Infotech: English for Computer Users
Module 1

Unit 3. Inside the system

1. Technical specifications

Exercise A. Complete the exercise. Describe the specifications of your own computer.

Exercise B. Answer each of the questions.

  1. What is the main function of a computer's processor?
  2. What unit of frequency is used to measure processor speed?
  3. What does RAM stand for?

2. What is inside a PC system?

Exercise A. Read the text on page 12 and then answer these questions.

  1. What are the main parts of the CPU?
  2. What does ALU stand for? What does it do?
  3. What is the function of the system clock?
  4. How much is one gigahertz?
  5. What type of memory is temporary?
  6. What type of memory is permanent?
  7. How can RAM be increased?
  8. What term is used to refer to the main printed circuit board?
  9. What is a bus?
  10. What is the benefit of having expansion slots?

Exercise B. What do the words in bold refer to? Refer to the text on page 12.

  1. This is built into a single chip. (line 2)
  2. ... which executes program instructions and coordinates... (line 3)
  3. ... that is being executed. (line 22)
  4. ... performance of a computer is partly determined by the speed of its processor. (line 25)
  5. ... the CPU looks for it on the hard disk... (line 35)
  6. ... inside the computer to communicate with each other. (line 52)

Look at a picture of a motherboard and identify its parts.

3. Language work: defining relative clauses.

Complete the exercise by looking at the HELP box on page 13.
  1. That's the computer I'd like to buy.
  2. Core 2 Duo is a new Intel processor contains about 291 million trnsistors.
  3. A webmaster is a person designs, develops and maintains a website.
  4. A bus is an electrical pathway carries signals between computer devices.
  5. Here's the DVD you lent me!
  6. Last night I met someone works for GM as a software engineed.

4. How memory is measured.

Exercise A. Read the text and then answer these questions.

  1. How many digits does a binary system use?
  2. What is a bit?
  3. What is a collection of eight bits called?
  4. What does ASCII stand for?
  5. What is the purpose of ASCII?

Exercise B. Complete these descriptions with the correct unit of memory.

  1. A is about one trillion bytes.
  2. A is about one million bytes.
  3. A is about one thousand bytes.
  4. A is about one billion bytes.
  5. A can store a single character.

5. A PC system.

Exercise A. Look at the diagram on page 15 and identify the various parts.

Exercise C. Listen to a teacher explaining the diagram and check your answers.

6. Your ideal computer system.

Exercise A. Describe your ideal computer system by filling in the features.

  1. CPU
  2. Speed
  3. Optical disk drives
  4. Wireless connectivity
  5. Minimum/Maximum RAM
  6. Monitor
  7. Ports and card memory slots
  8. Hard disk
  9. Software

Complete Workbook 3.

Copyright ©. George Goce Mitrevski. mitrevski@pelister.org