Question

IV.閱讀表達

Predicting the future is difficult. Who could have imagined,in the mid 1970s,for example,that by the end of the 20th century,computers would be as common in people's homes as TV sets? In the 1970s,computers were common enough,but only in big businesses,government departments,and large organisations. These were the so-called mainframe machines. Mainframe computers were very large indeed,often occupying whole air-conditioned rooms,employing full-time technicians and running on specially-written software. Though these large machines still exist,many of their functions have been taken o-ver by small powerful personal computers,commonly known as PCs.

In the 1960s,an Englishman,Leon Bagrit,was able to predict some of the uses of computers which we know today. Bagrit didn't think computers would learn to “think” for themselves and would “rule the world”?which people liked to believe in those days. Bagrit foresaw a time when computers would to hold in the hand,when they would be capable of providing information about traffic jams and suggesting alternative routes,when they would be used in hospitals to help doctors to diagnose illnesses,when they would relieve office workers. All these computer uses have become common. Of course,Leon Bagrit could not possibly have foreseen the development of the Internet,the worldwide system that enables us to communicate immediately with anyone in any part of the world by using computers linked to telephone networks. Nor could he have foreseen how we could use the Internet to obtain information on every known subject,so we can read it on a screen in our homes and even print it as well if we want to. Computers have become smaller and smaller,more and more powerful and cheaper and cheaper. This is what makes Leon Bagrit's predictions particularly remarkable. If he,or someone like him,were alive today,he might be able to tell us what to expect in the next fifty years.

1. What couldn’t the computer do according to Leon Bagrit? (within 10 words)

         

2. Where were computers mainly used in the 1970s? (within 10 words)

         

3. Fill in the blank in Paragraph 2 with proper words, (within 5 words)

         

4. List three changes of the computer according to the passage, (within 10 words)

(1)       

(2)       

(3)       

5. What was Leon Bagrit unlikely to predict? (within 5 words)

         

Answer 1

IV. 1. The computer couldn’t “ think ” for themselves and “rule the world”.

2. In big businesses,government departments,and large organisations.

3. be small enough

4. (1) Becoming smaller.

(2) Becoming more powerful.

(3) Becoming cheaper.

5. The development of the Internet.