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Talking via Space

Communication has come a long way from the time when an In­dian beat a drum (барабан) in the forest to the time when a scientist receives messages from a satellite. In this space age communication has become a highly developed field. The system of communica-

tion in large countries is unthinkable today without space satellites. Besides large distances, there is a great time difference: the territo­ries of some countries comprise up to 11 zones. Satellites help to minimize all the difficulties that may appear. They rapidly transmit TV and radio programs to different towns, cities, and distant areas.

Space systems and electronic technology have made it possible to set up an automatic system of communication designed for rapid transmission of all kinds of information.

People write letters and send telegrams. But at the same time people living in various cities like to exchange (обмениваться) news on the telephone. Statistics reports that the number of long­distance telephone calls is about 2, 000 million per year. A person in Moscow talking on the phone with Vladivostok must know that this conversation is carried on through a satellite.

Trains and cars can use mobile radio telephones to make calls. Businessmen can use fax machines which provide electronic trans­mission of documents and messages over telephone lines. Even photographs can be sent and received over telephone wires.

Practically all the population in large countries can watch TV via satellites. The orbital communication systems make it possible for people from different continents to see and hear one another.

The importance of space means of communication is increasing every year. The communication satellites of the international orga­nization «INTERSAT» enable people to keep reliable telephone, telegraph, telex and fax communication in any weather with ships practically in every part of the World Ocean.

ДОПОЛНИТЕЛЬНЫЕ ЗАДАНИЯ

Упражнение 1. А.Прочитайте следующие выражения из текста 4А и по­старайтесь догадаться о значении выделенных слов и словосочетаний.

1. TV sets began coming off factory assembly lines

2. on people's life and way of thinking

3. it weighed less than a pound

4. the desired channel

5. when you are occupied

В. Подберите к каждому выделенному слову или словосочетанию соот­ветствующее ему по значению.

a. unit of weight

b. programme

c. busy with smth.

d. where parts of large machines are put together in mass pro­
duction

e. the way you think

Упражнение 2.Найдите в тексте слова cell, network, area, set и выберите правильное значение.

A cellular phone (cellphone) is a lightweight, portable radio transceiver, which can transmit and receive telephone calls any­where in cellular network area. It is a mobile telephone, which communicates through base stations situated in areas called cells. Cell is a subdivision of communication area in a cellphone net­work. In the network, the same frequencies can be used for many different telephone calls at the same time. Each cell has its own small electronic base station and set of transmission frequencies. The sizes of the cell vary between 1 km to about 30 km across, de­pending on the output power of the cellphone transmitter.

1. cell

a) a small room for one person

b) apparatus for producing electricity by chemical action

c) a compartment in a larger structure (e.g., in a honeycomb)

2. network

a) a system of lines that cross

b) a complex system of interconnected radio and TV devices

c) a connected system

3. area

a) a zone, region, district

b) surface measure

c) range of activity

4. set

a) a number of smth. of the same kind

b) radio, TV, phone apparatus

c) direction

Упражнение 3.Подберите к глаголам и словосочетаниям в колонке А глаголы с тем же значением из колонки В.

А

1. link up to

2. exchange news

3. send a signal, message, fax

4. show

5. take the place of

6. have, possess

7. make it illegible

8. have

В

a. contain

b. connect
с replace

d. make it difficult and impos­
sible to read

e. own

f. communicate

g. transmit
h. indicate

Упражнение 4.Замените выделенное слово или словосочетание другим словом с тем же значением.

1. A Fax system can now sendtexts, graphics and documents to several places at the same timein less than a minute. The informa­tion may have photographic images as well as words. The latest Fax machines must be linked upto a special digital phone line. A few seconds' interference (помехи) on the phone line can make several lines of a document or text illegible.

2. Digital systems of information transmission have taken the placeof analog systems in the last 25 years.

3. Most phones now havememories to store frequently used numbers. Some telephone manufacturers make phones with LCDs (liquid-crystal displays) which showthe duration of calls.

4. Before World War II few people hadtelevision sets.

5. A lot of people havecellphones, answerphones and mobile phones now.

6. It is possible to exchange newswith people in most parts of the world by telephone.

Упражнение 5.Заполните пропуски глаголами connect, transmit, communi­cate и их производными.

1. A small radio receiver called a radiopager makes it possible for people to ... with each other wherever they are.

2. Data ... services, known as teletext... text and graphics over a long distance as part of the television video signal.

3. In telecommunication the information can be directed be­tween ... and receivers by cables of various kinds.

4. The lines which ... telephones within a building are the simplest type of... line.

5. Mobile phone systems normally do not... directly with other mobile phones. They send messages to the control base station.

6. How long will the ... of the new telephone take?

7. You can now ... your computer to computers all over the world by means of the Internet.

Упражнение 6. А.Назовите 10—15 слов и словосочетаний на тему «Means of communication».

8. Speak about:

Your favourite TV programmes at the moment.

Do you often watch football match live (as it happens) on TV or do you watch recorded highlights(parts of the game after it has been played)? Do you enjoy watching the commercials(the advertise­ments in programmes)? Do you watch satellite TV and/or cable TV?