практическое задание по английскому языку

1. Skim the article about information development and write the summary of the text. Skimming means to get a general idea of what a text is about. Read the first paragraph (the introduction) and the last paragraph (the conclusion). Then read the first and last sentences of the other paragraphs. Sample structure for a summary of an article: 1. Introduction: A. Providing general infomation about the article including its topic, the main question or describing the author’s individual approach to the topic; 2. Statement of the author’s thesis: 3. Key points: A. Provide and clarify the key ideas that the author presents in a support of his thesis; B. Share a few examples that the author has used; 4. Make a conclusion: A. Discuss how the given ideas and examples support the thesis; B. Discuss how the author explains the relevance and significance of his work.

WHAT IS INFORMATION? We live in the Information Age and we are surrounded by information. The information is everywhere: in human speech, books, magazines and newspapers, radio and TV messages, readings, etc. Information is stored on CD- and DVD-disks, special devices and data carriers. Thanks to new media like the Internet, the Web, blogs, email, cell phones, iPods, e-Readers, Blackberries and iPhones we are blanketed in information. Information can be found in primary, secondary or tertiary sources depending on how original the materials are or how much they have been interpreted or condensed by others. Information can come from many sources and be obtained from everyday life such as watching the channel news or reading the Chicago Tribune and it can be distributed in several ways such as TV news, the Internet, newspaper, and through word of mouth. The farther away from the original source the information is found, the more likely it is to be filtered, interpreted, condensed or otherwise changed. The person perceives the information by means of sense organs, stores and processes it by means of brain and the central nervous system. In addition to this everyday interaction with information by the users of computer-based digital new media there is the role that information plays in the sciences of AI and AL. The irony of our total immersion in information as well as the prominent role it plays in AI and AL is that for the most part we do not really have a clear understanding of exactly what information is. The use of the word ‘information’ as a descriptive adjective has exploded to the point of near absurdity: information age, information society, information economy, information superhighway, information millennium, information revolution. But what does this word "information" mean in these constructions and how did it become the new keyword of our social formation’s self-definition? At first, it appears that the definition of "information" is clear and unproblematic: we all know, in common sense, what it is. But, immediately, it becomes evident that we can’t exactly specify the term in its everyday usage, and that the term is being used in some other way when attached to the words "society," "age," etc. The word ‘information’ is derived from Latin informare which means "give form to the mind". The way the word information is used can refer to both "facts" in themselves and the transmission of the facts. There have been many descriptions and characterizations of information through the years, some very broad, some narrow and some humorous. One of the earliest definition of information was produced by Shannon and Weaver. They defined information as what is known beyond random chance predictions. In this sense, information must surprise the recipient. It must reduce the uncertainty recipient has about the state of the world. Random chance events represent the state of complete uncertainty. To the extent that recipient can reduce his/her uncertainty, he/she is informed. If the conclusion of a report is known a priori, then it has no surprise value, and therefore it is not, according to this definition, informative. It may be helpful to view information the way it is structured and used, namely: data, text, spreadsheets, pictures, voice and video. Data are discretely defined fields. Text is a collection of words. Spreadsheets are data in matrix (row and column) form. Pictures are lists of vectors or frames of bits. Voice is a continuous stream of sound waves. Video is a sequence of image frames. When information is stored electronically, it is structured according to the way it is used. Databases support all kinds of information. Information may be hard to define but it can be categorized and divided into types by different criteria: on the validity - true, false; on ways of perception - visual, acoustical, tactile, olfactory, flavouring; on public value - mass, special, confidential, personal; under its form of representation, ways of its coding and storage - graphic, sound, text, numerical, a video information, etc. Information is of value to decision makers if it is accurate, timely, complete, and relevant. These four criteria are used to distinguish valuable information from information that is of less value. Accurate information provides a reliable and valid representation of reality. The cost of inaccurate or distorted information can be extremely high. Consider the demise of the multimillion dollar Mars Climate Orbiter launched by NASA in 1998. The tragic outcome of this mission was blamed on the failure of one scientific team to recognize and correct an error in information from another team. Findings indicate that one team used English units (e.g., inches, feet and pounds) while the other used metric units for key spacecraft operations affecting navigation. This oversight caused the orbiter to burn up in Mars atmosphere before it could deploy to the surface. 

3. Find and learn Russian equivalents for the following words and expressions: 1) data carriers a) 2) artificial intelligence b) 3) silicon-based c) 4) distorted information d) 5) pertinency е) 6) altering f) 7) privacy g) 8) availability h) 9)information sources i) 10) information gathering and assessment j) 4. Find and learn English equivalents for the following words and expressions: 1) специальное приспособление a) 2) полное погружение b) 3) передаваемый из уст в уста c) 4) концепция, моделируемая в системах машин и воспроизводящая их поведение по типу взаимодействия живых организмов d) 5) удобный для пользователя (дружественный) e) 6)недавно созданная фирма f) 7) эргономичность g) 8)актуальность h) 9) достоверность i) 10) полнота j)