Cocu Iulia Veronica Unit 2 – Input and Output Devices

Unit 2
Input and Output Devices

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 Cocu Iulia Veronica Unit 2 – Input and Output Devices

5 Input and output devices allow the computer system to interact with the outside
world by moving data into and out of the system. I/O refers to the communication
between an information processing system (such as a computer) and the outside world –
possibly a human or another information processing system.
An input device converts incoming data and instructions into a pattern of
10electrical signals in binary code that are comprehensible to a digital computer and sends
them into the CPU. An output device reverses the process, translating the digitized signals
into a form intelligible to the user.
Until the early 1960’s, one of the most frequently used devices for providing input
data into a computer was the punched card, a major storage medium for computer
15programs and data. In 1890, Dr. Herman Hollerith recognised the value of the punched
cards for this purpose, devised a code for representing data on the cards and invented the
necessary machines to meet his needs. Dr Hollerith went on to found a company to
produce these machines, which in 1924 became IBM. Nowadays, punched cards are
rarely used.
20 Today, most programming and data entry is done directly onto magnetic tape or
disk eliminating cards and card readers. The instructions, or data, are typed on a
keyboard, which records the characters magnetically, and a monitor or VDU shows what
has been typed.
Input devices may be classified into manual and automatic. The most common
25manual input devices are:
 Keyboards, including concept keyboards; a concept keyboard is a flat board that
contains a grid of buttons; each button can be programmed to do whatever you
want; an overlay sheet with pictures or symbols is placed on the grid so that the
user can tell what pressing on different areas will do; concept keyboards are used
30 when fast input is needed and are ideally suited to selecting from a limited range
of choices such as fast food restaurants; primary schools often use them with
young children; the overlay could be a picture of a farmyard; pressing on an
animal would cause the computer to make the right animal noise; concept
keyboards are also very handy in locations where an ordinary keyboard might be
35 damaged, e.g. by spillage or dust;
 Digital cameras, which take pictures and store them as a digital photographic
image that can be read by a computer;
 Microphones, used to input sound information; they can also be used with a voice
recognition system which processes information or as part of security systems –
40 only certain digitally stored voices will gain access
 Graphics tablets, which consist of a flat pad (the tablet) on which the user draws
with a special pen;
 Scanners, which is a cheap and common way of getting images into a computer;
they can also be used with OCR software to scan in text.
45 
The two most important automatic input devices are:
 Sensors
 Barcode readers

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 5Cocu Iulia Veronica Unit 2 – Input and Output Devices

Barcodes represent different groups of vertical bars that can be read by a barcode
50reader. Barcodes are printed on nearly every products that you can buy. The barcode
contains the product details such as product name, size, manufacturer, country of origin.
The most common output devices are:
 Monitors, which include: desktop monitors, also known as CRT, and LCD’s, also
known as TFT’s
55  Printers, which may be classified into: laser printers (produce a very high quality
output, are very quiet and very fast); inkjet printers (offer black and white or
colour printing with reduced levels of quality and speed); dot-matrix printers (not
so common today; they are comparatively noisy and low quality)
 Plotters, which can be used to produce high quality, accurate A3 size or bigger
60 drawings; they are usually used for CAD and CAM applications such as printing
out plans for houses or car parts.

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Cocu Iulia Veronica Unit 2 – Input and Output Devices

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 Cocu Iulia Veronica Unit 2 – Input and Output Devices

I.
65a) Give synonyms for the following words from the text:

Device; to allow (l. 1); to convert (l.5); to provide (l. 9); purpose (l. 12); to devise (l. 12);
to meet (l. 13); today (l. 16); to classify (l. 20); to be needed (l. 26); handy (l. 30); to buy
(l. 48)
70
b) What do the following abbreviations stand for?
IBM; VDU; CPU; CRT; LCD; TFT; CAD; CAM; CAE; OCR; QWERTY; AZERTY;
EGA; GUI

75
II. Give as many examples as you can of input and output devices but do
not repeat the ones that are already given in the text. Also write a short
definition of each input or output device that you mention.

80
III. Match the following words (1 – 14) with their appropriate definitions
(A – N):

1. Keyboard A. special software packages required by peripherals

852. Trackball B. component of the puck, which generates an electric field
3. Drivers C. a component which increases the computer’s capacity
4. Card D. dots per inch
5. Transducer E. a program which allows for faster transfer rates
6. Modem F. the measuring tool for modems
907. QWERTY G. device used for accurate drawing, especially by artists
8. Light pen H. a peripheral used to translate information transferred through
telephone lines or cable

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 Cocu Iulia Veronica Unit 2 – Input and Output Devices

9. Joystick I. characters per inch

10. Data compression J. the most common keyboard layout for Latin-based languages
9511. Graphics tablet K. an input device used mostly for playing games
12. Baud rate L. an input device which works directly with the display
13. CPI M. the primary input device used to communicate with the
computer
14. DPI N. an upside-down mouse
100

IV. Fill in the blanks in the text below:

To enter data into a computer there are several 1) ………… 2)…………. The
105most common of these devices is the 3) …………. It is just like a 4) ………… and it can
be either 5) …………. or 6) ………… depending on the country you live in. Most
keyboards have several sets of 7) …………: the main set is the alphanumeric keypad
with all the alphabet letters, figures and a few other keys such as the 8) ………… or caps
lock keys; it is actually the same set which you find on a 9) ………… typewriter. Besides
110this main block there are other 10) ………… which are specific to computer keyboards:
the numeric keypad and the 11) …………. 12) …………. Instead of using the keyboard
you can also use a 13) ………… which helps you move the 14) ………… on the 15)
………… and select functions by 16) ………… the button(s) situated on the 17)
………… of it. 18) ………… 19) ………… and 20) ………… 21) ………… also belong
115to the 22) ………… 23) ………… family but usually serve specific 24) …………: the
former are used to read 25) ………… 26) …………, the latter to 27) ………… an area
on a map displayed on the screen, for instance.

120V. Fill in the gaps:

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 Cocu Iulia Veronica Unit 2 – Input and Output Devices

Once processed, the data can be outputted in several 1) …………. The most common 2)
………… device is the 3) …………, often referred to as the 4) ………… 5) ………… 6)
………… (VDU for short) or monitor or even 7) ……….. 8) ……….. 9) ………….
125(CRT for short). Such a device 10) ………… the user to visualize the information which
is 11) ………… and to edit it if he wishes to. The data displayed on a screen is usually
called a 12) ………… 13) …………. If the user wants a 14) ………… 15) ………… of
the data which is displayed on the screen, then a 16) ………… is 17) ……….. in order to
print the data on 18) …………. There is a 19) ………… range of printers 20) …………
130today. 21) ………… 22) ………… or X-Y plotters are very 23) ………… to architects or
to people working in fields where graphs are an important part of their business. 24)
………… are becoming 25) ………… popular since you can 26) ………… sounds,
music and even spoken language with their help.

135
VI. Read the text below. Find the original text by replacing the words or
phrases in italics by their synonyms. The original text is a letter written to
the Wall Street Journal by a computer addicted person to complain about
their policy of using the word “hacker” only in a pejorative sense.
140
Although; apology; breaking; change; clever; crash; difference; explain; earlier;
impression, insist on; kind; learning; let; meant; misuse; ordinary; perpetuated; public;
reason; repeat; response; shameful; sincerely; specifically; that is to say; used; violence;
wish
145
Dear Editor,
This letter is not meant for publication, 1) in spite of the fact that you can publish
it if you 2) want. It is 3) intended 4) precisely for you, the editor, not for the 5)
community. I am a hacker, 6) i.e. I enjoy playing with computers, working with, 7)
150studying about, and writing 8) smart computer programs. I am not a cracker. I don’t make
a practice of 9) cracking computer security. There’s nothing 10) scandalous about the

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 15Cocu Iulia Veronica Unit 2 – Input and Output Devices

hacking I do. But when I tell people I am a hacker, people think I’m admitting something
naughty because newspapers such as yours 11) ill-use the word “hacker”, giving the 12)
feeling that it means “security breaker” and nothing else. You are giving hackers a bad
155name.
The saddest thing is that this problem is 13) extended deliberately. Your reporters
know the 14) discrepancy between “hacker” and “security breaker”. They know how to
make the distinction but you don’t 15) allow them! You 16) persist in using “hacker”
pejoratively. When reporters try to use another word, you 17) replace it. When reporters
160try to 18) clarify the other meanings, you cut it. Of course, you have a 19) motive. You
say that readers have become 20) accustomed to your insulting usage of “hacker”, so that
you cannot change it now. Well, you can’t undo 21) former mistakes today but that is no
excuse to22) reproduce them tomorrow.
If I were what you call a “hacker”, at this point I would threaten to crack your
165computer and 23) break it. But I am a hacker, not a cracker. I don’t do that 24) sort of
thing! I have enough computers to play with at home and at work. I don’t need yours.
Besides, it’s not my way to 25) retort to insults with 26) brutality. My 27) reply is this
letter. You owe hackers an 28) excuse, but more than that, you owe us 29) customary
respect.
170 30) Frankly,
…

VII. Translate the following text into English:

175
Mimio Interactiv

Fiecare componentă a sistemului mimio este foarte uşoară, dar totuşi foarte
rezistentă, uşor de mânuit şi de transportat.
180 Bara interactivă Mimio Interactive Xi conţine senzori infraroşu şi pentru detecţia
ultrasunetelor, tehnologie patentată de mimio.
 Se poate monta vertical sau orizontal pe tabla albă.

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 Cocu Iulia Veronica Unit 2 – Input and Output Devices

 Se poate plia pentru a facilita transportul şi depozitarea.

 Are 5 butoane care pot controla modul interactiv, bara de instrumente, notiţele de
185 pe ecran sau diverse efecte în timpul prezentărilor.
Stiloul Mimio Interactive se comportă ca un mouse, deci puteţi controla funcţiile
calculatorului dumneavoastră direct de la tabla interactivă. Nu mai este necesar să vă
plimbaţi de la tablă la calculator pentru a putea folosi mouse-ul!
 Cele două butoane de pe stilou au acelaşi rol ca şi butoanele unui mouse, click
190 dreapta, click stânga, drag and drop.
 Vârful solid din teflon va asigura acţiuni sigure şi de precizie.
 Carcasa rezistentă asigură protecţie la lovituri sau şocuri.
Mimio Studio este o suită de programe care activează tabla interactivă Mimio și
extinde aproape nelimitat posibilităţile de a preda interactiv.
195  Alegeţi din galerie lecţii pregătite pentru prezentarea în clasă, împărţită pe
subiecte şi pe diferite nivele de dificultate. Le puteţi folosi aşa cum sunt sau le
puteţi modifica pentru a se adapta nevoilor dumneavoastră.
 Creaţi lecţii dinamice integrând materiale audio, video, şi animaţii Flash.
 Importaţi lecţii existente în alte formate – PowerPoint, Word, Excel si Adobe
200 Acrobat -- în softul Mimio Studio.
 Disponibil pentru Windows, Macintosh şi Linux.
Tabla interactivă Mimio este făcută să reziste mai mulţi ani, în condiţii de utilizare
activă. Dacă apar vreodată probleme tehnice, componenta defectă poate fi trimisă prin
curier, eliminând costurile mari provenite din apelarea serviciilor de pe suport telefonic.

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 Cocu Iulia Veronica Unit 2 – Input and Output Devices

205 GRAMMAR SPOTLIGHT

Complex Noun Phrases

In grammar, a noun phrase is a phrase whose head is a noun or a pronoun

optionally accompanied by a set of modifiers.
210
EXERCISES

I. The following words have been scrambled. Arrange them to form

215complex noun phrases:
 New interface design user
 Level performance high
 Integrated access digital
 Telephone Internet software
220  32-bit space address
 Research human-computer interface
 Tools web-based search
 Front component page
 Extensions server page front
225  Document office format interchange
 Earth orbit low
 Number serial electronic
 Application interface programming
 Common access user
230

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 Cocu Iulia Veronica Unit 2 – Input and Output Devices

II. Arrange the following complex noun phrases in the correct order and
then translate them into Romanian:
235  Authoring web program
 Interface web user
 Server name domain
 Cache proxy server
 Map server-side image
240  System profile default
 Compression standard algorithm
 Communication data equipment
 Simple management network protocol
 Services online commercial
245  Page information Web
 Update Windows files
 Devices input alternate
 Colour active profiles
 Control drive disk
250
III. Translate the following noun phrases into Romanian:
 File transfer access and management
 HTML logical character tag
 Number assignment module
255  Short messaging service
 Object request broker
 Object-oriented programming
 Delimited field file
 Bit error rate
260  Frequently asked questions file
 Internet access sharing

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 Cocu Iulia Veronica Unit 2 – Input and Output Devices

IV. Translate the following complex noun phrases into English:

 Unitatea centrală de procesare
265  Proiectare asistată de calculator
 Calitatea de a menţine sistemul stabil
 Variaţii ale parametrului sensibil la tensiune
 Efortul de a aplica criteriul de performanţă corespunzător

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