Information Technology
If you want a brief history of information technology, here is one. Humans were the
first "computers". Then machines were invented to carry out the computational tasks.
Now these machines have given way to new form of information technology.
Information has become accessible from anywhere.
Information technology deals with the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal,
pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and
telecommunications. Thanks to the continuous development of computers, the original computing
systems became minicomputers and later personal computers took the lead. Nowadays, mobile phones
are dethroning the personal computer and computing is evolving faster to become disembodied more like
a cloud, becoming accessible more easily whenever needed. Information technology in this sense has
transformed people and companies and has allowed digital technology to influence society and economy
alike.
Comprehension:
1. Information technology is changing principally because of:
a.
the changing needs
b.
new technological advances
2. According to the author the first computers were:
a.
calculators
b.
humans
3. Development of information technology is the result of:
a.
advances in computing systems
b.
development of machinery in general
4. Computing systems are taking the form of clouds means:
a.
computers have become smaller
b.
computing power will be disembodied.
Climate change and global warming
Climate change
Wikipedia defines climate as follows:
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall,
atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elements in a given region over a long period of
time. Climate can be contrasted to weather, which is the present condition of these same elements and
their variations over shorter time periods.
Climate may be inherently variable as evidenced by the irregularity of the seasons from one year to
another. This variability is normal and may remain partially understood. It is related to changes in ocean
currents, volcanic eruptions, solar radiation and other components of the climate system. In addition,
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our climate also has its extremes (such as floods, droughts, hail, tornadoes and hurricanes), which can be
devastating. However, in recent decades, a number of indicators and studies show more and more
evidence of climate warming across the globe. A disturbing phenomenon that challenges human habits
and activities which are responsible for greenhouse gas emissions.
The green house effect
The greenhouse effect is the process by which absorption and emission of infrared radiation by gases in
the atmosphere warm a planet's lower atmosphere and surface. It was proposed by Joseph Fourier in
1824 and was first investigated quantitatively by Svante Arrhenius in 1896.
Naturally occurring greenhouse gases have a mean warming effect of about 33 °C (59 °F). But Human
activity since the Industrial Revolution has increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,
leading to increased radiative forcing from CO2, methane, tropospheric ozone, CFCs (chlorofluorocarbon)
and nitrous oxide. The concentrations of CO2 and methane have increased by 36% and 148% respectively
since 1750. These levels are much higher than at any time during the last 650,000 years, the period for
which reliable data has been extracted from ice cores. Over the last three decades of the 20th century,
GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita and population growth were the main drivers of increases in
greenhouse gas emissions. CO2 emissions are continuing to rise due to the burning of fossil fuels and
land-use change.
Consequences of global warming
There are two major effects of global warming: the increase of temperature on the earth by about 3° to
5° C (5.4° to 9° Fahrenheit) by the year 2100 and Rise of sea levels by at least 25 meters (82 feet) by the
year 2100. Other consequences are listed below:






Sea levels are rising due to thermal expansion of the ocean, in addition to melting of land
ice.
Amounts and patterns of precipitation are changing.
The total annual power of hurricanes has already increased markedly since 1975 because
their average intensity and average duration have increased.
Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns increase the frequency, duration, and
intensity of other extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts, heat waves, and
tornadoes.
Higher or lower agricultural yields, further glacial retreat, reduced summer stream flows,
species extinctions.
Diseases like malaria are returning into areas where they have been extinguished earlier.
Sources: Wikipedia | Time for change
Comprehension:
1. Climate is by definition variable.
a.
True
b.
False
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2. Climate change observed in the last decades is natural.
a.
True
b.
False
3. Global warming is caused by industrialization.
a.
True
b.
False
4. Greenhouse effects have no impacts on our health.
a.
True
b.
False
Reading Comprehension - Summer
Develop your reading skills. Read the following text about summer and do the
comprehension questions
Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons which also include winter spring and autumn. It
occurs between spring and autumn. It is known for the longest days and shortest nights. The seasons
start on different dates in different cultures based on astronomy and regional meteorology. However,
when it is summer in the southern hemisphere it is winter in the
northern hemisphere, and vice versa. Summer is traditionally
associated with hot dry weather, but this does not occur in all
regions. For example, the wet season occurs during summer across
many parts of the tropics and subtropics. Tropical cyclones develop
and roam the tropical and subtropical oceans during the summer. In
the interior of continents, thunderstorms are most likely to produce
hail during the afternoon and evening. Schools and universities have
a summer break to take advantage of the warmer weather and
longer days.
People take advantage of the warmer temperatures by spending more time outdoors during the summer.
Activities such as traveling to the beach and picnics occur during summer months. Sports such as cricket,
volleyball, skateboarding, baseball, softball, soccer, tennis, water polo, and football are played. Water
skiing is a uniquely summer sport, which is done when waters approach their warmest of the year.
Source: Wikipedia
Comprehension:
1. Summer occurs between winter and spring
a.
True
b.
False
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2. Summer is characterized by hot and dry weather everywhere in the world
a.
True.
b.
False.
3. Summer occurs at different times depending on the regions.
a.
True
b.
False
Reading Comprehension - Computers
Develop your reading skills. Read the following text on the benefits of fasting and do the
comprehension questions
Computers
A computer is a programmable machine designed to automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or
logical operations. The first use of the word "computer" was recorded in 1613, referring to a person who
carried out calculations, or computations, and the word continued with the same meaning until the
middle of the 20th century. From the end of the 19th century the word began to take on its more
familiar meaning, a machine that carries out computations
In the beginning, computers were as big as a large room. It is only later that they have become smaller
and smaller, accessible to anyone. This has given way to personal computers. Later developers created
new applications to help users perform many things from word processing to image editing. A large scale
of programs, some free and others costly, have opened new horizons in information technology.
Now computers have noticeable impact on social relations. They have enabled entirely new forms of
social interaction, activities, and organizing. With the Internet, working with computers has become part
of our daily lives thanks to its basic features such as widespread usability and access. In addition to face
to face communication that characterized humans for centuries, a new form of virtual communication
has become more predominant.
Sources: Wikipedia
Comprehension:
1. The word computer is a new term
a.
True
b.
False
2. Computers were accessible to anyone in the beginning
a.
True
b.
False
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3. All computer applications are free.
a.
True
b.
False
4. Computers and the Internet have shaped new social relations.
a.
True
b.
False
Reading Comprehension - The Internet
Develop your reading skills. Read the following text and do the comprehension questions
What is the internet?
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet
protocol suite, a set of communications protocols, to serve billions of users worldwide. The internet has
reshaped and redefined most traditional communications media including telephone, music, film, and
television. This has given birth to new services. Newspaper, book and other print publishing are adapting
to Web site technology, or are reshaped into blogging and web feeds.
The Internet has enabled or accelerated new forms of human interactions through instant messaging,
Internet forums, and social networking. Online shopping has boomed both for major retail outlets and
small artisans and traders. Business-to-business and financial services on the Internet affect supply
chains across entire industries.
The origins of the Internet reach back to research of the 1960s, commissioned by the United States
government in collaboration with private commercial interests to build robust, fault-tolerant, and
distributed computer networks. The commercialization of what was by the 1990s an international
network resulted in its popularization and incorporation into virtually every aspect of modern human
life. As of 2011, more than 2.1 billion people — nearly a third of Earth's population — use the services of
the Internet
Source: Wikipedia
Comprehension:
1. The internet has completetly dethroned traditional media.
a.
True
b.
False
2. The internet has had an impact on commerce.
a.
True
b.
False
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3. The internet was first introduced in the 1990s.
a.
True
b.
False
4. More than a quarter of the Earth'spopulation are internet users
a.
True
b.
False
Reading Comprehension - Ernest Hemingway's Biography
Develop your reading skills. Read the following text and do the comprehension questions
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist.
He was born on July 21, 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois, where he was
raised. He died on July 2, 1961 in Ketchum, Idaho, where he
committed suicide.
Hemingway's economical and understated style had a strong
influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his
public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced
most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, and
won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven
novels, six short story collections, and two non-fiction works. Three
novels, four collections of short stories, and three non-fiction works
were published posthumously.
After finishing high school, Hemingway reported for a few months
for The Kansas City Star, before leaving for the Italian front to enlist
with the World War I ambulance drivers where he was wounded in 1918 and returned home. Hemingway's
experiences in wartime formed the basis for his novel A Farewell to Arms. In 1922, he married Hadley
Richardson, the first of his four wives. The couple moved to Paris, where he worked as a foreign
correspondent, and fell under the influence of the modernist writers and artists of the 1920s "Lost
Generation" expatriate community. The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway's first novel, was published in 1926.
Hemingway married Pauline Pfeiffer after his 1927 divorce from Hadley Richardson. However this
marriage was also unsuccessful and the couple divorced after Hemingway returned from the Spanish Civil
War where he had been a journalist. Drawing from his experience in the Spanish Civil War, Hemingway
published For Whom the Bell Tolls. He married his third wife, Martha Gellhorn in 1940. They separated
when he met Mary Welsh in London during World War II.
Shortly after the publication of The Old Man and the Sea, one of his masterpieces, in 1952, Hemingway
went on safari to Africa, where he was almost killed in two successive plane crashes that left him in pain
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or ill health for much of the rest of his life. Hemingway had permanent residences in Key West, Florida,
and Cuba during the 1930s and 1940s, but in 1959 he moved from Cuba to Ketchum, Idaho, where he put
an end to his life in the summer of 1961.
Source: Wikipedia
Comprehension:
1. Hemingway became a reporter after he had finished university.
a.
True
b.
False
2. He enlisted as an ambulance driver in World Wat I.
a.
True
b.
False
3. He married four times.
a.
True
b.
False
4. He died due to a plane crash.
a.
True
b.
False.
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