People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria

University of 20 August 1955 Skikda English: Semester 01

Subject A

The world we live in has become a digital one, filled with technology and driven by Computer
Science. To be informed and empowered citizens, the next generation of students needs to
understand this digital world that they live in.
This is why Computational Thinking has been called the ‘21st Century Skill Set’, and is
important for everyone to learn. It is critical to understand how the digital world works, for
harnessing the power of computers to solve tough problems, and making great things happen! It
also enables us to think critically about not just the benefits of certain technologies, but also the
potential harm, ethical implications, or unintended consequences of these. But what exactly is
Computational Thinking? Let’s have a look at a technical definition...
"Computational Thinking is the thought processes involved in formulating problems and their
solutions so that the solutions are represented in a form that can be effectively carried out by an
information-processing agent." Said Larry Snyder.
Phew, it’s quite a mouthful, isn’t it? But, it’s just big words for simple ideas! 'Information-
processing agent' means anything that follows a set of instructions to complete a task (we call
this 'computing'). Most of the time this 'agent' word means a computer or other type of digital
device - but it could also be a human! We’ll refer to it as a computer to make things a bit
simpler. To represent solutions in a way that a computer can carry them out, we have to
represent them as a step-by-step process which it is an algorithm. To create these algorithmic
solutions, we apply some special problem-solving skills. These skills are what make up
Computational Thinking! And they are skills that are transferable to any field.
Computational Thinking could be described as 'thinking like a Computer Scientist', but it is
now an important skill for everyone to learn, whether they want to be a Computer Scientist or
not! It’s interesting, and important, to note that Computational Thinking, and Computer Science,
aren’t entirely about computers, they are more about people. You might think that we write
programs for computers, but really, we write programs for people - to help them communicate,
find information, and solve problems. For example, you might use an application on a
Smartphone to get directions to a friend's house; the application is an example of a computer
program, and the Smartphone is the "information processing agent" that runs the program for
us. Whoever designed the algorithm for working out the best route, and all the details like the
interface and how to store the map, applied computational thinking to design the system. But
they didn't design it for the sake of the Smartphone; they designed it to help the person using
the Smartphone.

A/ Comprehension
1- Say whether the following statements are true or false according to the text.
a- Computational Thinking is an important skill only for computer scientists.
b- Computational Thinking is about making algorithms and problem-solving skills.
c- Our digital world doesn’t need computer science.
2- Answer the following questions according to the text.
a- Who the author targets in the text?
b- Why should we learn Computational Thinking skills?
c- What does 'Information-processing agent' mean?
d- How do we formulate problems and represent their solutions?
3- What or who do the underlined words refer to in the text?
a- these. b- it. c- they.

B/ Text Exploration
1- Find in the text words or expressions that are closest in meaning to the following:
a- Loaded. b- Unplanned outcome. c- Advantage. d- Transmittable.
2- Complete the following chart.
Verb Adjective Noun
…........ …...... safe
To harm ......... …........
…...... achievable ….........

3- Underline the silent letter in each of the following words.

Science- throughout- though- honesty- walked.
4- Reorder the following sentences to make a coherent paragraph.
a- Logical reasoning is about trying to make sense of things by observing, collecting data,
b- It helps us use our existing knowledge to establish rules and check facts.
c- thinking about the facts you know, and then figuring things out based on what you already
know
d- When we try to solve problems, we need to think logically.