deposited as gases on the inside of a hollow silica tube9 at temperatures of around 2000°C. The tube is collapsed under intense heat to form a solid glass rod10 about I cm in diameter which already has the structure of the fibre which will be drawn from it. The rod is then loaded into a furnace, drawn into fibre and coated with resin to protect it and increase its flexibility. Tiny crystals the size of grain of salt are used to produce the light which carries information along the fibres. This passes through a lens into the fibre. At the other end a receiver reverses the process and turns each light pulse into an electrical sign. Optical fibres will have countless applications11 in tomorrow's "information society".

Notes

1) carrying information as pulses of light – несущие информацию в виде световых импульсов

2) as transparent as a window pane – прозрачный, как оконное стекло

3) from an abundant raw material – из имеющегося в большом количестве сырьевого материала

4) the eye of the needle – ушко иголки

5) are playing a key role – играют ведущую роль

6) all forms of information are translated into bits – все виды информации переводятся в биты (двоичные разряды)

7) inner core – внутренний стержень, провод

8) outer cladding – наружное покрытие

9) a hollow silica tube – полая кремниевая труба

10) glass rod – стеклянный стержень

1l) will have countless applications – найдут разностороннее применение

III. Answer the following questions to the text:

1. What has been described as "probably the biggest breakthrough in telecommunications"? 2. Can glass fibres carry the same number of telephone calls as metal cables? 3. Is the digital revolution sweeping through modern communications? 4. Will optical fibres have countless applications in "information society" of the future?

IV. Give the main points of text B.

V. Speak about the horizons of optical fibres application in communication systems of the future.

LESSON FOUR

I. Look through the list of the English words and their Russian equivalents facilitating reading text C:

interactive – интерактивный; traffic – нагрузка; processing – обработка; terminal – конечная станция; carrier – (многоканальная) система передачи информации с использованием несущей; to reject – отказываться; unwanted – нежелательный, ненужный.

П. Study the questions below and find out which of them the author answers in the text:

1. Is Very Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) revolution nearing its end? 2. What will one be able to do with intelligent network? 3. Many uses of the telephone will be replaced by an electronic in-basket, won't they? 4. Will the postal service undergo great changes in the third millennium? 5. To. what extent will the number of newspapers and magazines be decreased in the third millennium? 6. Can one give an exact date of introducing inexpensive graphics terminals in the home?

Text С

Information and Communication in the Third Millennium

1.  By the beginning of the third millennium, the Very Large-Scale Integration (VLSI)1 revolution will at last be nearing its end. We will see some of the results below – intelligent networks with information as well as data processing2. In fact, much of the interactive multiterminal communication traffic will be routed through networks with delay and computation at the nodes. As one example of what we mean by information as opposed to data processing, one will be able to route a call or electronic message to a known person without necessarily having to know the equivalent of his "telephone number". One will be able to conduct a dialogue3 over the terminal with an intelligent network that will in effect give one the number or address.

2.  Commercial video broadcasting4 over the air will be almost entirely replaced by scheduled, or even on demand, transmission into homes via fibre optics5.

3.  Many uses of the telephone will be replaced by an electronic in-basket that provides message forwarding, editing, retrieval, and redirection services. The Bell System will still exist, but will only be one carrier of several, depending on the kind of service. In any case, most terminals will be procured separately from the carriers, which will be mainly transmission companies or information services, depending on what they feel like calling themselves.

4.  Newspapers and magazines, particularly specialized ones, will still exist. However, by the beginning of the third millennium, a trend will have been set which will lead to their ultimate redefinition as electronic services6 instead of as pieces of paper. Inexpensive graphics terminals7 in the home will permit this new kind of publication. In some cases, hard copy will be available, although with local disk storage this will not be so necessary. The electronic in-basket and electronic newspapers will mean the end of the postal service as we wish we knew it. It will be restricted to packages. The problem of electronic junk mail can be solved by each individual programming his or her own terminal to reject unwanted communications as they see fit9.

Notes

1) VLSI (Very Large-Scale Integration )– сверхбольшая интегральная схема

2) data processing – обработка данных

3) to conduct a dialogue – вести разговор, беседу

4) video broadcasting– видеопередача

5) via fibre optics – через волоконную оптику

6) electronic services – электронные службы

7) graphics terminal – графический терминал

8) hard copy – копия на однократно используемом носителе

9) as they see fit – на их усмотрение

III. Say whether the following statements are true or false:

1. Very Large-Scale Integration revolution (VLSI) will be nearing its end by the beginning of the third millennium. 2. It will bring great disadvantages for communication system. 3. Terminals of the future will give out numbers or addresses for conducting dialogues. 4. Fibre optics will find most varied application in future intelligent communication network. 5. Application of fibre optics for communication will mean complete disappearance of the Bell System as well as the postal service. 6. Each individual will have a possibility to program his or her own terminal to reject unwanted communications.

IV. Say how one will be able to conduct a dialogue over the terminal with an intelligent network.

V. Say:

a) what commercial video broadcasting over the air will be replaced by; b) what the electronic in-basket and electronic newspapers will mean in the future.

VI. Find the main information of paragraph 4.

VII. Read paragraph 4 again and say:

a) whether newspapers and magazines will exist in the third millennium; b) how newspapers and magazines will be redefined; c) what inexpensive graphics terminals will permit; d) whether hard copy will be available; e) whether the problem of electronic junk can be solved by individual programming of terminals.

VIII. Summarize the general ideas developed in texts А, В and С

IX.  Imagine that you are to make a report about the future trends in the system of communication at a scientific conference. While preparing it use the information of texts А, В and С. Make the report orally.

Key to Lesson 3: The title of the text is "Communicating with Glass and Light".

UNIT FIFTEEN

• Grammar: Subjunctive Mood (§ 6).

Conditional Sentences (§ 7).

Functions of should and would (§11, 12).

•  Word-formation: n → v; v + -ion = n.

•  Individual Work: Lab Work "Subjunctive Mood."

LESSON ONE

Pre-text Exercises

I. Practise the reading of the following words:

mirror ['mirq], earth [E:T], neutrino [n(j)u:ˊtri:nqV], beam [bi:m], nucleus ['nju:kliqs], convert [kqn'vE:t].

II. Check up if you can read the words correctly and say what words in the Russian language help you to guess their meaning:

horizon, ocean, relay, region, ionosphere, matter, detect, molecule, combine, induce, code, incorporate, civilization.

III. State to what parts of speech the following words belong: