Passage 1

Below is given passage 1, read properly, and have ideas for exercises to solve from the seen passages:

Computers have become a part of modern life. Today's schoolchildren carry around calculating power, which would have filled a large room 40 years ago. Computer scientists are now working on the next generation of computers, ones that will have true intelligence.

What are the parts of a computer? The word 'hardware' refers to the physical parts of the computer. The main parts are the monitor, the keyboard, the mouse, and the CPU or Central Processing Unit, which contains the hard disk. The monitor is also known as the screen or VDU (Visual Display Unit). It looks like a television screen and displays what we do on the computer. It comes in different sizes.

The actual computer i.e. the part that performs tasks we ask it to do is in a unit holding the CPU, memory, and hard and floppy disks. It comes in a rectangular box.

CPU stands for Central Processing Unit. This could be called the brain of a computer. It performs calculations and manipulates data. The keyboard functions like a typewriter. The computer is given commands by typing them on the keyboard. Information is then displayed on the monitor.

The mouse is a hand-held pointing device. By moving the mouse around on a flat surface, a pointer or arrow on the monitor will make corresponding movements. By clicking, holding, and dragging with the mouse various things can be done on the monitor. The hard disk is a fixed device for permanent storage, which stays within the computer. A hard disk is capable of holding tremendous amounts of information, yet it is only a few inches in width and length. A computer also has a floppy disk drive. It is a slot for the insertion of portable disks also known as floppy disks.

Exercises

Find the words in the passage, which have the opposite meaning to the words given below:

Answer the following questions:

1. What does the monitor look like?
2. What do you mean by 'hardware'?
3. Why is the CPU called the brain of the computer?
4. What is the use of a floppy disk drive?
5. How does the keyboard function?
6. What differences do you find between old and new computers?
7. What is the brain of a computer? Why is it called so?
8. Show the difference between a hard disk and a floppy disk.
9. What does CPU do?
10. What does the word 'hardware' mean?
11. How have computers brought a change in school children?
12. What does the monitor do on a computer?
13. What does VDU stand for?

Answers:

1. The monitor looks like a television screen that displays what we do on the computer.
2. The word hardware refers to the physical parts of the computer.
3. The CPU is called the brain of the computer because it performs calculations and manipulates data.
4. The use of a floppy disk drive is to help in the insertion of portable disks known as floppy disks.
5. The keyboard functions like a typewriter which is used to give commands to the computer.
6. Old computers lack true intelligence whereas new computers have true intelligence.
7. CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the brain of the computer. It is called so because it performs calculations and manipulates data.
8. A hard disk is a fixed device for permanent storage, which stays within the computer and a floppy disk is a portable disk.
9. CPU performs calculations and manipulates data.
10. The word 'hardware' means the physical parts of a computer.
11. The change that computers have brought in school children is they can now carry around calculating power, which would have filled a large room 40 years ago.
12. The monitor displays what we do on the computer.
13. VDU stands for Visual Display Unit.