Exercises. Which statement best expresses the main idea of the text?

Main idea

Which statement best expresses the main idea of the text? Why did you eliminate the other choices?

1) Computers, as we know them today, have gone through many changes.

2) Today’s computer probably won't be around for long.

3) Computers have had a very short history.

Understanding the passage

Decide whether the following statements are true or false (T/F) by referring to the information in text. Then make the necessary changes so that the false statements become true.

1) The abacus and the fingers are two calculating devices still in today.

2) The slide rule was invented hundreds of years ago.

3) During the early 1880s, many people worked on inventing a mechanical calculating machine

4) Charles Babbage, an Englishman, could well be called the father of computers.

5) The first computer was invented and built in the USA.

6) Instructions used by computers have always been kept inside the computer's memory.

7) Using transistors instead of vacuum tubes did nothing to increase the speed at which calculations were done.

8) As computers evolved, their size decreased and their dependability increased.

9) Today’s computers have more circuits than previous computers.

10) Computer technology has developed to a point from which new developments in the field will take a long time to come.

3. Develop the main ideas of the text. Start with:

– I’d like to add that…

– I’d like to make a comment on…

– I’d like to draw your attention to the fact…

Make a contribution to the text.

– I’d like to add in connection with

– I’d like to make a comment on…

Understanding words

Refer back to the text and find synonyms (i.e. words with a similar meaning) for the following words.

1. machine ________

2. designed ________

3. a lot of ________

4. errors ________

5. solve ________

Now refer back to the text and find antonyms (i. e. words with an opposite meaning) for the following words.

6. old ________

7. a few ________

8. to include ________

9. contemporaries ________

10. still in use ________

Content review

Match the following words in column A with the statements in column B. The first one is done for you.

A B

 1. Abacus a. instrument used for doing multiplication

and division

 2. calculus b. used in the first digital computers

 3. analog computer c. an instrument used for counting

 4. digital computer d. used in mathematics

 5. vacuum tubes e. circuitry of forth-generation computers

 6. transistors f. invented by Americans in 1944

 7 . Chip g. made computers smaller and faster

 8. Microminiaturization h. used to help aim guns

 9. slide rule i. the reduction of circuitry onto chip

 10. logarithm tables j. a branch of mathematics