首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Computers Concern You When Charles Babbage, a professor of mathematics at Cambridge University, invented the first calculati
Computers Concern You When Charles Babbage, a professor of mathematics at Cambridge University, invented the first calculati
admin
2010-02-20
124
问题
Computers Concern You
When Charles Babbage, a professor of mathematics at Cambridge University, invented the first calculating machine in 1812 he could hardly have imagined the situation we find ourselves in today. Nearly everything we do in the modern world is helped, or even controlled, by computers, the complicated descendants of his simple machine. Computers are being used more and more extensively in the world today, for the simple reason that they are far more efficient than human beings. They have much better memories and can store huge amounts of information, and they can do calculations in a fraction of the time taken by a human mathematician. No man alive can do 500,000 sums in one second, but an advanced computer can. In fact, computers can do many of the things we do, but faster and better. They can pay wages, reserve seats on planes, control machines in factories, work out tomorrow’s weather, and even play chess, write poetry, or compose music. Let’s look now at some of the ways in which computers concern people in their daily lives and work.
Computers and our Cash
Mr. Woods, a bank manager, discussed some of the ways in which computers control our cash. "I think most of our customers realize that in modern banking we make extensive use of computers. They see that the codes on their cheques are printed in a special way so that they can be read by a computer-computers only seem to like rather square figures. And when they call in at the bank to find out the balance of their accounts, the clerk no longer shows them a big book with band-written entries. Instead he goes and gets a print-out from the computer which records all the details of cash or cheques paid into or drawn out of customers’ accounts. The day may soon come when we no longer need to carry cash around with us, or even a cheque book. The computer where we work will tell our bank computer how much our salary or wages are—and the government computer how much tax we should pay! Then when we go shopping we will just show a special card at the check-out point. The code on the card will be fed into the shop computer, which will check with the bank computer that there is enough money in our account to pay for the goods we want, and that the card has not been stolen. If all is well, the codes from the different items will be fed into the computer and the sum owing will be drawn from our account, but only ’on computer’. No money will ever change hands. Computerized shopping, like computerized banking, will be quick, safe and convenient."
Computers and our Health
Nurse Penny Atkins works in a large, modern hospital.
"We use computers a lot in medicine nowadays. For instance, at the hospital where I work we make patients’ appointments through a computer, which saves a lot of time. So does keeping patients’ records on a computer. It also saves space because you can get so much more information on to a piece of computer tape than a piece of paper. Another advantage is that anyone who wants information on a patient can get it quickly, or even at the same time as someone else.
You just dial the computer. In the past a doctor might take a patient’s records away to his room and keep them for weeks, which could make things difficult for the rest of us! Actually, computers can often do a doctor’s work better than a human being can. Computers don’t suffer from lack of sleep, so they don’t miss important points. And because they never forget anything they’ve ever been told they’re often better at working out what’s wrong with a patient, or the best treatment to give him. Some people even think we should all have regular computer checks on our health and then we would ha able to cure most diseases in the early stages. We’d all spend less time in hospital, so the future would be better for us overworked nurses!"
Computers Catch Criminals
Chief Inspector Harston talked about ways in which computers can help the police fight crime.
"Members of the public often think of detective work as fast and exciting when most of it is slow and boring. For example, a detective on a stolen car case may have to check through long lists of information, and in the time it takes him to do this the thief may well escape. With the new National Police Computer we are now able to find out details of car ownership and driving licenses in a fraction of the time it takes by traditional methods. We are also developing systems of storing fingerprint information in computers and even information about people’s appearance. It’s possible to work out codes for visual details and to link a computer with a videotape recorder (VTPO. Then, instead of looking through books of photographs we’ll be able to ask the computer to sort out the right ones, and see photographs of suspects flashed across a VTR screen. In police work speed is often essential, so computers are ideal for helping catch criminals. The only problem is that we now have a new kind of criminal—the very clever man who knows how to make huge sums of money by cheating a computer, and he is very difficult indeed to catch."
When you go shopping, you can show the shopassistant the special card and get the goods you want immediately.
选项
A、Y
B、N
C、NG
答案
C
解析
第二段倒数第四句话指出“The code on the card will be fed into the shop computer,which will check with the band computer that there is enough money in our account to pay for the goods we want,and that the card has not been stolen.”卡上的密码将会输入商店中的计算机,与银行计算机联网查看是否有足够的钱付我们要买的货物,井确认卡上的存款没有被偷窃,而题干中表达的意思,原文未提及。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/lut7777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
Asinterestgrows,moreandmoreschoolsareinvestinginremotelearning.Whythehugeupsurgeofinterestinremotelearning?
Forthispart,youareallowedthirtyminutestowriteacompositiononthetopicPrivateCarsinChina.Youshouldwriteatlea
A、Sheholdsthatonedollarforeachyearoftheageisfarfromenough.B、Shebelievesthatchildrenshouldbegivenmorethan
Forthispart,youareallowedthirtyminutestowriteacompositiononthetopic:ClubsandSocietiesinaUniversity.Youshou
A、Hebelievesthathistoryprofessorsarepoorlypreparedfortheircourse.B、Hebelievesthatmoststudentsarelazy.C、Hebeli
A、Howmuchthecuthurt.B、Howdeepthecutwas.C、Howeasilyhewascut.D、Howconcernedthewomanwas.AWhatsurprisedtheman
A、Theywanttopleasewomen.B、Theywanttotellthetruth.C、Theythinkwomenareasgoodasmen.D、Theythinkwomenareasstr
Supposeyouarestudyingatauniversitywhichoffersscholarshipstothosestudentswhoseaveragemarkisover90.Yourrecord
A、Therewerenomotoristscomingandgoing.B、Themotoristsdrovetooslowly.C、Sometwostudentsplayedatrick.D、Thepolicep
A、Becauseherloverisinprison.B、Becauseshelostherlover.C、Becauseshefailedthehistoryexamination.D、Becauseshedoes
随机试题
嘉和公司于2010年1月1日起计提折旧的管理用机器设备一台,原价为200万元,预计使用年限为10年(不考虑净残值因素),按直线法计提折旧。由于技术进步的原因,从2013年1月1日起,决定将原估计的使用年限改为7年,同时改按年数总和法计提折旧。嘉和公司201
Q235一C与1Crl8Ni9Ti钢板对接焊时,如果采用A307焊条,则焊缝组织为奥氏体加少量铁素体,抗裂性和力学性能都比较好。
处理顾客异议的策略有()
A黏液细胞B壁细胞C胃窦部G细胞D胃D细胞E主细胞分泌内因子的是
(2009年)采用滴定剂的电位分析法,滴定终点的确定是用()。
上市公司和公司债券上市交易的公司,年度报告应记载已发行的股票、公司债券情况,其中包括()。
节约资源,保护环境,从我们身边的小事做起。LiMing是一个注重“低碳”生活的学生,假设你是他,请以“MyLow-carbonLife”为题,写一篇80词左右的短文,简单描述自己的“低碳生活”。要点:(1)每天步行上学;(2)离开教室时,关灯、
Discernedfromtheperplexingpictureofpopulationgrowththe1980censusprovided,Americain1970s____.Thecensusdistingu
在Word中,如果要选择多个文本框对象,可(15)。
(13)接口是一种通用型系统级接口,它连接的外设可以是硬盘驱动器、光盘驱动器和扫描仪等。
最新回复
(
0
)