Unit 3

Milestones and Giants in IT Industry

“In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind.”
Louis Pasteur (the greatest biologist of the 19th century)

In this unit you will:

1. be aware of the concepts and ideas from those giants in IT industry.
2. know the workplace etiquette for new staff.
3. know how to do speed reading.
4. look at the translation of scientific terminology.
5. have extended information about the giants and milestones in IT industry.
44 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

Part One Unit Overview

The English word serendipity means something happening by chance. The founder of
Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos, once said “there will always be serendipity involved in discovery”. In this
unit, you are going to meet some big names and review some
historical moments of the IT industry. You will eventually arrive
at your own conclusion whether there will always be
serendipity involved in discovery.
In the CULTURE READING MODULE, you will meet
Kenneth Thompson and Dennis Ritchie through the article “The
Birth of UNIX ”.
When you read the sentence, “Thompson views the great
success of UNIX as being largely a matter of serendipity”, you
will begin to think deeply about serendipity in discovery.
The author of the article, “Milestones of the Personal Computer Industry” regarded Windows
3.0 as the greatest PC milestone. You may agree or disagree with the author but please see if you
can argue logically for or against the author.
In the COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS TRAINING MODULE, you are going to study the
etiquette required for professional communications for newcomers. You will also learn three speed
reading techniques: skipping, scanning, and skimming to improve your reading speed and
productivity.
In the EXPERTISE DEVELOPMENT MODULE, you can explore deeper and further on the
topic of milestones and giants in IT industry with the help of some videos and articles.

Part Two Culture Reading

Task 1: Concept Learning

Introduction
You are going to read a passage entitled “the Birth of
UNIX”, which gives a brief introduction about Ken Thompson
and the invention of UNIX operating system. After you read the
passage, you would have some idea about how UNIX was
designed and developed.

The Birth of UNIX

Kenneth “Ken” Thompson (born February 4, 1943),
commonly referred to as Ken in hacker circles, is an American
 IT I 45

pioneer of computer science. Having worked at Bell Labs for most of his career, Thompson
designed and implemented the original UNIX operating system. He also invented the B programming
language, the direct predecessor to the C programming language, and was one of the creators and
early developers of the Plan 9 operating systems. Since 2006, Thompson has worked at Google,
where he co-invented the Go programming language.
In 1983, Thompson and Ritchie jointly received the Turing Award “for their development of
generic operating systems theory and specifically for the implementation of the UNIX operating
system”.

Ken Thompson Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie (standing) at Bell Labs, 1972

In the end of 1960s, the young engineer at AT & T Bell Labs Kenneth (Ken) Thompson worked
on the project of Multics operating system. Multics (Multiplexing Information and Computer
Services) was an experimental operating system for GE-645 mainframe, developed in 1960s by
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bell Labs, and General Electric. It introduced many
innovations, but had many problems.
1969 was that magic year in which mankind first went to the moon, ARPANET (the precursor
to the Internet) was launched, UNIX was born, and a number of other interesting events occurred. It
was also the year that Thompson wrote the game Space Travel.
In 1969, frustrated by the slow progress and difficulties, Bell Labs withdrew from the
MULTICS project and Thompson decided to write his own operating system, in large part because
he wanted a decent system on which to run his game, Space Travel, on the PDP-7. On this PDP-7
and using its assembly language, the team of researchers led by Thompson and Ritchie, developed a
hierarchical file system, the concepts of computer processes and device files, a command-line
interpreter, and some small utility programs. Space Travel, which enabled a pilot to fly a vehicle
around a simulation of the solar system, observe the scenery and land on the various planets and
their moons, played a greater role in the development of the computer industry than any other game.
Thompson, with the help of his colleagues Dennis Ritchie, Douglas Mcllroy, and Joe Ossanna,
decided to experiment with some Multics concepts and to redo it on a much smaller scale. Thus in
1969 the idea of now ubiquitous UNIX was born.
He spent one week each writing the kernel (i.e., core of the operating system), the shell (which
46 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

is used to read and run commands that are typed into the computer), an editor and an assembler (a
program to convert source code into machine code that can be directly understood by a computer’s
CPU).
The PDP-7 on which he developed and first ran his operating system had an 18-bit word length
(in contrast to the now nearly universal eight-bit word length) and only four kilobytes of memory 3
(which is only a small fraction of the capacity of a single modern floppy disk). This extremely small
memory was undoubtedly a major factor in Thompson’s keeping his operating system extremely
small and providing it with an elegant simplicity that has, in turn, played an important role in the
great success of it and its various descendants (including Linux).
In 1972, Thompson rewrote the UNIX kernel in C. This was the move that assured the
system’s future success, because it made it portable.
In 1973 Thompson made his first public presentation about UNIX. The publication of his paper
from that presentation in a prestigious journal the following year gave the system a great deal of
visibility in the academic community.
It also led to his return to UCB in 1975, Thompson’s alma mater, where he served as a visiting
professor into 1976. That university had begun using UNIX, and Thompson wanted to assist it in
further developing the system. For Thompson, the benefit was, in addition to the nostalgia, the
opportunity to work with a new group of people and the consequent additional intellectual
stimulation. This return resulted in UCB becoming one of the two leading developers of UNIX (i.e.,
along with Bell Labs).
Thompson views the great success of UNIX as being largely a matter of serendipity. But it is
also due to the fact that it facilitated the huge paradigm shift from highly centralized mainframe
computers to smaller, less expensive and decentralized computers that ran standardized operating
systems rather than those dictated by their manufacturers. He views his own success in developing
the system to the fact that he is a bottom-up thinker; that is, he visualizes complex systems by
initially focusing on their most basic components and how they interact, rather than first focusing on
the complete systems.
Thompson, like Linus Torvalds, the founder of Linux, is another example of history being
shaped by the right person being ready at the right time. It is also an example of how a single person
with an idea and dedication can accomplish something that eludes large organizations with huge
concentrations of talent and massive budgets.
The longevity, reliability, and security of UNIX reflect the excellence of its design as it has
been adapted to modern use. Thompson won the ACM Turing Award (1983), the U.S. National
Medal of Technology (1999), and the Japan Prize (2011), all with Dennis Ritchie.
 IT I 47

1.1 Find out the Chinese equivalent to each of the following technical terms. Then
read aloud the terms.

English technical terms Chinese equivalents

Turing Award
operating system
hierarchical file system
command-line interpreter
the kernel
alma mater
mainframe computers
source code

1.2 Answer the following questions according to the passage.

1. Who is Kenneth Thompson?
2. What is the project of Multics operating system designed for?
3. How was the idea of now ubiquitous UNIX born?
4. Could you describe PDP 7?
5. What was the benefit of returning to UCB in 1975 for Ken?
6. Ken viewed the great success of UNIX as being largely a matter of serendipity. What do you
think of this “serendipity”?
7. Ken viewed his own success in developing the system to the fact that he is a bottom-up thinker.
What did he mean by bottom-up thinker?
8. Paraphrase on this sentence, “It is also an example of how a single person with an idea and
dedication can accomplish something that eludes large organizations with huge concentrations of
talent and massive budgets.”
1.3 Complete the following sentences by using the words and expressions in the box.
portable ubiquitous massive facilitate
withdraw paradigm initially launch

1. The main focus of __________ computing is the creation of smart products that are connected,
making communication and the exchange of data easier and less obtrusive, which is also known
as pervasive computing.
2. Skype Meeting Broadcast is designed to make __________ meetings possible over the Internet.
A set of meeting organizers can broadcast a video feed of their meeting from Skype for Business
to up to 10,000 other participants. Those who aren’t speakers can watch the proceedings from
most Web browsers, without using a plugin.
3. Companies look to business analysts to __________ IT business communication and help
determine technology strategies that will drive greater revenue.
48 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

4. While starting a business with a partner can be exciting, sometimes things don’t work out.
Whether the business doesn’t do as well as expected, or a partner has involuntarily or voluntarily
decided to __________, it’s important for partners to plan a smooth exit in order to avoid any
conflict or legal entanglements.
5. __________ shift refers to fundamental change in an individual’s or a society’s view of how
things work in the world, for example, the shift from earth to sun as the center of solar
system, or the significant shift in the classroom when the original teacher was replaced by a
clearly inexperience substitute.
6. Today, because consumers are able to get information from a variety of sources and platforms, a
successful product __________ requires an integrated approach; one that includes traditional,
social and online marketing tools.
7. A business plan is an essential component in the business formation stage of the start-up process.
__________, it allows you to structure your thoughts and actions and analyze the essential
elements necessary for a successful business. Later, it is also a communication vehicle describing
your business concept to others.
8. When it comes to cars, there are three main GPS navigation system options. You can opt for a
factory-installed system on a new car, a dealer-installed system on a new or used vehicle or get a
__________ device that requires little or no installation.

Task 2: Case Learning

Milestones of the personal computer industry in the 21st century

“There have only been two milestone products in our industry to date,” Steve Jobs told the
Boston Computing Club in 1984. “The first was Apple II in 1977 and the second was the IBM PC in
1981.”
Jobs at the time was announcing the third breakthrough — the Apple Mac — which turned 30
last week.
Looking back over the four decades of the PC industry, Jobs’ claim that the Apple Mac was the
sector’s third milestone stands up to scrutiny, however the greatest milestone of all for the PC was
the launch of Windows 3.0 in 1990.

The rise of Windows

Windows 3.0 changed the business model of the industry, it established software vendors —
particularly Microsoft — as being dominant over hardware manufacturers, and that shift nearly
killed Apple and eventually sent most PC builders to the wall.
Microsoft’s advantage over Apple, IBM, Atari and dozens of other systems, was that users
weren’t locked into one vendor’s products.
The Windows 3.0 milestone was even more important in that it forced a shakeout in the
software industry as well, many of the incumbent vendors — most notably WordPerfect — thought
 IT I 49

the Windows Graphic User Interface (GUI) was a flash in the pan and that most office workers
would prefer to use keyboard instructions rather than mouse clicks.
WordPerfect was horribly, horribly wrong in judging the market and by the time they released
the Windows versions of their product Microsoft had captured key market share for Word and the
bundled Office suite that dominates the business world today.

Going mobile
So things were good for Microsoft until the next milestone, which again was marked by Steve
Jobs, the launch of the iPhone genuinely did change the smartphone industry and was the first
inkling of mobile that would eventually destabilize the PC sector.
It’s interesting comparing Jobs’ iconic 2007 iPhone which sets the standard for product
launches with the somewhat rough at the edges 1984 Boston presentation although both show how
Steve Jobs was a master salesperson and a passionate believer in his products.

The PC’s final milestone

Three years later Steve Jobs delivered the milestone product that marked the beginning of the
end for the PC industry, the iPad finally delivered a mobile computing device that businesses and
consumers wanted.
Apple’s iPad also marked a fundamental shift in the computer industry — no longer did the
software companies control the market, power had shifted back to the manufacturers.
From that moment on, the PC, and Microsoft’s Windows business, started a terminal decline.
The rise and fall of the personal computer is a great illustration of the transition of technology.
That Steve Jobs bookmarked the beginning and the end of the PC industry is an interesting note
about a technology that changed the home and workplace.

Microsoft edges towards the post PC era and the end of Windows
Microsoft’s evolution to the post PC era has been a fascination of this blog for several years
now as the company’s once flagship Windows becomes irrelevant in a world dominated by
smartphones and tablet computers.
The launch of Windows 8 and the Surface tablet were the great hope for the company, but it
appears the business model that built Microsoft into one of the world’s biggest companies is
doomed. Microsoft is shifting to the post-PC era where Windows has little role.
Yesterday’s financial results emphasized the shift as the consumer licensing business fell 6%
against last year’s revenues while the company’s overall revenues rose 14% — the old consumer
Windows business is dying.
This is illustrated in the company’s quarterly report, where the business units that delivered the
growth were all in non-Windows areas.
SQL Server continued to gain market share with revenue growing double-digits.
System Center showed continued strength with double-digit revenue growth.
50 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

Commercial cloud services revenue more than doubled.

Office 365 commercial seats and Azure customers both grew triple-digits.
Drilling down into the numbers the trend against Windows is even more stark, here’s a chart of
the performance of the division over the last ten years.

Graph 1: Microsoft Windows division financial performance

As we see, life was good for Microsoft Windows until the iPad arrived.
Following Apple’s proof that tablet computers could deliver what business and home
customers wanted from a portable device, Windows’ revenue stagnated and now income and
margins are falling.
The devices and services strategy of outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer recognizes is a reflection of
how Windows is becoming irrelevant to the business.
It’s hard to see where Microsoft now goes with Windows, the product still remains a key part
of the business with 22% of revenues — although that’s down from 27% last year — and it’s hard to
see a buyer parting with the hundreds of billions the division would be worth as a stand-alone
business.
For Steve Ballmer’s successor as Microsoft CEO dealing with the Windows problem will be
one of many big issues they’ll have to deal with, the future of the once iconic product though won’t
define the future of the business.

Find out the Chinese equivalent to each of the following technical terms. Then
read aloud the terms.
English technical terms Chinese equivalents
the launch of Windows 3.0
software vendors
hardware manufacturers
post-PC era
mobile computing device
smartphones and tablet computers
 IT I 51

Task 3: Reading Comprehension

Answer the following questions by choosing the best one from the choices given below. You can
find the answer to each of the questions from the above two passages.
1. Which of the following statements is not true about Kenneth Thompson?
A. He also invented the B programming language, the direct predecessor to the C
programming language.
B. Since 2006, Thompson has worked at Google, where he co-invented the Google
programming language.
C. He has worked at Bell Labs for most of his career.
D. He is an American pioneer of computer science.
2. Why was 1969 called the magic year? (More than one answer)
A. Mankind first went to the moon.
B. UNIX was born.
C. ARPANET (the precursor to the Internet) was launched.
D. Clone technology caught people’s attention.
3. Why did Kenneth Thompson decide to write his own operating system?
A. He tried to realize his dream.
B. Bell Labs required him.
C. He wanted to start his own business.
D. He wanted a decent system on which to run his game.
4. According to Thompson’s great success of UNIX, what do you think of the reason for his
success?
A. His success has nothing to do with hard working. It happens because of luck.
B. His success cannot be copied or imitated because the time he was in cannot be copied.
C. His success needs hard work as well as serendipity.
D. His success is all about timing.
5. What will a bottom-up thinker probably do when he/she tries to solve a problem?
A. He/She will see the whole picture of a situation or problem instead of the concrete
details.
B. He/She will ask a lot of people for help and collect their opinions.
C. He/She will always focus on their most basic components and how they interact, rather
than first focusing on the complete system.
D. He/She will initially focus on their most basic components and how they interact, rather
than first focusing on the complete system.
6. According to Steve Jobs, what were two milestone products in our industry to date?
A. Apple II in 1977 and the IBM PC in 1981.
B. MAC and the IBM PC in 1981.
C. Cell phone and MAC.
D. Apple TV and cell phone.
52 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

7. What was the advantage of Windows 3.0 over other systems?

A. It was more colorful.
B. Its advertisement was better than others.
C. Users weren’t locked into one vendor’s products.
D. It had catchy design.
8. What was the fundamental shift that Apple’s iPad marked in the computer industry? (More
than one answer)
A. Software companies did not control the market any longer.
B. The power had shifted back to the manufacturers.
C. Apple’s iPad made computer available for everyone.
D. It made learning enjoyable.
9. Which of the following statements is right according to this article? (More than one answer)
A. Microsoft’s evolution to the post-PC era has been a fascination of this blog for several
years now as the company’s once flagship Windows becomes irrelevant in a world
dominated by smart phones and tablet computers.
B. The launch of Windows 8 and the Surface tablet were the great hope for the company,
but it appears the business model that built Microsoft into one of the world’s biggest
companies is doomed. Microsoft is shifting to the post-PC era where Windows has little
role.
C. WordPerfect was horribly, horribly wrong in judging the market.
D. Computer was capable of thinking by itself.
10. What does “the future of the once iconic product though won’t define the future of the
business” probably mean?
A. Good product means good business.
B. Only one hot product cannot decide the future of entire company’s business.
C. High quality is the future of a company.
D. Innovation can ensure a good business.

Part Three Communicative Skills Training

I. Workplace Etiquette for New Staff

According to research done by Harvard University and
the Stanford Research Institute, more than 85% of job success
is based on “soft skills or people skills”, your personal conduct
and the ability to put others at ease. Job skills get you in the
door, but people skills get you the deal, the contract, the
promotion and the best relationship. People skills are basically
about manners and etiquette. Workplace Etiquette is how you
conduct yourself with your employer and your co-workers.
 IT I 53

Workplace etiquette includes everyday everyday etiquette, telephone etiquette, meeting etiquette
and business cards etiquette.

1. Everyday Etiquette
Rule 1: Make a good impression.
s the saying goes “you’ll never get a second chance to make a first impression”. A proper
introduction is the perfect opportunity to make a good first impression. You never know when you’ll
meet someone new, so it’s a good skill to prepare a decent introduction and keep in practice. Decent
introduction sounds like an easy task, but for many people, the first initial step can cause your heart
to pound.
Here are my suggestions. Formal manners are always appreciated more than informal ones for
first impression.

“Good morning, my name is Karan and I just joined in the mobile app project.”
(Office manager:) Sean McMillan, I’d like to introduce you to our newest engineer, Ms.
Karan Wang!
You: Hello Mr. McMillian. It’s very nice to meet you.

However, it will leave a very bad first impression if the dialogue is like this:

Office manager : Mr. Sean McMillan, I’d like to introduce you to our newest associate, Ms.
Karan Wang!
You: Sweeeet! Oh, never like that.

Along with a good introduction is a good memory of people’s name. People are usually
impressed when you take the time to learn their names. Remember, it’s okay to ask someone to
repeat their name in an introduction — in fact, it’s much better than having to ask for their name
again a month later while going together down the road. Be sure to repeat the name when first
introduced. It’s not only courteous, but it will help you remember it for the future.
Rule 2: Arriving early.
For new grads, arriving early is On Time. Being on time is late. This simple action is basic, but
powerful. Find out how long it takes you to go from home to work and then leave at least 15
minutes earlier. Traffic can be unpredictable, and nobody wants to hear your excuses of heavy
traffic or an accident on the road. When you arrive a few minutes early, it’ll give you time to get a
cup of coffee and settle in, this shows dedication and motivation. However, if you regularly arrive
10 minutes late, you are sending the wrong message to those who are deciding whether or not you
are an asset to the team. Even if you regularly make up the time by taking a shorter lunch break, or
work later in the evening, no one is watching you do it, and the wrong message has already been
received and registered.

2. Telephone Etiquette
At this moment, the mobile phone is an indispensable item in our lives, and mobile phone
etiquette is even more important to new grads. The following points need to be observed.
54 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

1) Avoid checking your phone in public. It’s not OK to hold your phone constantly during the
workday unless it is part of your job. Even when you think that no one can see you texting because
you’re doing it under your desk, or talking on the phone because you’re talking in hushed voice —
they do. Continual texting and checking emails under the table at a meeting, a meal or a networking
event shows a lack of respect, consideration and reflects poorly on one’s professional image.
2) If you are walking into a meeting, if you must have the mobile phone with you, turn it on to
silent mode. If you have to answer a call, check your volume and try to keep your voice as low as
possible, this shows respect and consideration to the people around you. If you’re at dinner, you’d
better keep your cell phone off the table.
3) If you are having a face-to-face conversation with someone, do not check your mobile
phone. The only exception is when you are expecting a VERY important call. In this case, give the
person you’re with a head-up, like “If my phone rings, would you mind if I check to see who it is?
I’m expecting a really important call from my family”.

3. Meeting Etiquette
Meetings are an important part of a corporation’s communication process, where employees sit
together on a common platform, exchange their views and opinions and reach a solution benefitting
the organization. Whether you are meeting with your team, the entire staff, a client, a buyer, or a
supplier, how you conduct yourself in the meeting may leave a lasting impression.
Here are five secrets to maintain a positive, professional image in meetings.
Be on time.
It is extremely rude to arrive late for a meeting. Having a good excuse does not excuse you.
Be prepared.
Understand the importance of the meeting. The organizer of the meeting should have a set
agenda that is shared well in advance. Employees should do ground work before attending meetings.
Never go blank. Prepare notes if necessary.
Be a good listener.
Do not interrupt others. Wait until there is a pause and then speak. Don’t chew gum in a
meeting. It is childish and must be avoided.
Sit appropriately.
If it’s a sit-down meeting, you need to adjust your chair so that you’re at equal height with
everyone else at the table. Sit up straight and lean slightly forward to indicate that you are engaged
in the conversation. Do not spoil yourself by slouching in the meeting, and end up being the little
kid in the meeting.
Clean up after you.
Clean up after yourself before leaving the conference room. Don’t just leave your empty plate
or coffee cup behind on the table, assuming “someone else” will take care of it. It is unprofessional,
and it earns you a negative reputation.

4. Business Cards Etiquette

Despite changes in technology, getting new contacts still involve the exchanging of business
 IT I 55

cards. Business cards are generally exchanged at the beginning of or at the end of an initial meeting.
Here’s some specific business card etiquette you should follow, to ensure that you are remembered
in the best way.
(1) Do not pass out your card to everyone you meet. Not only is this a waste of your cards, but
it can also be as annoying as spam emails. Wait until you have a chance to meet someone and talk
with him or her a while before handing out your card.
(2) Do not write on someone’s business card. If you have to write something, some information,
do that later and out of sight.
(3) Do not offer your business card with your left hand. Always offer the card with both hands,
receive cards with your right hand, if it’s inconvenient to use both hands.
(4) After receiving the card, do not put it away without looking at it. This demonstrates a
complete lack of interest in the person you’re networking with. It also implies that the card is likely
to end up on a pile of cards that never receive any follow-up.
(5) Read the card and say the name on the card out aloud. Taking time to read the card shows
value and interest in the person you are networking with. Moreover, it helps you to remember the
name.

Task : Fill in the blanks and answer the following questions.

1. Workplace etiquette includes
_______________, _______________, _______________, and _______________.
2. What are the two rules for everyday etiquette?
a) _________________________________.
b) _________________________________.
3. Which of the following are TRUE about the mobile phone etiquette?
a) It’s OK to hold your phone constantly in your hand when in meeting.
b) If you are walking into a meeting, if you must have the mobile phone with you, turn it on to
silent mode.
c) If you have to answer a call, check your volume and try to keep your voice as low as
possible, this shows respect and consideration to the people around you.
d) You can check your phone when you have a face to face meeting.
4. What can we do to maintain a positive, professional image in meetings?
____________________________________________________________________________

5. Briefly summarize what we need to do when we exchange business cards.

____________________________________________________________________________

II. Speed Reading

Speed reading is not only about reading fast, but also about productivity and efficiency. At
workplace, time is limited, and information is endless. There are five most commonly employed
techniques for speed reading which help you achieve fast and efficient reading in work place. They are:
56 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

skipping
skimming
scanning
focusing
taking notes
Skipping functions as previewing, or filtering, to
help us decide the urgency and importance of certain reading material to be read. The purpose of
skipping is to decide whether to go on reading or not, how much time will be devoted, and how urgent it is.
Generally, we will skip or filter out 80% of reading materials irrelevant and read only 20%
relevant. It may sound unbelievable, but this is the truth about workplace reading. This is the first
step for speed reading.
Here are some tips for skipping:
1) Do not start reading from the very beginning, start by reading the title, the preface, the
header for each section, the graphics or table of contents.
2) Do not be distracted and stop for any details until we get a big picture of the material, and
do not stop to look up any words.
3) Read parts or sections that we discovered are most relevant.
Skimming is to read for main idea. After the first step of skipping the reading material, we
decide to read certain material further, however, we don’t plunge into the ocean of words
immediately. We skim to find important ideas and not all the details.
Skimming allows us to read through all the information quickly and remember a small reading
or “get the gist”. It is perfectly fine to get around 50% comprehension for first reading. Remember,
the purpose is to get the main idea, rather than comprehend thoroughly.
Then how to skim?
1) Read title again, then the introduction paragraph, and then first sentence in each paragraph.
Read any headings and sub-headings. Study the pictures, charts, any italicized or boldface words or
phrases.
2) Read chunks of text: chunks are phrases made up of two to five words basically. While we
are reading, we do not read each word individually, we read chunk of words at a time. Chunk of
words are linked by either meaning or language function.
For example, here is a sentence from the case learning reading passage in Unit Three. While
reading this sentence, we might read 6 chunks of text as grouped by the left slash.

for Steve Ballmer’s successor as Microsoft CEO,/ dealing with the windows problem/ will
be one of many big issues /they’ll have to deal with,/ the future of the once iconic product
though, /won’t define the future of the business.

The first chunk of text, “for Steve Ballmer’s successor as Microsoft CEO” is grouped for its
function as the object of preposition “for”.
The second chunk of text, “dealing with the windows problem” is grouped together as a
present participle phrase, “dealing with something”.
 IT I 57

The third chunk of text, “will be one of many big issues” is grouped together as the verb for
this sentence.
The fourth chunk of text, “they’ll have to deal with” is grouped as an attributive clause to
modify issues.
The fifth chunk of text, “the future of the once iconic product though” is grouped together as
the subject of the adverbial clause.
The sixth chunk of text, “won’t define the future of the business”, acts as the predicate of the
adverbial clause.
This example is to tell you that we do not read for each word, but we read for group of words.
We suggest you purposely train yourself to read chunk of text rather than word by word to improve
your reading speed.
Scanning is the reading for detail.
We use scanning to locate the specific piece of information. In fact, scanning is most useful for
technical reading, such as technical documents and programming standard. We are actively looking
for details that match our query. We scan the text quickly until the very data, number, or name
appear.
Here are the tips for scanning technique:
1) Use your index finger or a pen to keep your eye movement up and down a page. Run your
finger or a pen beneath each line of a text as you read. Make sure you keep your finger or pen at a
regular speed and pace.
2) Apply the Z eye pattern to reading. Z eye pattern is the pattern to manage the movement of
your eyes. If you practice Z eye pattern, your eyes move from left to right to finish a line. Then
sweep diagonally to the next line on the left hand side, and read to the right. You repeat this Z eye
pattern down for the whole page. You glide your pointer or finger from left to the right side while
your eyes immediately follow the Z pattern. This technique would greatly help you enhance your
reading speed.
3) Use a dictionary: We suggest you look up the words at this stage. While you use the Z eye
pattern reading, use your pen to underline the words that you feel applicable to our work. After
reading, look them up in the dictionary and make a vocabulary list of technical terms by yourself.
This is a good habit recommended by many experienced IT senior staff.
Even when you have learned the skipping, skimming and scanning techniques, some of you
may still feel frustrated at the low productivity of reading. This happens because every day in our
workplace, we are multitasking with meetings, discussions, phones and clients. We are distracted
and cannot focus, not to mention the high productivity of reading. And there are other two reading
techniques, focusing and taking notes, to help you improve efficiency of reading.
Here are 3 tips to practice focusing.
First, focus on the most important words. What words are more important? First, locate the
main structure of the sentence. That is, the subject, verb and object. Second, focus on content words
that carry meaning, like the nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Pay less attention to the function words,
like conjunction, prepositions, or articles.
58 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

Here is a sentence from Unit 3.

Having worked at Bell Labs for most of his career, Thompson designed and
implemented the original UNIX operating system.

While reading this sentence, you should learn to focus on the words in bold, “Thompson”,
“designed”, “implemented”, and “UNIX”, and skip the other words as your eyes move on, because
“Thompson”, “designed”, “implemented”, and “UNIX” are the subject, verb and object of the
sentence. They are also content words. These four words help you get main idea of this sentence
quickly as well as correctly.
Second, do not stop to look up unknown words: underline some difficult word and come back
to them if you find they have stopped you from understanding the overall meaning of the text when
you finish reading all of them.
Third, take a break every 10 minutes or 15 minutes or 20 minutes. You are to get your own
pace according to how long your brain can maximally focus. Break makes us more productive and
happy. Moreover, breaks help us to retain information and make connections. Don’t feel guilty
about breaks. Our brain is already not in the focused mode if we’re less efficient, and we make more
mistakes, and get less engaged with what we’re reading.
Taking notes is a great way of helping us to identify important concepts. Even if we have a
great memory, we won’t be able to remember everything, unless we have a permanent written
record for our reference.
Taking notes will help us retain, analyze, narrow down and form new concept. Many people
use their notes as a to-do list or checklist later for future job.
How to take notes?
1) Highlighting is the first step of note-taking, a simple and direct way of taking notes. Mark
certain phrases or steps in the technical document using a highlighter pen, or take notes using a
notepad or our computer.
2) Include our thoughts and comments in our notes. Write notes in our own words, record our
question, and objections. Draw comparison and comments on discrepancy. Write the reason why we
make notes here. Put a question mark, or state the reasons why we disagree.
3) Be creative with our note-taking, use color, diagrams, mind-mapping, symbols, dot points,
numbers, etc., anything that can help organize our thoughts and ideas more effectively.
Skipping is for you to filter, to decide whether to go on reading or not. Skimming is to read for
the main idea, the important idea. Scanning is to locate the exact information. Focusing help us to
concentrate on the documents and taking notes can not only facilitate our remembering but also help
to form new concept.

Task : Answer the following questions.

1. Why is speed reading important in workplace?
2. What do the speed reading skills include?
3. What is skipping?
 IT I 59

4. What is scanning?
5. What may be the chunks of text when we read the following sentence?

In 1969, frustrated by the slow progress and difficulties, Bell Labs withdrew from the
MULTICS project and Thompson decided to write his own operating system, in large part
because he wanted a decent system on which to run his game, Space Travel, on the PDP-7.

6. How can we take notes?

III. Science & Technology Translation

科技术语的翻译

1. 技术语转化 技术语的翻

vendor
solutions
IT

2. 技术术语的翻

2.1 合成法

software hardware outsource “ ”

2.2 混成法
“ ”

adware= advertisement + software

madware = mobile + adware
60 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

2.3 词缀法

e-paper e electronic “ ” e-paper autoexe

automated execution antiferromagnetic anti
ferro magnetic
2.4 缩略法
主

IC integrated circuit
AFC anti-ferromagnetically coupled
ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode Air Traffic Management
Automatic Teller Machine
AVI audio/video interleaved

3. 翻 的
IT

3.1 意译（根据原词的意思翻译成汉语）
Microsoft
IBM IBM
Oracle
3.2 音译（根据读音翻译成汉语）
Accenture
Intel
Dell

Task : Translate the following sentences into Chinese.

1. In the end of 1960s, the young engineer at AT&T Bell Labs Kenneth (Ken) Thompson
worked on the project of Multics operating system. Multics (Multiplexing Information and
Computer Services) was an experimental operating system for GE-645 mainframe, developed in
1960s by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bell Labs, and General Electric.
2. This extremely small memory was undoubtedly a major factor in Thompson’s keeping his
operating system extremely small and providing it with an elegant simplicity that has, in turn,
played an important role in the great success of it and its various descendants (including Linux).
3. He spent one week each writing the kernel (i.e., core of the operating system), the shell
(which is used to read and run commands that are typed into the computer), an editor and an
 IT I 61

assembler (a program to convert source code into machine code that can be directly understood by a
computer’s CPU).
4. It also led to his return to UCB in 1975, Thompson’s alma mater, where he served as a
visiting professor into 1976. That university had begun using UNIX, and Thompson wanted to assist
it in further developing the system.
5. Thompson won the ACM Turing Award (1983), the U.S. National Medal of Technology
(1999), and the Japan Prize (2011), all with Dennis Ritchie.

Part Four Expertise Development

I. Watch and Answer

Here are five questions related to the topic of this unit. You can scan the QR code to get the
video “Linus Torvalds — the man behind Linux” and answer the questions based on what you will
get from the video.
1. What does Linux headquarter look like?
A. It is like the White House.
B. It is crowded with thousands of people.
C. It is so simple actually with just a man and his computer.
D. It is located in top-secret zone.
2. What is the most important quality of the computer
mentioned in the video at the beginning?
A. It has to be quiet while working.
B. It has to be powerful.
C. It has to be good in design.
D. It has to be powerful.
3. Which of the following sentences is not true about Linux?
A. It is a huge project with over 5,000 people working it out.
B. It is one man’s work.
C. It is collaborative.
D. It is a long time project.
4. Why does Linux become open source?
A. It is generous to do that.
B. It can help Linux become better through getting different people’s ideas and comments.
C. It is convenient to do so.
D. It is fashionable to do so.
5. How often is the release?
A. Once a month. B. Twice a year.
C. Once a year. D. Every two or three months.
62 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

II. Read and Answer

Task 1
Here are five questions related to the topic of this unit. You can scan the QR code to get the
article entitled with “Can HP Change its DNA” and answer the questions based on what you will
get from the article.
1. Why does HP proudly declare itself as a software company? (More than one answer)
A. Software has turned into a stronger driver of revenue in the computer industry than
hardware.
B. HP management has realized that it had to make the shift to sustain its growth.
C. HP wanted to increase its revenue.
D. It was the only choice they had.
2. What is the transition for HP now? (More than one answer)
A. The transition is difficult for HP.
B. The result of the transition is worse than they expected.
C. People believe HP will thrive after the transition.
D. Software is the DNA for HP.
3. Which of the following statements is not true according to this article?
A. You see evidence of companies’ different DNAs in the ways they react to risks and
opportunities.
B. One company might be patient enough to allow a new strategy to evolve while another
panics when returns don’t start coming quickly or positively enough.
C. Usually when people talk of DNA, they’re raising questions of corporate culture.
D. HP has the best company’s culture.
4. What is HP’s DNA?
A. Computer. B. Hardware.
C. Printer. D. Service.
5. What can we learn from this article? (More than one answer)
A. The DNA that has been in HP’s bones from the start is all about excellence in hardware
engineering.
B. Hewlett and Packard set out to create high-quality electronic equipment that was more
accurate and precise and less expensive than competing products.
C. That DNA served it well over several decades even through the 1990s. HP succeeded
through its ability to innovate with hardware.
D. Its strong focus on quality won it strong customer loyalty.

Task 2
Read the following paragraphs excerpted from “The Essential Drucker by” Peter F. Drucker
and answer the questions.
 IT I 63

1. How do you understand management is about human beings?

2. How do you perceive the sentence, “Management is deeply embedded in culture”?

Management is about human beings. Its task is to make people capable of joint performance, to
make their strengths effective and their weaknesses irrelevant. This is what organization is all about,
and it is the reason that management is the critical, determining factor. These days, practically all of
us work for a managed institution, large or small, business or nonbusiness. We depend on
management for our livelihoods. And our ability to contribute to society also depends as much on
the management of the organization for which we work as it does on our own skills, dedication, and
effort.
Because management deals with the integration of people in a common venture, it is deeply
embedded in culture. What managers do in Germany, in United Kingdom, in the United States, in
Japan or in Brazil is exactly the same. How they do it may be quite different. Thus one of the
challenges managers in a developing country face is to find and identify those parts of their own
tradition, history and culture that can be used as management building blocks.
Excerpted from The Essential Drucker by Peter F. Drucker

Part Five Hands-on Practice

Unit report
A unit report generally includes two parts: summary of key
concepts and reflection.
The summary of key concepts highlights what you feel are the
most important idea in this unit. Basically you want to summarize
the 5 Ws: who, what, where, when and why. Your summary should
be complete yet concise. The summary needs to be about half of
the unit report.
The reflection highlights what you think. In your reflection,
you should tell the reader what you learned from the reading. Your
reflection paragraph covers another half of the report.
Some questions that you might include are:
I really agree/disagree because…
This reminds me of …I feel….
A question I have…
I could see myself using this knowledge in my classroom or in an interaction with others in
this way…
I didn’t understand… OR: Now I understand…
After this reading I will change…
64 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

Task 1: Write a Unit Report

The following is a template unit report. You need to fill in the relevant information based on the
materials in this unit.

Part I. Summary of Key Concepts

summarize the 5 Ws
be complete, yet concise

Part II. Reflection (Highlight what did you think)

1) I really agree/disagree because…
2) This reminds me of …I feel….
3) A question I have…
4) I could see myself using this knowledge in my classroom or in an interaction with others in
this way…
5) I didn’t understand… OR: Now I understand…
6) After this reading I will change…
(You don’t need to answer all these questions. 3-5 is OK.)
To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting. Edmund Burke

Task 2: Oral Report

Practice giving an oral report based on the unit report in task 1.

Performance Review

After learning this unit, can you fulfill the

tasks listed in the following tables? If yes, tick
the after YES; if no, tick the after NO.

Can you tell the Chinese equivalents of the following English expressions?
1. Turing Award YES NO
2. operating system YES NO
3. hierarchical file system YES NO
4. command-line interpreter YES NO
5. the kernel YES NO
 IT I 65

6. alma mater YES NO

7. mainframe computers YES NO
8. source code YES NO
9. the launch of Windows 3.0 YES NO
10. software vendors YES NO
11. Hardware manufacturers YES NO
12. Post-PC era YES NO
13. Mobile computing device YES NO
14. Smartphones and tablet computers YES NO

Do you know
15. what is workplace etiquette for new staff? YES NO
16. how to do speed reading? YES NO
the translation of conversion from non-scientific
17. YES NO
terminology into scientific terminology?
18. the translation of compound scientific terms? YES NO
19. the unification of the translation of proper names? YES NO

Can you
translate the sentences from the passages into proper
20. YES NO
Chinese?
21. give a proper PPT presentation? YES NO
22. write a complete and concise unit report? YES NO
23. understand different SDLC models? YES NO
24. write a memo? YES NO
25. understand etiquettes for teleconference? YES NO