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. | Unit 1 What is a computer 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. A computer is a machine with an intricate network of electronic circuits Điện xoay chiều that 1 computer operate switches or magnetize tiny metal cores. The switches nút like the cores are capable of being in one of two possible states that is on or off magnetized or demagnetized. The machine is capable of storing and manipulating numbers letters and characters. The basic idea of a computer is that we can make the machine do what we want by inputting signals that turn certain switches on and turn other off or that magnetize or do not magnetize the cores. The basic job of computers is the processing xử lí of information. For this reason computer can be defined as devices thiết bị which 2 devices accept information in the form of instructions called a program and characters called data perform mathematical and or logical operations on the information and then supply results of these operations. The program or part of it 3 which 4 tells the computers what to do and the data which provide the information needed to solve the problem are kept inside the computer in a place called memory. Computers are thought to have many remarkable powers. However most computers whether large or small have three basic capabilities. First computers have circuits mạch for performing arithmetic số học operations các thao tác such as addition subtraction division multiplication and exponentiation. Second computers have a means of communicating with the user. After all if we couldn t need information in and get results back these machines wouldn t be of much use. However certain computers Commonly minicomputers and microcomputers are used to control directly things such as robots aircraft navigation systems .
